May 28, 1828
MURDER - We understand that Mr. Benjamin Kuykendall was shot last week, by Mark, one of the slaves recently emancipated by the will of the late Joseph Kuykendall, deceased, and died in about three quarters of an hour. The Negro made his escape, but was pursued, and taken last night, a few miles below this place. Mr. Kuykendall has left a wife, and two or three children.

June 4, 1828
The black fellow Mark, recently emancipated by the Will of the late Mr. Joseph Kuykendall, was brought up to this place on Monday evening last, and committed to Jail, for the murder of Mr. Benjamin Kuykendall, a son of his last master.

August 13, 1828
A MURDERER ESCAPED - We forgot to mention, in our last, that Mark, the Negro man, who recently killed Benjamin Kuykendall, in this county, effected his escape from the Jail, in this place, on the evening of the 30th ult. He had been very heavily ironed by the Sheriff, but these he contrived to saw off with a case knife, with which he was furnished by some person outside of the Jail; and some one watched an opportunity, when the Jailer and his wife, were both absent, to unlock the door - the keys of which had been carelessly left in plain sight, in the room adjoining the Jail.

August 20, 1828
$50 REWARD
ESCAPED from the Jail of Pulaski County, on the 31st of July last, a Negro Man named Mark, late the property of Joseph Kuykendall, deceased, who was committed on a charge of having murdered Mr. Benjamin Kuykendall.
Mark is about 30 years of age, 6 feet 2 or 3 inches high, thin and spare built, very active, weighs about 175 lbs., complexion rather light for a negro, high forehead, his considerable beard and large feet. Had on, when he escaped, a tow linen shirt and pantaloons, and a new pair of thin buck-skin moccasins.
Any person who will apprehend said Negro, and commit him to any Jail in this Territory, so that I may be able to get him into my possession, shall receive the above reward of Fifty Dollars, and all reasonable expenses in addition to said reward, if he be delivered to me at Little Rock.
S.M. Rutherford, Sh'ff. Pulaski County, A.T.
Little Rock, August 18, 1828

December 16, 1828
A MURDER TAKEN - We inadvertently omitted to mention, in our last, the return of Col. S.M. Rutherford, the Sheriff of this county, from Point Coupee, La. with the negro fellow MARK, who some time since escaped from the jail in this place where he had been confined on a charge of murdering Mr. Benjamin Kuykendall. Mark is again in his old quarters and ironed in such a manner as to prevent his escape or his holding any intercourse with any person on the outside of the jail at Baton Rouge. From whence he made his escape, and was again taken and committed to jail at Point Coupee, where he was found by Col. Rutherford.

April 1, 1929
The trial of the Negro fellow Mark, on an Indictment for Murder, for killing Mr. Benjamin Kuykendall, near a year ago, came on before the Circuit Court of this county, on Monday morning last. A considerable time elapsed before a Jury was empanelled, and the remainder of the day until dark was consumed in the examination of witnesses, and the Counsel did not get through their arguments until near 11 o'clock at night. The cause was then submitted to the Jury, who remained together during the night, and did not finally agree on a verdict until about 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon, when they came into Court, with a verdict of - Manslaughter. The Court then sentenced the prisoner, Mark, to three years' close confinement, and to pay a fine of $500.

June 29, 1830
A Pardon - We understand that the Negro Mark, who has been confined in the jail in this place for more that a year past, under a conviction for killing, Mr. Benjamin Kuykendall, some two years ago, has received a pardon from the Governor, and been discharged from imprisonment.

January 12, 1842
Murder or Suicide - A negro woman and her male child, belonging to Mr. John C. Hale, at Hot Springs were found, on Wednesday last, near his residence, with their throats cut from ear to ear. The bodies were examined by a coroner's inquest, who, we understand, came to the conclusion, that the woman had first murdered her child and then committed suicide. Circumstances, however, have since transpired, which fix suspicion on the husband of the woman, a free colored man by the name of Mark Kuykendall, residing in this vicinity, who was apprehended, on Saturday last, and committed to the jail of this county. We forbear farther comment, or the relation of the suspicious circumstances we have heard, as improper, until a legal investigation should be had. The woman and child had been missing since the preceding Sunday, and it was supposed they had absconded until the discovery of their dead bodies.

Notes from the Editor....I don't know where this story ends but I feel compelled to include it on my website.  Each time I read it, my mind travels back to early Arkansas and makes me wonder...who was Mark & where did his story end.  One of the few black negroes of his time....was he doomed to live his entire life in tragedy & despair, or was he an evil man that just happened to gain his freedom.

* All of the above articles were found in the Arkansas Gazette.