On or about the 1st instant a most horrible murder was committed in this County by one Benjamin Lassiter upon the body of a colored boy about six years old named Alexander Croom. The murderer immediately fled and although I have done all in my power to ascertain his whereabouts, I have been unsuccessful, and, therefore, the brute is still at large. I have issued a proclamation offering a profitable reward for him, and his delivery to me.