Law Enforcement · Civil War and Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi · Civil War and Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi

Letter from Charles M. Benbrook to General Irvin McDowell; June 26, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Charles M. Benbrook, a former constable, in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi, to Brevet Major General Irvin McDowell, the Commander of the Fourth Military District, concerning his right to register and vote.

Letter from Hancock Lazuer to General Irvin McDowell; July 20, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Hancock Lazuer, a former constable, in Adams County, Mississippi, to Brevet Major General Irvin McDowell, the Commander of the Fourth Military District, concerning his right to vote.

Letter from L. A. Philips to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; July 6, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from L. A. Philips of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Jackson, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, soliciting executive clemency for N. E. Broughton, convicted of manslaughter.

Letter from R. V. Booth to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; June 26, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from R. V. Booth at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, concerning the indictment of Frank Talbert.

Letter from Sheriff Joseph McCloy to General James Biddle; July 31, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Sheriff Joseph McCloy of Hinds County, Mississippi, to General James Biddle, regarding the murder of Medora Carr, an African-American girl, allegedly by Marsh Davis. McCloy describes the results of an inquest by a coroner's jury and requests a cavalry detachment be sent to capture Davis. The letter was forwarded to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames who directed the Mississippi Secretary of State to issue a reward of $250 for Davis' capture.

Proclamation from Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; April 10, 1869

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Proclamation from Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, offering fifty dollars for the capture of escaped convicts Thomas Lee, Jerry Wyatt, Rafe Phillips, Alex Walker, and Moses Cohen. The proclamation includes physical descriptions of each man.

Extract from Lieutenant John R. Hynes to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; August 4, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Extract from the register of the Mississippi State Penitentiary sent by Military Superintendent First Lieutenant John R. Hynes to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, regarding convict Joe Lewis.

Letter from F. Hansman; September 13, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from F. Hansman, Sergeant of the Guard of the Mississippi State Penitentiary, regarding the favorable prison record of Frank Wharton, an African-American freedman.

Letter from George Dobson to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; September 28, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from George Dobson to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, describing the arrest, delivery, and custody of Miles Gibbon for the murder of Captain William Estelle and claim for reward. Attached is a clipping of the published March 1868 proclamation by then-Mississippi Governor Benjamin G. Humphreys offering a reward of $500 for Gibbon's arrest.

Letter from Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames to the Madison County Sheriff; August 17, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames at Jackson, Mississippi, to the Sheriff of Madison County, Mississippi, instructing delivery of correspondence to the President of the Mississippi Central Railroad Company.

Letter from Mississippi High Court Judges Thomas Shackelford and E. Jeffords to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; August 21, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Justices Thomas P. Shackelford and Elza Jeffords of the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals at Jackson, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, providing testimony regarding the trial of Frank Wharton, a freedman, and requesting executive clemency on his behalf.

Letter from Richard C. Kerr to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; September 29, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Richard C. Kerr to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, claiming the reward for the capture of Miles Gibbons, alleged murderer of Captain William M. Estelle. On the reverse, Justice of the Peace James H. Boyd records a sworn statement from Kerr certifying that the facts he presents in his claim are true.

Letter from Robert A. Hill to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; September 26, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from the Honorable Robert A. Hill at Oxford, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, concerning an affidavit forwarded to Governor Ames.

Letters from W. H. Smither and E. Harris to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from Justice of the Peace W. H. Smither of Lafayette County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, containing sworn statements from S. S. Tyler and William H. Graham concerning the murder of William H. Tyler and George M. McCuller, allegedly by Robert B. Smith, H. C. Smith, and Nicholas Christian. Enclosed is a letter from District Attorney E. Harris at Oxford, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, asking the state to offer a reward for the capture of the alleged murderers named in Smither's letter.

Petition to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; September 16, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Petition from citizens of Attala County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, requesting a pardon for Thomas J. Riley, convicted of perjury.

Transcript from L. A. Lindsey to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; August 14, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Transcript from L. A. Lindsey to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, of the indictment, verdict, and sentence from the case State of Mississippi V. Tom Shaw.

Certification from H. Hanlin; October 1, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Certification from H. Hanlin, that Andrew Dean filed an affidavit.

Petition from David Watts to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; October 22, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Petition from David Watts to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, on behalf of George Sargent.

Petition from G. S. Fox, W. L. Hemingway, and W. G. Beau to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; October 8, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Petition from G. S. Fox, W. L. Hemingway, and W. G. Beau of Carroll County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, requesting a pardon for Henry Blackbern.

Petition from Patrick Mallow to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; October 1, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Petition from Patrick Mallow to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, regarding entitlement to one quarter of the reward for apprehension of the assassin of Captain William Estelle.

Transcript to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; October 27, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Transcription from the Circuit Court of Marshall County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, of the indictment, verdict, and sentence on the case of the State of Mississippi V. Henry Miller.

Copy of bill of indictment and court proceedings from Bolivar Edwards, John H. Pipes, and J. J. Strickland; November 20, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Copy of a bill of indictment and court proceedings from District Attorney Bolivar Edwards and clerks John H. Pipes and J. J. Strickland, containing the United States Sixth District Court proceedings and murder indictment for Jasper Bowman and John O'Neal from Saint Helena Parish, Louisiana.

Letter from I. V. Enochs to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; December 15, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from I. V. Enochs to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, concerning the transfer of escaped prisoner Joe Lewis.

Letter from Lieutenant John Tyler to Mississippi State Auditor Thomas T. Swann; December 15, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from First Lieutenant John Tyler, acting Assistant Adjutant General, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Mississippi State Auditor Thomas T. Swann, concerning the temporary appointment of a District Attorney for Clark County, Mississippi.

Letter from Sheriff James M. Clay to Colonel Handy Hutson; December 14, 1868

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Ames Collection. Letter from James McCloy, Sheriff of Hinds County, Mississippi, to Colonel Handy Hutson, stating that the African-American man returned to custody under the name of Jasper Mulligan was actually convicted under the name Joe Lewis.