Letter from W. S. Gibson to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 20, 1865

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Letter from W. S. Gibson to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 20, 1865

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People

Gibson, W. S.Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875 McGehee, Clark Miles Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873 Yerger, William, 1816-1872

Events

Conventions Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure--Pardon Secession. American Civil War

Military Units

Confederate States of America. Army

Organizations

Courts and Judicial Systems United States--Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands

Occupations

Judges

Places

Mississippi--Bolivar County Texas

Social Identifiers

Russian Unionists (United States Civil War)

Vital Statistics

Death

Page 1

Bolivar Co Miss
Aug 20^th 1865

Gov Sharkey

Dear Sir

You will Confer a great favor on me, if you & Wm Yerger will make out a statement as to my polit-ical status in this War. I wish to use it in an application for pardon—

You both can testify to these facts that ~~you~~ My position in opposition to seces-sion was the same as your own & his—That I have taken no part in the war at all—have staid at home & attended to my business as much as the operations of their troops would let me—I was chairman of the Convention in the Co: That nominated in opposition to Clark Miles McGehee I was also Chairman of the Nominating Com^tt & Com^tt on resolutions in that Convention—My Opinions as to secession have never changed

My reason for troubling you & Yerger is that you are Known to Johnson as union men & your statements would go further with him than any I could get in the state

Page 2

It makes my blood Boil at times & I all-most loose the attributes of humanity when I reflect upon the utter—utter—ruin & deg-redations to which we have been brought in spite of all our opposition—

Judge What in the name of God are we to do with this Freedman's Bureau—We can have no more liberty than a Russian with it in operation—The sanctity of our courts are gone—I can see a Solution to all questions but that

My father has never been heard from since he started to Texas last Sept; & I fear is dead

If you can assist me by your statement & W^m Yerger's in getting a pardon You will much oblige a Very Miserable & disconsolate

Friend

W. S. Gibson

Could you advise me as to whom I can get to lay the application before the president—I have written to W^m Yerger to see you on the subject Mentioned above thinking he had more spare time than you to attend to details