From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Finis H. Little to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, writing in response to his telegraph sent to Sheriff Anderson concerning prisoners Moore and Gewin. Little also states that he believes that Moore will be acquitted and would not try to escape.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Sarah Brady, writing on behalf of her brother Frank Brady, who is imprisoned in Jackson under the name of John McKay, and claims that he is imprisoned for a crime that he is not guilty of. She explains how her brother came to get arrested for unknowingly transporting stolen goods. Ms. Brady is requesting a pardon for her brother so that he can come home and help support his widow mother.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Thomas J. Norton to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting assistance in getting a pardon from the Governor of Indiana, Conrad Baker. Norton has been in the Indiana penitentiary since 1865, his sentence having been extended after his recapture following his escape in 1867.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Legal document from Simon Jones to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, giving a description of the crimes that Charles Moore, aka F. Mooney, is charged with from Hinds County, Mississippi. Jones states that Charles Moore is being held in Woodville, Mississippi, by the sheriff there. On the back of this document Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn wrote a brief memo for the extradition of Charles Moore, ordering the sheriff of Wilkinson County, Mississippi to turn over Moore to the sheriff of Hinds County, Mississippi.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Sheriff E. F. Haynie to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, reporting the murder of T. J. Shope and stating that the only eye witness to the murder has fled to Arkansas. Haynie also reports the case of another man, Leopold, who is charged with stealing property in the amount of $3,000 and has also fled to Arkansas.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from F. M. Price, concerning the deposition of Mr. Martin, Justice of the Peace in Warren County, Mississippi, concerning the theft of a horse by Felix Stone, a resident of Madison Parish, Louisiana.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Petition from White and Chalmers to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting executive clemency for Thomas Ward, who has served four years of a five-year sentence on grand larceny. (Petition not included)

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Multiple Correspondence between Arkansas Governor Clayton Powell, Arkansas Governor Clayton Powell's Private Secretary Keyes Danforth, D. C. Gordon, Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn's Private Secretary H. F. Hewson, discussing Phil Stampley, an African American fugitive from justice in Mississippi, having been accused of murder, has fled to Arkansas, where he is being held in jail at Helena, and requesting that Stampley be transferred back to Mississippi. Sheriff D. C. Gordon notes that he released the prisoner and didn't think he was guilty.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Anderson Rutland to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, recounting the events of how he was first imprisoned during the Civil War for horse theft and how he came to be released, only to be rearrested. He is asking Alcorn to review his case to see if his second arrest was legal in hopes that Alcorn would order his release.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from John Gillis to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting a pardon for Anderson Rutland, who has spent nearly three years in the penitentiary. The request is made due to the indigency of him and his family.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Two letters and a sworn statement from C. M. Thomas, W. A. M. Hemy, and A. J. Shipman to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, concerning an escapee from the jail of Noxubee County, Mississippi. Thomas writes to say that he had investigated the incident which was first reported as having been an abduction of a prisoner with the "help" of the guards on duty by masked men; however Thomas says that this was false and the prisoner escaped from the jail by jumping out of a window. Additional correspondance details the other accounts of the incident.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Petition from Wm. Bolton and several residents of Washington County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, seeking a pardon for Woodson Baldwin, an African-American man, who was convicted for attempted theft and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and a $200 fine.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from M. B. McMicken at Canton, Mississippi, to P. B. Starke, giving Starke details of the case of Robert Brown, an African American man incarcerated in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, who was accused of murder and defended by McMicken and Henry S. Foote. McMicken is requesting a pardon to be given to Robert Brown.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Printed Special Orders No. 474 from Assistant Adjutant General Edward D. Townsend, by order of the United States Secretary of War, stating that Sergeant Cay H. Landon of the 1st Mississippi Rifles will be released from confinement at the Missouri State Penitentiary and given a dishonorable discharge.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Damaged, incomplete letter from someone in the Territory of Denver, Colorado, written to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting a pardon for the son of the sender, who is incarcerated in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Jackson, Mississippi.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Hillary Talbert to Colonel N. Howard, requesting a pardon on behalf of Henry Bennett, an African-American man, who was convicted of stealing cotton and was sentanced to 5 years in prison and has already served 3. Talbert believes Bennett was being directed by a "mean white man" and did not financially benefit from the crime. Two petitions have already been sent to the Governor on Bennett's behalf but to no avail. Talbert is requesting that Howard bring the pardon before Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn. (Note added from Colonel N. Howard and Stephen Johnson).

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. 2 -sided letter between Z. A. Philips and Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn. One side is from Alcorn, the other from Philips. Philips writes to Alcorn giving him the reason for the imprisonment of Ann Parker, an African-American woman, who was convicted of arson and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary in Jackson, MIssissippi. Alcorn writes back to Philips that after a conversation with Parker, he has decided to grant her a pardon due to her age and frail condition.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from W. H. Fitz-Gerald at Charleston, Mississippi, to P. B. Starke, recounting the case of an African American man named Henry White who was convicted of rape in May 1867. Fitz-Gerald claims that White and the woman whom he was charged with raping had previously had consensual intercourse except for the night in question, where he forced himself upon her against her will. Fitz-Gerald states that although White is legally guilty, Fitz-Gerald believes that there were "extenuating circumstances" and that the sentence imposed was too great.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Z. A. Philips, superintendent of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Jackson, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting the early release of Samuel Harmon, who was convicted in 1868 of larceny. Included is a note from H. F. Hewson, private secretary to Alcorn, giving an executive summary of Philips's letter.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Superintendent of Mississippi State Penitentiary Z. A. Philips to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, recommending that George Lewis, an African American man who is currently incarcerated at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, be given a pardon on the grounds that Lewis still professes his innocence. Lewis is also suffering from a gunshot wound received during his service in the United States Army.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Judge Wade H. Hough of the 13th District in Louisiana, containing a certified copy of a judgement of the conviction of William E. Brewer from the State of Louisiana. Brewer was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two years of hard labor in the Louisiana Penitentiary in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was also fined $1 and is liable for the cost of prosecution.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Z. A. Philips, superintendent of the Mississippi State Penitentiary, to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, reporting that the conduct of Henry Johnson, an African American man incarcerated in the penitentiary. has been good since his incarceration.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Z. A. Philips, superintendent of the Mississippi State Penitentiary, to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, responding to an inquiry from Alcorn concerning the conduct of inmate Robert Easton, who was convicted of larceny in Warren County, Mississippi, in May 1866. Philips reports that Easton's conduct has been good during his incarceration. (This letter may be in regards to the same inmate mentioned in mdah_786-971-01-16).

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Thomas Reed to R. J. Mathews, concerning an inquiry into the case of Tim (or Jim) Carter who had been convicted of stealing a mule and sentenced to one year in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Reed explains that the prosecution failed to positively identify the mule Carter had supposedly stolen, and believes that the jury convicted him just for being in possession of a mule. Reed also explains that Judge Smiley had not taken the oath, and therefore the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case and thus Carter was being held without cause and should be released.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from William R. Fears to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn. Fears states that he and three others were tried in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May and June of 1867 by a military commission and sent to prison for grand larceny. He is asking Alcorn to have them transferred back to Mississippi, as they are serving their imprisonment in Fort Jefferson, Florida. (Included is a note from H. F. Hewson, Alcorn's private secretary stating that Fears was wrongfully accused, suggesting that this is a pardon request)