From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from F. S. Pate to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, stating that Thomas Welch is living at large in Dyer County, Tennessee, and asking Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn to send a requisition to the Governor of Tennessee. Indictment from the Grand Jury of Union County, Mississippi against Thomas Welch is attached.

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. Three letters stuck together from W. T. Martin, E. H. Hicks, and J. M. Ellis, respectively. Each letter is addressed to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn and each concerns the defense of chancery clerk D. C. Kearns against efforts to remove him from office. Included is a note from H. F. Hewson, Alcorn's private secretary, giving a summary of Martin's letter and Hicks's letter.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from H. Mask and O. Davis to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, reporting on the prosecution of several men charged with violations of the Ku Klux Klan Laws.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Petition from several petitioners to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting a full pardon for Peter Kesler who, having been convicted of cotton stealing, is now believed to be innocent. Having heard testimony from a Mr. Yates, who was also convicted in this same incident, the petitioners believe Mr. Kesler was a victim of circumstance and ask for his release.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Petition from Sheriff M. A. Metts to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, asking for a pardon for William T. Hester. The item also cites reasons for the petition, one being that the defendant is disabled in one arm due to an injury sustained at the Battle of Seven Pines.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from R. J. Catchings to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, informing Alcorn that certain persons had presented themselves for their court date and had paid their fines and damages and were then discharged, having learned their lesson in law and order.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from J. A. Manning to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, halting the payment of $5000.00 reward money for the capture of Tom and Berry Cartwright to Deputy Sheriff George Hunt. The letter states that it was not Hunt who apprehended the Cartwrights. Allegedly W. T. Botcler made the arrest of Berry Cartwright, and Tom Cartwright was in captivity but Hunt allowed him to escape.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Legal document from Henry Kirkwood, containing an indictment from the Grand Jury in Jackson County, Mississippi, in the case of the murder of William McFall. Document contains several jurors signatures on the back.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from C. Cummings to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn's private secretary H. F. Hewson, asking for Governor Alcorn to pardon a Mr. Riley who was convicted of stealing a watch and $70. Cummings believes Riley is innocent of these charges.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from S. J. Gholson to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn concerning Marion Lacey, the mayor of Aberdeen, Mississippi, who was indicted by the grand jury. Gholson suggests that Lacey is in Jackson, Mississippi, and should be arrested and sent back to Aberdeen to stand trial.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from J. C. Chandler to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, giving Alcorn his objections to a bill that determines the location or relocation of the Justice of Clarke County seat at Quitman, Mississippi.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Judge E. S. Fisher to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn Fisher, informing Alcorn of his concerns with trying a murder case in the absence of Captain Brady, who had recently been appointed as District Attorney, and thereby leaving the state without adequate representation for the trial.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Legislative document from Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn to the Senate and the House of Representatives, addressing the legislature with instructions for setting up the State's Judicial Districts and courts.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Clark Collection. Catalog entitled "Catalogue of the Library of the State of Mississippi" listing the holdings of the Mississippi State Library as of January 1865. The catalog contains alphabetized lists of legal reports from various states, elementary and miscellaneous law texts, legal codes, governmental documents from the United States and the individual states, and historical and literary texts. (This document is the enclosed catalog mentioned in mdah_768-950-05-05).

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 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 H. S. Van Eaton at Woodville, Mississippi, to R. J. Mathews, recounting the case of Elisha Boker and stating that he ought to have never been convicted, stating that the prosecutor had gone to the cabin of Boker looking for a woman that was staying there. When Elisha came out, the prosecutor tried to attack Elisha with a long piece of iron. Van Eaton claims Elisha defended himself with a knife, cutting the prosecutor. Van Eaton also accuses the witnesses in the case, all African Americans, of being prejudiced against Boker. Van Eaton requests executive clemency for Boker.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from James T. Coleman at Vicksburg, Mississippi, replying to an inquiry concerning the case against Parker Lacey. Coleman believes an injustice had been done by the conviction of Lacey, arguing that a companion of Lacey had been swindled out of some money and when Lacey went to recover the money from the alleged swindlers, they had Lacey arrested. Coleman believes that Lacey was convicted because he is an African American man and the alleged swindlers are white, and that Lacey's punishment was far beyond his offense.

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)

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from J. M. Pearson at Carrollton, Mississippi, to R. J. Mathews, concerning the 1868 case of an African American man named Allison Bibb, as Pearson was assigned to defend Bibb. Pearson makes the case for Bibb to receive clemency.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Executive document from Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, containing his response to the petition for executive clemency for Creed Taylor, in which he commutes Taylor's sentence of death to life imprisonment. (This document is a response to mdah_786-971-05-10).

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Owen McGarr at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to R. J. Mathews, concerning the Minor Coleman case tried before Judge Shackelford. McGarr states that the district attorney and most of the jury that convicted Coleman had subsequently signed a petition to have him pardoned during the summer of 1868, but for some reason then-Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames had not acted upon said petition. McGarr goes on to make a plea for Coleman to receive a pardon from Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn.