From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from W. S. Cannon to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, concerning the possibility of the Ku Klux Klan members of Union County, Mississippi being convicted of their crimes.

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. 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 W. F. Tucker to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, giving Alcorn his thoughts on why the assassins of Taylor Hill have not been arrested.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Legal document from William S. Patton, including several items stuck together from Lauderdale County, Mississippi, concerning the deposition of W. S. Patton and his statement of how he came to find the bodies of several men of color who had been murdered.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from A. Hunt to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting help in the matter of his brothers murder. Hunt claims that he has spent all of his money trying to get justice and feels as if he has not received justice yet and asks the Governor to look into the situation.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from S. M. Meek to Judge Jehu Amaziah Orr, with statements concerning the assassination of Taylor Hill, esq.,. Other statements are included written by Barry Matthews and W. W. Humphries.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from Judge Jehu Amaziah Orr to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, concerning H. T. Hill esq., who seems to have been assassinated. The letter details how Hill had been lured away from Columbus, Mississippi, by his college friend and then ambushed by four men.

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. Letter B. F. Moore at Meridian, Mississippi, addressed to "the Speaker of the Senate", asking that the changes the Mississippi Legislature made that affect county clerks be put in pamphlet form and sent out immediately.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Letter from T. V. Noland at Woodville, Mississippi, to R. J. Mathews, recounting from memory the case of Res. Smith and stating that the two counts of larceny and burglary were weighed against Smith circumstantially. Although Smith was in possession of some of the items, Noland believes he most likely did not steal them. Noland states that Smith should be pardoned as he has fully atoned for his crime.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Report from William Morest at Grenada, Mississippi, to L. M. Hall, chief of the Mississippi Secret Service, stating what part of the state he is working in. He also states that the officials from several counties are cooperating with him in his investigation into the assassination of W. F. Brantley, mayor of Winona, Mississippi, and his tracking of fugitives who have escaped from jail in those counties. He recounts his conversation with Brantley's widow. Morest further explains his intentions to carry out the investigation.

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 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 H. Murphy to R. J. Mathews, recounting the details of the case of Isham Walton, whom he defended, and stating that Walton was convicted of assault with the intent to kill. According to witnesses, Walton was said to have been holding a gun carelessly when it went off by accident. Murphy states that he believes the punishment for Walton was unjust. There is also a statement at the end of this letter from W. L. Walton pleading for the release of Isham Walton.

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.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Legal document from Frank Halliday, clerk of the criminal court of Warren County, Mississippi, showing an order of judgement from the court stating that Robert Woods has been found guilty of the charge of murder and is sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence is to be carried out on April 30, 1870.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Clark Collection. Letter from Mississippi Attorney General T. J. Wharton at Jackson, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark, concerning county sheriffs who are in default on the collection of taxes.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Alcorn Collection. Petition from E. D. Clark and R. Booth, counsel for Creed Taylor, to Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn, requesting clemency for Taylor, who was convicted of the 1868 murder of Henry Markham. (Alcorn's response to this petition is mdah_786-971-05-12).

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Clark Collection. Petition from several citizens of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark, asking that Burwell Jones be pardoned for selling spirituous liquors of less than one gallon to an enslaved person.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Clark Collection. Petition from several citizens and civil officers of Madison County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark, asking that William H. Cassel, a druggist, be pardoned for his conviction of selling liquor without a license. (This document is the enclosed petition mentioned in mdah_768-950-08-01).