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.