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.