Louisville, Jany 21", 1864.
Dear Sir,

Allow me to introduce to you Mr^s Philip Byerback of this city, whose son was yesterday in the circuit court convicted of Malicious stabbing & Whose husband I have known for twenty years, & who is as brave, gallant & loyal a man as can be found anywhere. I appeared as his council in Sept 1863 before the Judge of the Police Court- Judge Johnston- b the Judge was about to discharge, & would have discharged him, if it had been shown, as it could have been, that the man who was stabbed could have gone to the Police Court- The character of the young man was abun-

dantly proved before the Police Judge & was very admirable, both for sobriety & amiability. I was taken sick last Saturday night & have not been off of my back since, & am utterly unable to sit up & had to ask my nephew, A Q Pope, to attend to the case for me, who reported the prooff that had been adduced both against & for him, & I was surprised to hear how much the witnesses for the former had colored their testimony they delivered before the Police Court, & how the latter had forgoted In brief - Joseph F. Sanniger, a young stone cutter, & Byerback were attracted by the music of a serenade near the home of the latter, went to the house & were ordered away

They went away peacably & quietly making no noisy demonstrations whatever, & on the way down Byerback was knocked into the street & rose from the gutter, into which he had fallen, & said "if thats what you want, come on" & the man hallowed "I am cut"- The man stabbed is largely superior to Byerback in strength, muscle & size- I understand he swore in the Circuit Court that he neither struck, nor pushed Byerback, until after Byerback cut him, & then only he pushed him. In Police Court the opposite was shown & I saw myself on the throat of Byerback the marks of a blow a blow on the between the chin & the ear, sufficient to have knocked down any man or beast In my judgement the conviction

is wrong. I say it to you Govenor as a gentleman, lawyer & a christian. May I ask your interference I am yet unable ^to sit up^ & my nephew Mr. Pope writes this for me.

I have the honor to be Your Obt. sevt
Hamilton Pope

Thos. E. Bramlette
Gov. of Ky.
Frankfort, Ky.