Petition

William R. Covington et al. to Beriah Magoffin

1861-03-07

Date of Creation
March 7, 1861
Place of Creation
Warren County, Kentucky
Document Genre
Petition
Repository
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
Collection
Office of the Governor, Beriah Magoffin: Governor's Official Correspondence File, Petitions for Pardons and Remissions, 1859-1862
Box / Folder
MG19-249 to MG19-250
CWGK Accession Number
KYR-0001-020-0794
Rights
This image and its transcription are freely available to the public. Images appear courtesy of Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Transcriptions and annotations were created by Kentucky Historical Society staff, volunteers, and interns. When referencing this document, please use our preferred citation.; The use of transcriptions, images, or annotations from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce any material on CWGK is required.
FTP Identifier
32209202

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Dates
1861-03-07
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Citation

William R. Covington et al. to Beriah Magoffin, 1861-03-07, Office of the Governor, Beriah Magoffin: Governor's Official Correspondence File, Petitions for Pardons and Remissions, 1859-1862, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Accessed via the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, https://discovery.civilwargovernors.org/document/KYR-0001-020-0794 (November 14, 2026).

[Page 1]

To His Excellency B. Magoffin
Governor of Kentucky.

The undersigned were jurors upon the Trial of Rufus Jones at the late term of the Warren Ecquity & Criminal Court and found him guilty of ^the^ Manslaughter of Henry Jenkins & fixed his imprisonment at four years. We did not believe the killing was done with malice, but under sudden heat & passion & hence our verdict — Yet, altogether we thought under the law we were compelled to find this verdict, the youth of Jury, the connection between the two families, the intimacy & kindness between the Jury & the deceased, and the total absence of anything like a malicious heart induce us to ask that your Excellency will interpose as the Constitution empowers you & relieve him from the punishment which he must otherwise suffer —

Most Respectfully
Wm R Covington
Wm. M. Breedlove
R D Neale
L. P. Arnold
J. B. Posey
J M Thompson

[Page 2]

R. S. Scott
T. H. Billingsley
W E Miller

State of Kentucky
Warren County Sct

J L L Cooke Clerk of the Warren Equity & Criminal Court certify that the nine names affixed to the above instrument of [...] are nine out of the twelve Jurors who served w/in the Jury in the trail of Rufus Jones and I further certify that J M Andrew Thomas Ellis & Benjamin Hester were the other there making the twelve Sworn under my hand this 7th March 1861.

LLCooke