To His Excellency the Governor of Kentucky:

Your petitioner, Robert Blanks, would respectfully state that he was indicted in the City Court of Louisville, together with one Andrew Lennox upon a joint charge of interfering with a policeman in the discharge of his duty — s^d policeman at the time being about to arrest an acquaintance of your petitioner for an alledged misdemeanor, viz: "drunkeness & assaulting Washington King." Your petitioners co-deft, Lennox, it was reported, had died & the case was therefore abated as to him; but on the 4^th day of March 1861, while your petitioner was confined to his bed with illness, the case was tried & no one appearing for him a verdict of guilty as charged in the indictment was returned against your petitioner, assessing a fine of one cent & six months' imprisonment in the County jail, which was the least punishment fixed by law upon the indictment — But your petitioner is satisfied that if he could have been present to Explain the case to the jury, no verdict of guilty would have been returned against him. It is true that your petitioner did remonstrate with the officer & interceded with him not to arrest the man as he was no wilful violater of the law; and the assault was only one blow & this was a slight one & given while your petitioners acquaintance was under the inlfuence of liquor — but no injury was done.

This intercession may have been regarded, but was not intended as an interference with the officer — the arrest was not prevented, & Even when the case heard, it turned out to be a trivial affair. In consideration of the premises

and forasmuch as your petitioner is a poor man & his wife & six children dependent on him for support & he still confined to his bed with illness — and further as it would be attended with Expense to the Commonwealth to keep him in confinement — your petitioner humbly prays your Excellency by appropriate order to relieve your petitioner from the imprisonment; & as in duty bound, he ever will &^c.

Robert. Blanks

We concur with petitioner & join with him in his prayer.

Louisville City Ct
Remitted
Six months Imp^t.
Rob^t Blanks
Iss^dMar 14. 1861

Louisville Ky March 9/61
Hon B Mcgoffin

It will do no good to put this man in Jail for 6 months unless it shall be found in the cost for his support

It would be well to let him out he wil not transgress again. He is one of mypooroppressedclients, never paid me any fees, but let him out he may make something & pay — so you see I am personally interested —

Respectfully
C D Pennebaker