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 November 11, 2025 Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives Office of the Governor, Thomas E. Bramlette: Governor's official correspondence file, petitions for pardons, remissions, and respites 1863-1867 KYR-0001-004-0130 BR8-196

Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky Thomas Elliott Bramlette (KY governor 1863-67, atty, D.A., col 3rd KY Inf) N001000 1817-01-03 1875-01-12 Categories: People

Twenty-third governor of Kentucky, attorney and soldier. Cumberland County, Kentucky, native. Married to Sallie Travis Bramlette in September 1837. Father of James T. Bramlette, William L. Bramlette, Eugene Bramlette, and Corrina Bell Bramlette. Practiced law in Clinton County, Kentucky, and Columbia, Kentucky. Represented Cumberland and Clinton counties in the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1841 to 1843. Commonwealth's attorney of the 8th Judicial District of Kentucky from 1848 to 1850. Owned two enslaved persons in 1850. Circuit judge of the 6th Judicial District of Kentucky from 1856 to 1861. Owned nine enslaved persons in 1860. Served as colonel of the 3rd Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment (U.S.A.) from 1861 to 1862. District attorney of the United States District Court for Kentucky in 1863. Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from September 1, 1863, to September 3, 1867. Owned law firm of Bramlette & Van Winkle in partnership with Ephraim L. Van Winkle.

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Clinton County, District No. 1, p. 181A. Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Clinton County, District No. 1, p. 335 (p. 2 of 2 on microfilm). Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Adair County, The Town of Columbia 1st Division, p. 13 (p. 2 of 3 on microfilm). Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville Ward 8, p. 83B. Ross A. Webb, “Thomas E. Bramlette (1863-1867)” in Lowell H. Harrison, ed., Kentucky’s Governors (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004), 93-97 Lowell H. Harrison, "Bramlette, Thomas Elliott" in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, John E. Kleber, ed. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 112-13. Caroline Dement (Tennessee/Louisville, KY, enslaved person, contraband, cook, and domestic servant) N002001 1842? Categories: People

Louisville, Kentucky, resident. Enslaved by John Dement in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Married to [Unknown] [Unknown], a contraband hired to work for Charles Levi in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1862. Fled as a contraband to Louisville in September 1862. Cook and domestic servant in the household of Willis Levi Jr., and Anna Levi from September 1862 to February 1863. Convicted of the murder of Blanche Levi in May 1863. Pardoned by Thomas E. Bramlette on September 24, 1863.

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedules, Tennessee, Rutherford County, Browns Mill township, p. 58. KYR-0001-020-0131. KYR-0001-020-0134. Blanche Levi (Louisville, Kentucky) N002006 1861-11? 1863-02 Categories: People

Louisville, Kentucky, native. Daughter of Anna and Willis Levi. Died from strychnine poisoning in February 1863.

KYR-0001-004-0131. Willis Levi, Jr. (Louisville, KY, steamboat engineer) N00000995 1836-09-21 1909-12-21 Categories: People

Louisville, Kentucky, steamboat engineer. Kentucky native. Son of Willis Levi. Married to Anna Stutsman Levi in Louisville on August 16, 1860. Father of Blanche Levi and Lillie Ernestine Levi. Student in Louisville in 1850. Family owned three enslaved persons in 1850. Steamboat engineer in Louisville in 1860. Family owned one enslaved person in 1860. Employed Caroline Dement as cook and domestic servant from September 1862 to February 1863.

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, Ward 8, p. 437B. Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, Ward 8, p. 4 of microfilm. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, Ward 8, p. 664. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, p. 61. Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, 11th Ward, p. 529A. Kentucky Marriage Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Jefferson County Marriages, Film #000819613, p. 412. Vital Statistics Original Death Certificates – Microfilm (1911-1964), KDLA, Roll #7017502: All Counties, Jefferson County Deaths File #17136, p. 642. Find A Grave, "Willis Levi, Jr (1836-1909)," Memorial #10423495, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104234952, (accessed August, 7, 2017). KYR-0001-004-0131. John Lapsley McKee (Louisville Presby. Reverend) N00002661 1827-02-16 1902 Categories: People

Louisville, Kentucky, Presbyterian minister. Garrard County native. Married to Sarah Henry Speake McKee. Father of William J. McKee, Mary McKee, Sarah L. McKee, and Samuel McKee. Graduated Centre College with a degree in literature in 1850 and from Theological Seminary in 1854. Taught school in Boyle County from 1849 to 1854 and in Columbia from 1855 to 1859. Pastor of Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church in Louisville from 1859 to 1871.

The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century (Cincinnati: J. M. Armstrong & Company, 1878), 288. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Adair County, Town of Columbia Division 1, p. 2. Find A Grave, "John Lapsley McKee (1827-1902)," Memorial #42523010, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42523010&ref=acom (accessed August, 8, 2017). William K. Thomas (Jefferson County, Kentucky, jailer) N00000994 1816-11-01 1870-09-11 Categories: People

Jefferson County, Kentucky, jailer. Kentucky native. Married to Elizabeth B. Davis Thomas in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on October 31, 1839. Father of Catharine Thomas, Mary Thomas, Henry C. Thomas, Ellen Thomas, and William K. Thomas. Resident of Jefferson County in 1850. Owned eleven enslaved persons in Jefferson County in 1850. Jailer in Jefferson County in 1860. Arrested on suspicion of membership in the "Sons of Liberty" in Louisville in August 1864.

Relationships Political: Franklin Gorin (Jefferson Co, Ky, attorney) Legal: Robert Jackson Elliott (Louisville, Kentucky, city attorney and councilman) Legal: Casper August Kromer (Jefferson County, Kentucky, resident, tavern owner, and Freemason) Legal: Lowdy Howard (Jefferson County, Kentucky, apprentice ship carpenter, tobacconist and soldier) Legal: Jefferson Rogers (Alleged murderer and criminal in Jefferson County, Kentucky) Legal: George Ridgeway (Jefferson County, Kentucky, soldier and petty criminal.)

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, District 1, p. 113B. Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, District 1, p. 749. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, 6th Ward, p. 249. Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, 9th Ward, p. 249B. The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1864 (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1865), 453. Kentucky Marriage Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Jefferson County Marriages, Film 000482706. “W. K. Thomas, Deceased: Tribute of Respect to His Memory,” Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), September 14, 1870, p. 4. "William K. Thomas, Sr (1816-1870)," Find A Grave, Memorial 143115367, accessed August 7, 2017, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143115367. KYR-0001-004-2728. KYR-0001-029-0572. George W. Johnston (Louisville, KY, attorney, politician, and judge) N00001155 1807? 1877? Categories: People

Louisville, Kentucky, attorney, politician, and judge. Shelby County, Kentucky, native. Married to Lucy A. Guy Johnston in Shelby County, Kentucky, on November 28, 1828. Father of George G. Johnston. Married to Rosa A. Johnston. Father of John C. Johnston, Louisa Johnston, Eliza Johnston, Henry S. Johnston, Florence Johnston, George W. Johnston and Rosey Johnston. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from Shelby County in 1829 and 1832. Member of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from Shelby County from 1838 to 1842. Delegate to the 1849 Kentucky Constitutional Convention from Shelby County. Attorney in Shelby County in 1850. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from Shelby County in 1850. Judge of the Louisville City Court from 1854 to 1865. Elected circuit judge of the 7th Judicial District of Kentucky in Jefferson County in August 1865.

Relationships Political: Beriah Magoffin (Governor of Kentucky 1859-1862) Legal: Seventh Judicial District of Kentucky Political: James C. Gill (stub, Louisville) Legal: Frederick Wobbe (Louisville Deputy County Clerk) Legal: William L. Gray, Jr (Louisville) Legal: Horatio Fleming Simrall (Jefferson County, KY, attorney and law professor, offered VP of prov govt) Legal: Jefferson Brown (AKA Jeff. Brown, Louisville/New Albany attorney) Legal: John Joyce (Louisville, Kentucky, attorney and prov govt rep) Legal: James G. Gorsuch (Jefferson County, Kentucky, printer and soldier) Legal: Louis B. Bates (Jefferson County, Kentucky, physician) Legal: Abraham P. Gorsuch (Jefferson County, Kentucky, steamboat engineer and printer) Legal: William R. Hydes (Louisville, Kentucky, plasterer and city marshal) Legal: John McClure () Legal: William Banks (Louisville, Kentucky, resident) Legal: Squire Caple (Jefferson County, Kentucky, cooper and soldier.) Legal: Joseph F. Woods (Jefferson County, Kentucky. Kentucky native.) Legal: Benjamin Woods (Jefferson County, Kentucky.) Political: John Watkins Crockett, Jr. (McCracken & Henderson cos, KY, attorney and representative (Confederate)) Political: George Baird Hodge (Kentucky attorney, soldier CSA, Rep to congress (prov gov & CSA)) Political: Samuel S. Scott (Boone Co, KY, physician & surgeon, Prov govt ) Political: Willis Benson Machen (Lyon County, KY, attorney, farmer, iron manufacturer, and politician (KY & Confederate)) Political: Provisional Council Social: George Wolf (Louisville, Kentucky, jeweler) Social: Carter Woodford Tiller (Louisville, Kentucky, policeman and deputy city marshal) Social: W. Heffernan (Unknown (Jefferson County)) Social: J. A. Thomas (Louisville petition signer for Bridget Kearney) Social: Joseph C. Ellis (Louisville, Jefferson County, clerk) Social: Eugene Dougherty (Louisville, Jefferson County, shoemaker ) Social: James Treasy (Louisville, Kentucky, saddler) Social: John Koch (Signed a petition on behalf of Bridget Kearney in Louisville, Kentucky.) Social: A. Loeser (Signed a petition on behalf of Bridget Kearney in Louisville, Kentucky. ) Social: George Johnson (Unknown (Jefferson County, composite bio)) Social: James O'Neal (Signed a petition on behalf of Bridget Kearney in Louisville, Kentucky.) Social: John J. McDevitt (Louisville, Jefferson County, minister) Social: James McDermott (Louisville, Kentucky, grocer) Social: James Ryder (Signed a petition on behalf of Bridget Kearney in Louisville, Kentucky.) Social: James C. Gill (Jefferson County, Kentucky, coroner) Social: Joseph Clement (Jefferson County, Kentucky, attorney and justice of the peace) Social: Michael Dawson (Jefferson County, tavern keeper) Social: George A. Blenner (Louisville, Jefferson County, resident) Social: Augustus G. Schmidt (Louisville, Kentucky, druggist) Social: Samuel Birch (Louisville, Jefferson Co., provision dealer) Political: Hervey Seaton (Louisville, Jefferson County, day policeman - 6th Ward) Political: Martin Corcoran (Louisville, Jefferson County, tinner) Political: Thomas Slevin (Louisville, Kentucky, dry goods merchant. ) Political: William R. Hydes (Louisville, Kentucky, plasterer and city marshal) Political: William McGuire (Louisville, Kentucky, police officer) Political: Thomas P. Cain (Louisville, Jefferson County, dry goods merchant) Social: Richard Cunningham (Jefferson County, KY, cook/criminal) Social: Jane Cunningham (Jefferson County, KY, seamstress) Social: Conrad Shroeder (Jefferson County, Kentucky) Political: Louisville Police Court Social: Clarinda Tackett Rasure (Julia Dean) (Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, sex worker and madam.) Social: Sally White (Jefferson County, Kentucky, washer woman.) Social: William E. Curry (Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, policeman.) Social: Jesse Franklin Hammon (Jefferson County, Kentucky, ship carpenter and policeman) Social: Hezekiah Alexander Jr. (Meade County, Kentucky, resident. ) Political: James H. Montgomery (Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, tailor. )

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Shelby County, District 2, p. 369B. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedule, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville, Ward 5, p 221. Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Louisville Ward 11, pp. 495B-96A. History of the Ohio Falls Cities and their Counties, vol. 1 (Cleveland: L. A. Williams & Co., 1882), 511-12. John M. Palmer, Personal Reflections of John M. Palmer: The Story of an Earnest Life (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1901), 243. Kentucky Marriage Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Shelby County Marriages, Film 000259285. Lewis Collins and Richard H. Collins, Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky, vol. 2 (Covington, KY: Collins & Co., 1874), 709. "George W Johnston (unknown-1877)," Find A Grave, Memorial 150314903, accessed March 3, 2017, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150314903. Louisville, Kentucky P00000337 Categories: Places

Seat of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Located on the Ohio River.

38.2527, -85.7585 "Louisville, Kentucky," USGS: Earth Explorer, accessed June 12, 2019, https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky Place Names (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1987), 179. Louisville City Court O001838 1850 Categories: Organizations

Police court with jurisdiction in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. Judge(s): George W. Johnston. City Attorney(s): William G. Reasor, Robert J. Elliott. Clerk(s): Oliver H. Strattan (1861), J. Phillip Tomppert, Jr.

Annual Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Kentucky, for the Fiscal Year Ending October 10, 1861, Legislative Document Series, No. 1 (Frankfort, KY: Jno. B. Major, State Printer, 1862), 303-08. Annual Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Kentucky, for the Fiscal Year Ending October 10, 1862, Legislative Document Series, No. 24 (Frankfort, KY: Wm. E. Hughes, State Printer, 1863), 298-306. Annual Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Kentucky, for the Fiscal Year Ending October 10, 1863, Legislative Document Series, No. 10 (Frankfort, KY: Wm. E. Hughes, State Printer, 1864), 301-06. Annual Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Kentucky, for the Fiscal Year Ending October 10, 1865, Legislative Document Series, No. 1 (Frankfort, KY: George D. Prentice, State Printer, 1866), 9-12. Annual Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Kentucky, for the Fiscal Year Ending October 10, 1866, Legislative Document Series, No. 1 (Frankfort, KY: John H. Harney, Public Printer, 1866), 347-50. Edwards’ Annual Director to the Inhabitants, Institutions, Incorporated Companies, Manufacturing Establishments, Business Firms, Etc., Etc., in the City of Louisville for 1865-6, ed. Edwards, Greenough, & Deved (Louisville: Maxwell & Co., 1866), 155. J. D. Campbell’s Louisville Business Directory for 1864, ed. J. D. Campbell (Louisville: L. A. Civill, Publisher, Bookseller, Printer and Bookbinder, 1864), 70. Tanner’s Louisville Directory, and Business Advertiser for 1861, ed. Henry Tanner (Louisville: Directory Publication and Advertising Agency, 1861), 323-24. Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky 1863-09-02 Correspondence English Version 1 of page "1": Changes to page transcript. Version 2 of page "1": Changes to page transcript. Version 0 of page "1": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile.
1

Louisville KySeptr 2d 1863. His Excellency T. E. Bramlett Dr. Sir.

The negro woman Caroline now under sentence for poisoning the child of Mr Levy; was Examined in the city ^court^ & she was held over to answer, the Testimony showing probable cause to suspect her guilty- I was not present at the final Trial & did not hear the Testimony given to the Jury. but from the Statement of the Rev. Mr McKee, of the Jailor & Several others who heard the Trial & have had an opportunity to converse with Caroline since she has been sentenced, I have become satisfied that there is to say the least great doubt of her Guilt; and that her case presents strong grounds for Executive Interference.

I. am Dr sir Very respectfully

Geo. W. Johnston.