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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, Apprehension of Fugitives from Justice Papers, 1863-1867 KYR-0001-005-0114 BR7-184 to BR7-185

Marion, Crittenden 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. James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) N00006095 1838? Categories: People

Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla. Served in the 20th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment (U.S.A.) as a sergeant and lieutenant from January 6, 1862, to January 17, 1864. Accused of alleged guerilla activity in Crittendon County in 1865. Indicted for burglary, larceny, murder, and robbery, in Crittenden County in 1865. Fugitive from justice in November 1865.

Relationships Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Kentucky, NARA RG 94, Microfilm Series M397, Roll 0330. KYR-0001-004-2755. KYR-0001-004-3181. KYR-0001-004-3472. KYR-0001-005-0114. KYR-0001-006-0089. KYR-0001-009-0046. William Knight (Crittenden County) N00006096 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. James Metlock (Crittenden County) N00006097 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. William Simpson (Crittenden County) N00006098 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. Alfred Lawson (farmer, Crittenden County) N00006099 1825? Categories: People

Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer. Kentucky native. Farmer in Crittenden County in 1860.

Relationships Legal: James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Crittenden, District 1, p. 50. Leason Lawson (Crittenden County) N00006100 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: William Simpson (Crittenden County) Legal: James B. Williams (Crittenden County) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. James B. Williams (Crittenden County) N00006101 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) Legal: William Simpson (Crittenden County) Legal: Alfred Lawson (farmer, Crittenden County) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. Hiram Jones (farmer, Crittenden County) N00006102 1833? Categories: People

Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer. Kentucky native. Married to Prissa C. Jones. Farmer in Crittenden County in 1860.

Relationships Legal: Leason Lawson (Crittenden County) Legal: William Simpson (Crittenden County) Legal: James B. Williams (Crittenden County) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Crittenden, District 1, p. 39. David Ellis (farm laborer, Crittenden County) N00006103 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. John Hall (Crittenden County, Kentucky) N00006104 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

Relationships Legal: David Ellis (farm laborer, Crittenden County) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

KYR-0001-005-0114. William Mitchell (Livingston County, Kentucky, farmer) N00006105 1832-03-05 1907-12-05 Categories: People

Livingston County, Kentucky, farmer. Son of James M Mitchell and Nancy Mitchell. Married to Mary E. Mitchell.

Relationships Legal: James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) Legal: James B. Williams (Crittenden County) Legal: Alfred Lawson (farmer, Crittenden County) Legal: Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.)

Tenth Manuscript Census of the United States (1880), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Livingston, District 80, p. 14B. Find A Grave, "William Mitchell (March 5, 1832-December 5, 1907)," Memorial #67937599, http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67937599 (accessed [January 31, 2018). Wiley Pulliam (Crittenden County) N00006106 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

KYR-0001-005-0114. G. J. Martin (Crittenden County) N00006107 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

KYR-0001-005-0114. James Beard (Hardin County, Illinois) N00006108 Categories: People

Appeared in a letter from Wiley P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette on November 10, 1865, in which he is stated to have received a court indictment and fled to Hardin County, Illinois.

KYR-0001-005-0114. George Parrish (Crittenden County, Kentucky, resident) N00006109 1841-07-25 1907-02-16 Categories: People

Crittenden County, Kentucky, resident. Kentucky native. Married to Vinecia C. Parrish. Resident in Crittenden County in 1860.

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Crittenden, West Half of County, p. 28. Find A Grave, “George W. Parrish (July 25, 1841-February 16, 1907),” Memorial #76808790, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=76808790 (accessed June 5, 2017). Wiley P. Fowler (Livingston County, Kentucky, attorney and judge) N00006111 1799-09-02 1881-12-11 Categories: People

Livingston County, Kentucky, attorney and judge. Tennessee native. Married Sarah S. Barnett Fowler in Livingston County, Kentucky, on February 15, 1848. Father of White Fowler, Gustavas Fowler, and William Fowler. Circuit Judge in Livingston County, Kentucky, in 1850. Owned twenty-four enslaved persons in Livingston County in 1850. Attorney in Livingston County in 1860. Owned twenty-five enslaved persons in Livingston County in 1860. Judge for the 14th Judicial District of Kentucky from 1861 to 1866.

Relationships Legal: George Parrish (Crittenden County, Kentucky, resident) Legal: James Beard (Hardin County, Illinois) Legal: G. J. Martin (Crittenden County) Legal: Wiley Pulliam (Crittenden County) Legal: William Mitchell (Livingston County, Kentucky, farmer) Legal: John Hall (Crittenden County, Kentucky) Legal: David Ellis (farm laborer, Crittenden County) Legal: Hiram Jones (farmer, Crittenden County) Legal: James B. Williams (Crittenden County) Legal: Leason Lawson (Crittenden County) Legal: Alfred Lawson (farmer, Crittenden County) Legal: William Simpson (Crittenden County) Legal: James Metlock (Crittenden County) Legal: William Knight (Crittenden County) Legal: James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) Social: [Unknown] Clay (Mentioned in a letter from Wylie P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette in 1865.) Social: [Unknown] Barnett (Mentioned in a letter from Wylie P. Fowler to Thomas E. Bramlette in 1865.) Political: Oliver P. Morton (Fourteenth governor of Indiana, attorney, judge, and politician.) Political: Beriah Magoffin (Governor of Kentucky 1859-1862) Legal: George Frederick "Fred" Pentecost (Christian County, Kentucky, clerk, soldier, minister.) Legal: Fourteenth Judicial District of Kentucky Legal: Henderson Circuit Court Legal: Tingnal J. Hopkins (Henderson County, Kentucky, farmer and bookkeeper.)

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Livingston County, Smithland, p. 384A. Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Livingston County, Livingston. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Livingston County, Division 3, p. 333. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Livingston County, Division 3, p. 367A. Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Livingston County, District 1, p. 244B. 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), 304. 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), 304. 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), 304. Annual Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Kentucky, for the Fiscal Year Ending October 10, 1864, Legislative Document Series, No. 1 (Frankfort, KY: George D. Prentice, State Printer, 1865), 10. 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), 354. Kentucky Marriage Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Livingston County Marriages, Film 000318176. “Judge Wiley Paul Fowler (1799-1881),” Find A Grave, Memorial 73630120, accessed May 17, 2023, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73630120. Jonathan Belt (Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and captain 15th KY Cav USA) N00006112 1821-10-21 1882-12-29 Categories: People

Crittenden County, Kentucky, farmer and soldier. Tennessee native. Married to Mary P. Wilson Belt in Livingston County, Kentucky, on January 18, 1841. Father of Sarah J. Belt, Harriett C. Belt, James P. Belt, William B. Belt, John M. Belt, Claiborne Belt, Mary R. Belt, Theoderick B. Belt, Martha B. Belt, and Melvina Belt. Farmer in Crittenden County in 1850. Farmer in Crittenden County in 1860. Served in the 15th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (U.S.A.) as captain from October 6, 1862, to October 29, 1863.

Relationships Legal: Wiley P. Fowler (Livingston County, Kentucky, attorney and judge) Legal: George Parrish (Crittenden County, Kentucky, resident) Legal: James Beard (Hardin County, Illinois) Legal: G. J. Martin (Crittenden County) Legal: Wiley Pulliam (Crittenden County) Legal: William Mitchell (Livingston County, Kentucky, farmer) Legal: John Hall (Crittenden County, Kentucky) Legal: David Ellis (farm laborer, Crittenden County) Legal: Hiram Jones (farmer, Crittenden County) Legal: James B. Williams (Crittenden County) Legal: Leason Lawson (Crittenden County) Legal: Alfred Lawson (farmer, Crittenden County) Legal: William Simpson (Crittenden County) Legal: James Metlock (Crittenden County) Legal: William Knight (Crittenden County) Legal: James Guess (Crittenden County, Kentucky, soldier and alleged guerilla.) Legal: Richard James Oglesby (Fourteenth governor of the State of Illinois, soldier, attorney, and politician.) Military: 15th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (U.S.A.) Military: Albert P. Henry (Lyon Co, Ky, lt col15th KY cavalry USA) Military: 48th Kentucky Volunteer Mounted Infantry Regiment (U.S.A.) Social: James B. Gaines (Shelby County, Kentucky, and Smithland, Kentucky, physician)

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Crittenden County, District 1, p. 245A. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Crittenden, West Half of County, p. 381. Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Illinois, Hardin County, Cave in Rock, p. 4A. Kentucky Marriage Records, 1783-1965, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Livingston County Marriages, 1822-1877, Film #000318176, p. 16, p. 35 of 257 of microfilm (accessed via Ancestry.com). Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky, vol. 1, 1861-1866 (Frankfort: Kentucky Yeoman Office, 1866), p. 397. Find A Grave, “Capt Jonathan Belt (1821-1882),” Memorial #87254771, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87254771 (accessed June 5, 2017). Marion, Kentucky P00001367 Categories: Places

Seat of Crittenden County, Kentucky.

37.3328, -88.0811 Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky Place Names (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1987), 188. Crittenden County, Kentucky P00006094 Categories: Places

Seat at Marion. Located on the Ohio River.

37.3674, -88.0901 Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky Place Names (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1984), 72. USGS: Earth Explorer, "Crittenden County, Kentucky," https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ (accessed on September 5, 2019). Hardin County, Illinois P00006110 Categories: Places

County seat at Elizabethtown, Illinois.

37.4459, -88.305 Hardin County Tourism Online, “History,” http://www.hardincountyil.org/history.htm; Arthur A. Miles, “Hardin County, Illinois,” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 24, No. 2 (July, 1921). Illinois P00004765 Categories: Places

State in the midwestern region of the United States. Capital at Springfield. Located on the Ohio River and Mississippi River.

39.8017, -89.6437 Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, ed., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois (Chicago: Munsell Publishing Company, 1918), p. 241, 258. Roger D. Bridges and Rodney O. Davis, Illinois: Its History and Legacy (St. Louis: River City Publishers, 1984). “Springfield, Illinois," USGS: Earth Explorer, accessed February 26, 2020, https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky 1865-11-10 Correspondence English Version 1 of page "2": Changes to page transcript. Version 2 of page "1": Changes to page transcript. Version 2 of page "2": Changes to page transcript. Version 0 of page "2": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile. Version 1 of page "1": Changes to page transcript. Version 0 of page "1": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile.
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MarionCrittenden County Ky Nov. 10th 1865.

Gov. Bramlett Dear Sir

The grand jury of this County have just returned in court indictments against James Guess William Knight, James Metlock, William Simpson, Alfred Lawson, Leason Lawson, James B Williams, Hiram Jones, David Ellis, John Hall, William Michell, Wiley Pullum G. J. Martin, James Beard and George Parrish: for murder robbery burglary and larceny, and against some of them for these offenses several times repeated

About the commencement of this court they fled from this State and are now as I have been informed and have no doubt in. Hardin County Illinois and are now engaged in stealing horses and mules constantly from this side of the river

The object in view, is to have them arrested by the authorities of Illinois and brought here

If you can effect the requisition by Teligraph the better, as speedy action is all important, I trust this will be done with the least possible delay. It is believed, and in which opinion I concur, that the lives of some of the grand jury, witnesses and

2

many of othe Citizens will be in great jeopardy immediately after court should they not be at once arrested.

I have already provided to the citizens in that county the warrants of arrest that they may know what is going on and to get them to make the arrests at once, giving them assurances that these acts would be sustained by a requisition

I am dear sir most truly your friend & obt st W. P. Fowler

P. S Please find copies of indictments enclosed herewith, I would name Capt. Jonathan Beltof Hardin County Illinois as a proper agent should arrests be made

Would it be amiss to offer a reward for Guess?

W. P. Fowler