<title type="main">J. S. Withers to Nathaniel Gaither, Jr. Edition created from new transcripts of this manuscript. Initial upload of this work's facsimile images and metadata to FromThePage for editing Kentucky Historical Society Digital Collections Administrator of the CWGK Migration transcription project on FromThePage Kentucky Historical Society Digital Collections Kentucky Historical Society Digital Collections made 3 edits between June 22, 2025 and June 22, 2025. Dynamic TEI export from FromThePage (version 22.10)

This image and transcription is publicly accessible. The image appears courtesy of the repository named in the Source Description. The transcription and annotation were undertaken by Kentucky Historical Society staff, volunteers, and interns. If referencing this document title, accession number, and permanent URL.

 November 11, 2025 Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives Office of the Governor, Beriah Magoffin: Governor's Official Correspondence File, Civil Appointments, 1859-1862 KYR-0001-017-0212 MG4-122

Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky Nathaniel Gaither, Jr. (Adair County, Kentucky, attorney, sec of state, pvt 6th KY Cav CSA) N00002525 1835-01-01 1894-12-19 Categories: People

Adair County, Kentucky, attorney, statesman, and soldier. Adair County native. Son of Nathaniel Gaither and Martha Morrison Gaither. Married to Susan Shelby Magoffin Gaither on September 25, 1861. Resident of Adair County in 1850. Household owned eighteen enslaved persons in Adair County in 1850. Admitted to the bar in Adair County. School commissioner and county attorney. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1859 to 1861. Attorney in Adair County in 1860. Secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from October 2, 1861, to August 18, 1862. Served in the 6th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (C.S.A.) as a private.

Relationships Legal: Robert H. Thompson (Bourbon County) Political: Edwin McMasters Stanton (US attorney general and secretary of war) Political: Theodore Dehon Rand (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soldier and attorney) Military: Military Board of Kentucky Social: John Baylor Temple (Frankfort, Kentucky, banker and attorney; Preident of the Military Board of Kentucky) Social: Philip Swigert (Frankfort banker, Military Board member & secretary) Social: Willis Benson Machen (Lyon County, KY, attorney, farmer, iron manufacturer, and politician (KY & Confederate)) Social: Milton A. Cartwright (Caldwell County, Kentucky, farmer) Social: Thomas B. Wadlington (Caldwell County, Kentucky, farmer) Political: Caldwell County, Kentucky Political: Beriah Magoffin (Governor of Kentucky 1859-1862) Political: Office of the Secretary of State of Kentucky Political: Franklin County Court Political: James W. Tate ("Honest Dick" Asst. Sec of State 1859-1863) Political: Executive Department, Kentucky (U.S.A.) Legal: George W. Gwin (Frankfort, KY, mayor & councilman, merchant, JP) Legal: Thomas Barclay Harrison (Logan County, Kentucky, sheriff) Legal: Beriah Magoffin (Governor of Kentucky 1859-1862) Social: Joshua Burdett (Garrard County, Kentucky, attorney) Political: Joseph S. Burdett (Garrard County, Kentucky, farmer, newspaper editor, and notary public) Political: Luther R. Martin (Indianapolis, Indiana, clerk and real estate agent.) Political: William Y. Wiley (Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, real estate agent, broker, life insurance salesman, commissioner of deeds, and soldier) Political: Henry Martin (Providence County, Rhode Island, justice of the peace, notary public, and commissioner of deeds) Political: James E. Stone, Sr. (Hancock County, Kentucky, minister and court clerk.) Political: William R. Mason (Judge of the Hancock County, KY, Court) Political: Timothy Holmes (Hancock County, KY, physician & home guard soldier)

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Adair, District 1, p. 31A. Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Adair, District 1, p. 171. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Adair, Columbia, p. 90. Lewis Collins and Richard H. Collins, Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky, vol. 1 (Covington, KY: Collins & Co., 1874), 32. W. H. Perrin, J. H. Battle, and G. C. Kniffin, Kentucky: A History of the State, 5th ed. (Louisville and Chicago: F. A. Battey and Company, 1885), 862. Michael C. Watson, "An Adair County History," vol. 1 (2001), 71, 83, 221, 226. Roger Weightman Hanson (Fayette County, Kentucky, attorney and soldier.) N00017788 1827-08-27 1863-01-02 Categories: People

Fayette County, Kentucky, attorney and soldier. Clark County, Kentucky, native. Son of Samuel Hanson and Matilda Hickman Hanson. Married to Virginia Peters Hanson in Woodford County on November 15, 1853. Unsuccessful Democratic candidate for House of Representatives from Kentucky District 8 in 1857. Attorney in Fayette County in 1860. Owned one enslaved person in Fayette County in 1860. Household owned an additional three enslaved persons in Fayette County in 1860. Served in the 2nd Kentucky Infantry as first lieutenant in 1846. Served in the 1st Regiment Kentucky State Guard as commander, mustered in September 3, 1861. Served in the 2nd Kentucky Mounted Infantry Regiment (C.S.A.) as a colonel from September 2, 1861, to December 13, 1862. Captured at Fort Donelson, Stewart County, Tennessee, on February 16, 1862. Prisoner of war at Fort Warren, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, until July 31, 1862. Promoted to brigadier general on December 13, 1862. Killed in action at Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee, on January 2, 1863.

Relationships Military: McDowell Guard Military: Kentucky State Guard Military: James S. Withers (Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, merchant and cashier bank) Legal: John B. Major (Frankfort, Kentucky, state printer) Legal: Edward Henry Hobson (Green County, Kentucky, merchant, saddler, Brig. Genl) Legal: William H. Spencer (Adair County, Kentucky, druggist; adj, maj, lt colo, & colo 3rd Ky Inf USA) Legal: James Wilson (Henderson County, Kentucky, prisoner) Legal: William Gardner Capps (Rockcastle County, Kentucky, student and corporal (U.S.A.)) Legal: F. G. Nall (Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky, resident)

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, Lexington, p. 567. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, Lexington/3rd Ward, p. 59. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky, NARA RG 109, Microfilm Series M319, Roll 0083. Kentucky Marriage Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Woodford County Marriages, Film #000252320. William A. Penn, Kentucky Rebel Town: The Civil War Battles of Cynthiana and Harrison County (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2016), 18. William Terrell Lewis, Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America, From the Middle of the Seventeenth Century Down to the Present Time (Louisville: The Courier-Journal Printing Job, 1893), 168-169. James S. Withers (Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, merchant and cashier bank) N00017722 1830-09-04 1910-08-10 Categories: People

Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, merchant and bank cashier. Kentucky native. Son of William A. Withers. Married to Kittie Remington in Harrison County, Kentucky on June 16, 1856. Father of Eliza Withers. Merchant in Harrison County, Kentucky, in 1850. Bank cashier in Harrison County in 1860.

Relationships Military: McDowell Guard Military: Kentucky State Guard Political: Harrison County, Kentucky Political: Nathaniel Gaither, Jr. (Adair County, Kentucky, attorney, sec of state, pvt 6th KY Cav CSA)

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Harrison County, District 1, p. 62A. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Harrison County, Cynthiana, p. 582. Ninth Manuscript Census of the United States (1870), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Harrison County, Cynthiana, p. 178A. Kentucky Marriage Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Harrison County Marriages, Film #000216896, p. 93. Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records (1852-1910), KDLA, Frankfort, KY, Roll #994037, Harrison County Births, p. 181. Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records, Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau (Civil War), NARA RG 110, Harrison County, KY, June and July 1863, p. 452. "James S. Withers (1830-1910)," Find A Grave, Memorial #19481719, accessed June 16, 2022, http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19481719. Cynthiana, Kentucky P00005772 Categories: Places

Seat of Harrison County, Kentucky.

38.3904, -84.2941 Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky Place Names (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1987), 77. USGS: Earth Explorer, "Cynthiana, Kentucky," https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ (accessed on May 15, 2020). Kentucky P001800 Categories: Places

State in the upper south of the United States. Capital at Frankfort. Located on the Ohio River.

38.2009, -84.8733 "Frankfort, Kentucky," USGS: Earth Explorer, accessed June 14, 2019, https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. The Kentucky Encyclopedia, ed. John E. Kleber (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992). Harrison County, Kentucky P00002873 Categories: Places

County in northern Kentucky. Seat at Cynthiana.

38.3904, -84.2941 Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky Place Names (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1984), 132. “Cynthiana, Kentucky," USGS: Earth Explorer, accessed November 11, 2020, https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. Deposit Bank of Cynthiana O00018373 Categories: Organizations

Deposit bank located in Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky. President: John W. Peck (1859, 1860); Bank Cashier: J.S. Withers (1859, 1860).

Relationships Economic: James S. Withers (Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, merchant and cashier bank)

Philip A. Noff, "George W. Hawes' Kentucky State Gazetteer and Business Directory of 1859 and 1860," Harrison Heritage News, Vol. 10, No. 9 (September 2009), 4-7. McDowell Guard O00017786 1861-01-26 1861-07-16 Categories: Organizations

State militia organization from Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky. Organized in Cynthiana, Kentucky, from January 26, 1861, to July 16, 1861. Mustered as Company F, 2nd Kentucky Infantry (C.S.A.) on July 16, 1861. Commanders: Captain, W.S. Rogers; Captain, R.M. Kelley; 1st lieutenant, James S. Withers; 1st lieutenant, J.M. Givens; 2nd lieutenant, A. Welsh; 3rd lieutenant, O. Kennard.

William A. Penn, Kentucky Rebel Town: The Civil War Battles of Cynthiana and Harrison County (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2016), 20-21. Kentucky State Guard O00000303 1860-03-05 1865-03-04 Categories: Organizations

The volunteer and active militia from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Existed from 1860 to 1865. Commander(s): Simon Bolivar Buckner, John W. Finnell, Daniel W. Lindsey.

Relationships Military: 38th Regiment Kentucky Militia Military: Greenfield M. Witten (Floyd County, Kentucky, soldier, merchant, and businessman) Military: Alexander G. Hamilton (Floyd County, Kentucky, farmer and soldier) Military: Robert S. Friend (Floyd County, Kentucky, attorney and soldier) Military: Edwin Trimble (Floyd County, Kentucky, soldier) Military: Alexander L. Martin (Floyd County, Kentucky, farmer and soldier) Military: Beriah Magoffin (Governor of Kentucky 1859-1862) Military: George C. Hallet (Fulton Co, KY, colonel, county atty, and city judge) Military: W. Francis Buckner (Hickman, Kentucky, civil engineer) Military: George M. Wilburn (Hickman, Kentucky, carpenter) Military: John Boyle (Edgar County, Illinois, attorney, soldier, and Adjutant General.) Military: James Andrew Jackson Lee (Owingsville, Kentucky, merchant) Military: William Penrose Conner (Bath County, Kentucky, sheriff and soldier) Military: George W. Conner (Bath County, Kentucky, merchant and soldier) Military: John A. Turner, Jr. (Bath County, Kentucky, circuit clerk) Military: Benjamin Daniel Lacy (Owingsville, Kentucky, attorney & county atty) Military: Kentucky Home Guard Military: Francis M. Vaughn (Kentucky soldier) Military: John F. Lay (Breckinridge, KY, soldier) Military: Simon Bolivar Buckner (Kentucky inspector general and general CSA) Military: William Stewart (Clerk for Kentucky Inspector General) Military: James A. Stamper (Owsley County, Kentucky, farmer and soldier) Military: [unknown] Drerren (Soldier, 71st Regiment Kentucky Enrolled Militia) Military: Frederick B. Merimee (Lebanon, Kentucky, merchant) Military: William J. Lisle (Marion County, Kentucky, attorney & captain 10th KY Inf USA) Military: Wiley Taul Poynter (Clark County, Kentucky, farmer, banker, and soldier) Military: Office of the Quartermaster General of Kentucky Military: J. K. Edwards (Kentucky, aid to Bramletter, "colonel") Military: Willis Lago (Woodford County, Kentucky, fugitive from the law) Military: Thomas Bell Monroe, Jr. (Frankfort, KY, sec state Aug 30, 1859-Oct 1, 1861attorney, politician, CSA major) Military: Roger Weightman Hanson (Fayette County, Kentucky, attorney and soldier.) Military: John B. Major (Frankfort, Kentucky, state printer) Military: Edward Henry Hobson (Green County, Kentucky, merchant, saddler, Brig. Genl) Military: James Wilson (Henderson County, Kentucky, prisoner) Military: William Gardner Capps (Rockcastle County, Kentucky, student and corporal (U.S.A.)) Military: F. G. Nall (Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky, resident)

“An Act for the Better Organization of the Kentucky Militia,” Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed, vol 1 (Frankfort: J. B. Major, State Printer, 1860), 142-171. “Kentucky State Guard,” The Kentucky Encyclopedia, ed. John E. Kleber (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 513. Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky 1861-10-03 Correspondence English Version 1 of page "2": Changes to page transcript. Version 2 of page "1": Changes to page transcript. Version 1 of page "1": Changes to page transcript. Version 0 of page "2": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile. Version 0 of page "1": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile.
1

Deposit Bank of Cynthiana, Cynthiana, Ky., SeOctr 23rd 1861 Secty of state

My appointment as Notary Public for this County is about expiring, Please refer and have my commission renewed and I will, if you will state it forward you the required fee,

Will you be so kind as to enform me whether, Col Hanson forwarded my resignation as 1st Lieut in the "McDowell Guard" Ky State Guard, & if so whether the resignation was accepted

Very Ry J S Withers

2

Harrison Co Notary J S Withers

Confirmed Octr 4. 1861

147 191