<title type="main">John D. Williams to Beriah Magoffin 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)

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 November 11, 2025 Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives Office of the Governor, Beriah Magoffin: Governor's Official Correspondence File, Petitions for Pardons and Remissions, 1859-1862 KYR-0001-020-0538 MG18-329 to MG18-330

Greensburg, Green County, Kentucky Greensburg, Green County, Kentucky Petition English Version 1 of page "4": Changes to page transcript. Version 0 of page "4": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile. Version 1 of page "2": Changes to page transcript. Version 0 of page "3": Empty transcript -- probably initial upload of page facsimile. 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.
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State of Kentucky Green County Greensburg To his Excellency Beriah Magoffin Governor of Kentucky

Your petitioner John D Williams a resident of the said county would respectfully represent that at the last august term of the Green circuit court. he was fined sixty dollars and cost for the alledged offence of Keeping a tipling house

He states to your Excellency that the fine upon him is heavy and oppressive

He states that he is not guilty of the offence for which he has been fined

He declares most positively that he was not at any time engaged in in retailing or selling ardent spirits and had no hand in the sale, nor was he in any way interested in the sale of ardent spirits as charged in the ^indictment^ against him nor at any other time He states that he is afflicted and disabled from performing hard labor and he has a large family of children to support or care for. & Some of his children are afflicted and almost unable to help themselves He states that he is very poor and wholly unable to pay said fine All he has in the world would not be sufficient to raise the required sum He states that he has one child who is of age and who occupies a house on the same farm with your petitioner and who did retail ardent spirits This child was not under the control of your petitioner nor was the house occupied by this child under his control But so it is your ^petitioner^ was made to answer for the alledged selling and fined therefor, when in truth he had nothing to do with it in any way and it is for this selling and no other that your petitioner was fined He states that the attorney for the comth (Andy Barnett) was so well satisfied of the injustice of said fine that he forthwith ^gave^ your petitioner

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a full acquittance of his share of the same Wherefore he prays your Excellency to remit said fine and release him from its payment

John D Williams

We the undersigned citizens of Green County would state to your Excellency that we are well acquainted with J D Williams and we believe the statements in the foregoing petition to be true We know that he is wholly unable to pay said fine We would further state that that he is old and infirm and unable to maintain his family and could only satisfy the fine by confinement in the county Jail Wherefore we respectfully solicit your Excellency to release him from its payment

David T Towles John N Montgomery David Montgomery A. W. Montgomery A. C. Lawson Warren Erwin Green Forbis Wm Judd Ezekiel Moran James Bale Henry Dangerfield J B Russel D W Higgeson Nathan B Dangerfield Daniel Myers John Sidebottom Wm Thompson H Bale John B Vaughn John W Shaw James Dobson Jasper Cairn S A Spencer

To this petition if it now needed any reasonable number of signers could be obtained, this poor man Williams is really an of charity

Your excellencys Obdt Servt

J A Spencer

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John D Williams For } Petition to the Governor Remission of Fine

Green Cir ct Respite 12 mo B. M IsdJay 3. 1861 $60. } Tipling