<title type="main">William A. Baxter 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 4 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-0001-020-2028 MG24-33 to MG24-34

1862-06-20 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 "3": Changes to page transcript. 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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To his Excellency Beriah Magofin Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Your Petitioner William Baxter would most respectfully state to your Excellency that he with four others was indicted at the May term 1861 of the Marion Circuit Court for the alledged misdemeanor of Shooting one Miss Sutherland in sudden heat and passion and at the same term he with four others was indicted for the alledged misdemeanor of cutting one Harison Thornton in sudden heat and passion and to the same court was sued at Common Law by both Miss Sutherland and H P Thornton and at the May term 1862 of the Marion Circuit Court Your Petitioner was fined $500 for the alledged charge of Shooting Miss Sutherland and at the same term of Said Court Your Petitioner acknowledged a judgment in the case of Commth agt him & others under charge of cutting H. P Thornton in the sum of $100 --

Now Your Petitioner would most respectfully state that himself and four others were present at the time the alledged shooting and cutting took place and were all jointly indicted and Your Petitioner as well as the others claimed a seperate trial and the Commonwealths attorney elected to try Your Petitioner first and under the rulings of the Court Your Petitioner was deprived of the evidence of his codefendants in The Indictment because they were not acquitted

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altho deperied of being put on trial to show innocence Whereby Your Petitioner was at the mercy of his prosecutor and accuser and was excluded from the use of his codefendants by whom he could have manifested his innocence and the rulings of the Court he is advised are the law but it is such a case as the law is made to defeat the ends of Justice and to work oppression upon Your Petitioner --

Your Petitioner would state that he is now 19 years old and was 18 years old when the difficulty is said to have occured (and would state here what he omitted to state that both the Indictments and Commonlaw suits grew out of the same affair all taking place at the same time and were all one and the same transaction and that the Commonlaw suits have not be tried) and that his father and Mother are both dead and have been dead for several years and that he is an orphan in the strictest sense of the word and has not been favored with the benfits of but little education and has but little estate that if compelled to pay the fines together with the other attendant expenses at the present prices of property it will take nearly if not quite all his little estate --

Your Petitioner says that on the day the affair occurred he fell in with his co defendants in Lebanon, Ky and they drank toomuch and on their way home at the tole gate one Lamb provoked a difficulty

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with your Petitioner and then seeing he had got himself into a difficulty he ran into the house of H. P. Thornton his brother inlaw for safety and while in there if any injury was done to Thornton or Miss Sutherland it was accidental unintentional in any way to hurt or injure either of them. As Your Petitioner & his 4 Codefendants were upon the most perfect terms of friendship with each of them.

Your Petitoner frankly confesses his guilt in drinking but denies criminalty or evil design or purpose in any thing he is alledged to have did --

Under all the circumstances Your Petitioner prays that Your Excellency will exercise Your executiveclemency and remit the fines so imposed as your Petitioner will ever pray

William A Baxter

Sworn to before me by William Baxter This June 20th 1862

N T. Henry ck

We join in the prayers of the foregoing petition of William Baxter

D. D. Rowes G. W. Crum C. F. Bracken Georg Posttellwaite H. H. Goade J. R. C H H Hughes Harvey Savage W W Prather E,, Rick J B Wathen A Carey Wm Warren Edward Newton Wm.. Thorp H. W. Crowders J. R. Thomas E. A. Graves N. S Ray N. T. Berry G. W. Goodman J Phillips JaS S Sartin

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Augustin Mills One of the Jury J.. S.. Smith One of the Jury Joseph H. Hinton One of the Jury James Bicket One of the Jury J P Mills one of the Jury James M Brown one of the Jury John H Clements one of Jury William Mudd one of the Jury Francis Miles one of the Jury Raphael Mattingly one of the Jury Sam Spalding B. Spalding S Spalding Wilfred H Medley Marcus Wimsatt J M Cardwell Rh. M. Spalding

Respite 12 Mo B. M.