<title type="main">J. M. Doty to James F. Robinson

To His Excellency James F Robbertson, Governor of Kentucky.

Your petitioner J M Doty of Barren County and state of Kentucky, would represent that at a late term of the Barren Criminal Court he was indicted for an offence known in the laws of the State as "usurpation of office" charging that he usurped the office of Judge of the Barren County court. Now your petitioner begs leave to make to your Excellency a candid and truthful confession of the whole matter, together with the reasons and motives which impelled him in the premises.

Your Excellency is aware that this portion of the State for nearly six months received no protection from either the general or state Governments -- but suffered it to be occupied by a large body of armed men from the South terribly hostile to both. Disloyalty, or suspected disloyalty to theircause was in many instances punished by confiscation and imprisonment by no higher tribunal than that instituted by a semisavage and brutal soldiery on the occasion. During this time a pretended government was set up for the State and your petitioner was appoiinted to the office aforesaid without any previous consultation with him on the subject. He states that he was averse to accepting it at first, but his friends, or those who should have been such urged him to do so, first by arguments and others by insinuating threats, which were well calculated to have swayed abler minds than his and he yealded, but was never commissioned or sworn by the pretended authority to confer

the office. Clark the man who was sent out to appoint officers for the so called provisional government he never saw or heard of before

Petitioner lives six miles from town, was not in town when Clark was there. Clark left a written order making the appointment in town which petitioner did not see till some two weeks after its date. Petitioner never held a court and never would have shown said order, but Judge McFerran who had issued a process in a case then pending in said court was about to be arrested for doing so by a military force, When petitioner learned it, he in order to prevent the Judge from arrest informed said authority that he presumed the Judge had no notice of the order, When he was directed to send said order to him which he did and thereby saved both from arrest.

Your petitioner cherishes no hostility to the Government of his fathers, on the contrary where its authority has been restored he voluntarily went to Louisville on on the 4th of July last and took the oath of allegiance in good faith which he has since tenaciously observed. Your petitioner states that he has a family dependant upon him for support. That he is not able to incur the expense of the to pay the fine which the statute imposes and that the assessment of it would reduce him and his family to beggery and want. He states the existence of the prosecution gives his family and himself great uneasiness of mind -- the idea to his mind of being indicted for an offence against the laws of his country is appalling in the extreme, and the expense of defending said prosecution will be exceedingly burdensome to your petitioner

Your petitioner would therefore make this appeal to executive clemency for pardon of the offence being the first in his life against the authority of the state which gave him birth

J M Doty

State of Kentucky Barren County

This day James M. Doty came to see before me and made oath that the foregoing petition signed by him is true

W. F. Evans J B. C. C. Jany 12th 1863

Head Quarters Louisville Febrry 7th 1863 Gov Robinson

I have no doubt of the correctness of of within petition. I know the petitioner well -- he is a distant relative & I know he is a good citizens, honrable and quiet. I believe his case is one of merit and I recommend him to clemency. Gov Owsley and I believe others in such cases acted upon conviction -- I recommend Jas M Doty to favorable consideration --

J. T. Boyle Brig Gen