Petition from the citizens of Jasper County, Mississippi to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus; July 24, 1862
Title
Petition from the citizens of Jasper County, Mississippi to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus; July 24, 1862
Subject
Draft.; Mississippi. Governor; Mississippi. Militia; Pettus, John Jones, 1813-1867.
Description
From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Petition from the citizens of Jasper County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus protesting an illegal draft of local men into the state militia.
Creator
Unknown
Publisher
Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version)
Date
1862-07-24
Contributor
Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation
Rights
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Language
English
Identifier
mdah_757-942-5-18
Coverage
1862
Text
Page 1:
To His Excellency Hon John J. Pettus,
Governor of the State of Mississippi:
The undersigned citizens of Jasper County would respectfully represent unto your Excellency that on Saturday last, the 19th instant, pursuaut to orders received for such purpose, a draft was held in and for the Center Beat of said County, for one fourth of the white male inhabitants of said Beat between the ages of Thirty Five and Fifty, for immediate State service.—That Captain John H. Cook, Captain of the Militia of said Beat ordered and supervised said draft, which result-ed in the selection of the undersigned and others to the number of the Twenty Four. Now, there[strikethrough]The undersigned would further represent that[strikethrough]-fore, because of great irregularity, informality and illegality in said draft, the undersigned hereby entir their solemn and united protest against said irregular, informal, and illigal proceeding, and for specific charges of irregularity, illigality and informality, they respectfully present the following, [strikethrough][unclar] [strikethrough] which, upon a proper investigation, & before a proper tribunal, they hold, themselves ready to es-tablish fully, clearly and conclusively:
[1st] The undersigned charge ^that^ the free white male inhabitants of said Beat [strikethrough] were not [strikethrough] between the ages of thirty five and fifty were not
Page 2:
made subject to said draft, in this that men over fifty years of age were drawn for; and the names of others of the prescribed age were stricken from the Roll without authority of law.
[2nd] There was no surgeon, as the law requires, to examine those drafted, thereby [strikethrough] causing [strikethrough] putting sound men and invalids on a footing & making each subject to military duty.
[3rd] The undersigned further charge that at least two men were seen to examine their tickets before drawing them from the Box, and two other men, Moses & John Cochrane drew at this draft, who the same day had drawn at Garlandsville, in the N.E. Beat of the County.
[4th] And as a last charge, the undersigned represent in support of their previous charges—that Ninety Seven tickets were placed in the Box originally, and when the drawing was concluded, four remained who had not drawn and there were a dozen tickets left proving beyond doubt that tickets had been fraudulently ab-stracted which were not originally
Page 3:
in the Box.
In conclusion the undersigned respectfully state that this protest is urged with no disposition to shirk the trying duties that may devolve [strikethrough] upon [strikethrough] them as good and true citizens of the Country, but with the view and for the purposes of maintaining the cardinal principle of their creed as southerners and as Mississippians—the supremecy of Justice and right over injustice and wrong, believing that in so doing they do but vindicate the law, and in this light they trust it may be considered. July 24th 1862.
R Reynolds
A,M, Harris
Thos, W, Jurrell
J, M, Davis,
James W, Houston
James Massey
Jno E, May
Wm, L, Nicholson
C, J, Tharman
[strikethrough] J. Thomas? [strikethrough]
John Gordan
To His Excellency Hon John J. Pettus,
Governor of the State of Mississippi:
The undersigned citizens of Jasper County would respectfully represent unto your Excellency that on Saturday last, the 19th instant, pursuaut to orders received for such purpose, a draft was held in and for the Center Beat of said County, for one fourth of the white male inhabitants of said Beat between the ages of Thirty Five and Fifty, for immediate State service.—That Captain John H. Cook, Captain of the Militia of said Beat ordered and supervised said draft, which result-ed in the selection of the undersigned and others to the number of the Twenty Four. Now, there[strikethrough]The undersigned would further represent that[strikethrough]-fore, because of great irregularity, informality and illegality in said draft, the undersigned hereby entir their solemn and united protest against said irregular, informal, and illigal proceeding, and for specific charges of irregularity, illigality and informality, they respectfully present the following, [strikethrough][unclar] [strikethrough] which, upon a proper investigation, & before a proper tribunal, they hold, themselves ready to es-tablish fully, clearly and conclusively:
[1st] The undersigned charge ^that^ the free white male inhabitants of said Beat [strikethrough] were not [strikethrough] between the ages of thirty five and fifty were not
Page 2:
made subject to said draft, in this that men over fifty years of age were drawn for; and the names of others of the prescribed age were stricken from the Roll without authority of law.
[2nd] There was no surgeon, as the law requires, to examine those drafted, thereby [strikethrough] causing [strikethrough] putting sound men and invalids on a footing & making each subject to military duty.
[3rd] The undersigned further charge that at least two men were seen to examine their tickets before drawing them from the Box, and two other men, Moses & John Cochrane drew at this draft, who the same day had drawn at Garlandsville, in the N.E. Beat of the County.
[4th] And as a last charge, the undersigned represent in support of their previous charges—that Ninety Seven tickets were placed in the Box originally, and when the drawing was concluded, four remained who had not drawn and there were a dozen tickets left proving beyond doubt that tickets had been fraudulently ab-stracted which were not originally
Page 3:
in the Box.
In conclusion the undersigned respectfully state that this protest is urged with no disposition to shirk the trying duties that may devolve [strikethrough] upon [strikethrough] them as good and true citizens of the Country, but with the view and for the purposes of maintaining the cardinal principle of their creed as southerners and as Mississippians—the supremecy of Justice and right over injustice and wrong, believing that in so doing they do but vindicate the law, and in this light they trust it may be considered. July 24th 1862.
R Reynolds
A,M, Harris
Thos, W, Jurrell
J, M, Davis,
James W, Houston
James Massey
Jno E, May
Wm, L, Nicholson
C, J, Tharman
[strikethrough] J. Thomas? [strikethrough]
John Gordan