Petition from the Citizens of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor John M. Stone; February 14, 1879

To the Hon J. M. Stone, Governor of the State of Mississippi.

The petition of the undersigned citizens of said state residing in the County of Wilkinson, shows that the special term of the circuit court, in said county, held in December 1878, on John Thomas, an aged colored man, was tried and convicted of larceny, of a hog, and sentenced therefor to a Term of Six months in the state Penitentiary. Of this your peti-tioners do not complain, but pray your Excellency to pardon said Thomas, for the following reasons. In the month of May 1876, there was a serious race conflict in this county, between the whites and the blacks. In the donegal neighborhood there lived a large number of blacks and only a few whites. Those few whites consequently were in great danger of being massacred by the blacks. In this trying emergency, John Thomas render-ed invaluable services to the whites, espec-ially to those in the Donegal pricinct. At the very first intimation of the move-ment, Thomas gave timelt warning thereof to the whites, and continued so to do in regard to the civil designs and