[I]n afew [sic] days after I sean [seen]
that the people wer [sic] taking all
of his property as thay [sic] came
to it[.] [S]o I thought [it] was my
time and went and took
the running gear of a buggy
to my boarding house[.] [T]hen I went
to the oner [owner] an[d] told him if he
would pay me in five days
that he could get his property[.]
[H]e there and then told me thet [sic]
he intended to get his property
back without pa[y]ing me enny [sic]
money[.] [T]hen he had me arested [sic]
and put ___[?] bale [bail] in a bond
of seven hundred dollars for my
appea[ra]nce at the next term of
corte [sic] in Mar[c]h 1867 and then
I was convicted and sentenced
to five years imprsioment [sic] in
the states pr[i]son[.] [A]nd the
man that [did]]his [this] befor [sic] I did
and [in] the same way was a
a [sic] merchent [sic] in the place and
was not so much as erested [arrested][.]
Charles Kirsch to General [Benjamin?] Butler, April 4, 1869. Correspondence Concerning the Penitentiary, Records Relating to the Penitentiary, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.