MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE FILED BY DEFENDANT, IN STATE OF TEXAS V. ALFRED HENRY, NO. 3083, NAVARRO COUNTY, DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF D.J. JOHNSON AND G.W. DUBOSE, MATERIAL WITNESSES FOR DEFENDANT WHO ARE EXPECTED TO SUPPORT DEFENDANT'S CLAIM OF INNOCENCE

Texas, 1887. Folio, 3, [1-docketed] pp, completely in manuscript on lined paper. Old folds [a few short fold splits repaired with archival tape, no loss], minor toning, a few tiny edge chips. Signature of H.K. Farrar as clerk, signed by Henry with his mark and sworn to before Clerk Farrar. Very Good.

The absent witnesses are expected to testify, in this case charging either trespass or destroying a fence, that "the fence charged in the indictment did not form any enclosure and had not for some years prior thereto, that the fence had been pulled down by other parties and a pass way of neighborhood road had been formed with the consent of the owner across said fence... That the owner of said fence gave consent that defendant and others might pass over said fence... That this defendant did not pull down said fence."
The court clerk was probably Henry King Farrar [1846-1892], a surveyor. He began surveying in his home state of Mississippi, and continued to do so at the Confederate settlements in British Honduras in 1868. He moved to Navarro County and became Parish Surveyor. In 1884, he is listed as a Notary Public. His father was Alexander K. Farrar [1814-1878], a wealthy planter and Mississippi state senator.
Our research located the witnesses Johnson and Dubose, both born in Alabama and working as farmers in Navarro County; but we did not uncover any information about the defendant.