{"petition":[{"petition_analysis_number":"11082702","petition_url":"https:\/\/dlas.uncg.edu\/petitions\/petition\/11082702","state":"Mississippi","county":"Amite","location_type":"County","file_day":19,"file_month":1,"file_year":1827,"filing_court":"Petition","enslaved_count":0,"fpoc_count":0,"total_people_count":3,"repository":"Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, Mississippi","abstract":"In 1825, William Norman and James Hill were witnesses for the state against John H. Watson, accused of \"negro stealing.\"  Watson was found guilty but gained a retrial and then broke out of jail and escaped.  The two witnesses seek reimbursement for the expenses.  There was no law, they said, \"under which the Auditor can Audit our Claims.\"","subjects":[{"subject":"Jails\/Workhouses"},{"subject":"Theft of enslaved"}]}]}