In view of the fact that by reason of expiring terms of convicts now employed in building the Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad from North Wilkesboro to Boone the number has been reduced to about 33, and the further fact that a great deal of the business of Watauga County is going to Virginia and Tennessee points and thereby being lost to the State on account of the said railroad not having yet reached Rogers' Mills, a point about eight miles from Boone, and in consideration of the fact that the State owns considerable property in and near Boone, and also that the people of Boone have signified in a willingness to build a good road to Rogers' Mills when the Railroad is finished to that point:

WE-the citizens of Wilkes County respectfully ask that the State co-operate with the people of Watauga and adjoining counties by furnishing the Watauga & Yadkin River a sufficient number of convicts to make the force about one hundred, and that it be done promptly in order that the work may be done during the summer season.