Manuscript of preliminary remarks, and charge to the grand jury of DeSoto County, Miss., by Judge James F. Trotter (b. November 5, 1802–d. March 9, 1866). Judge Trotter, lawyer and jurist, served twice as Circuit Judge, as United States Senator, as professor of the law at the University of Mississippi, and sat on the High Court of Errors and Appeals. Judge Trotter's portrait hangs in the Mississippi Hall of Fame.

The preliminary remarks in the charge to the jury were considered sufficiently important by Lynch for publication in Bench and Bar of Mississippi.