Rutherford B. Hayes – Uncommon presidential pardon
Exercising one of the few exclusive and absolute powers of the presidency, Rutherford B. Hayes grants unconditional pardon to Michael Monahan on December 18, 1877. Monahan was convicted of assault in the District of Columbia and sentenced to 10 months in prison. As stated in the pardon, relief was granted after “respectable friends have solicited his pardon, and the U.S. Attorney for the District now recommends the same.”
The document is countersigned by Frederick W. Seward as Acting Secretary of State. Seward was the son of Lincoln’s Sec. of State William H. Seward.
Authentic presidential pardons are notably scarce to rare. More often encountered are the smaller “warrants to affix the seal” documents, in which the president authorizes the Secretary of State or other Cabinet Secretary to apply the Great Seal to another document. These warrants, frequently misdescribed as actual pardons, are common for Hayes, often with a faded signature. By contrast, true pardon documents from his single term are only infrequently offered for sale.
Condition: Bifolium folio sheet measures 10.5 x 15.5, text on the front and second page, the third and fourth pages being blank. There are the usual folds and like almost every 19th Century pardon runs to the 2nd folio page or verso of the front. The two signatures are excellent with a large, embossed seal of the U.S. stamped on the upper left of the 2nd page, the impression being visible on the upper right of the front. There is a 3-inch tear running along a center fold, which could easily be repaired.
Rutherford B. Hayes – Uncommon presidential pardon
Exercising one of the few exclusive and absolute powers of the presidency, Rutherford B. Hayes grants unconditional pardon to Michael Monahan on December 18, 1877. Monahan was convicted of assault in the District of Columbia and sentenced to 10 months in prison. As stated in the pardon, relief was granted after “respectable friends have solicited his pardon, and the U.S. Attorney for the District now recommends the same.”
The document is countersigned by Frederick W. Seward as Acting Secretary of State. Seward was the son of Lincoln’s Sec. of State William H. Seward.
Authentic presidential pardons are notably scarce to rare. More often encountered are the smaller “warrants to affix the seal” documents, in which the president authorizes the Secretary of State or other Cabinet Secretary to apply the Great Seal to another document. These warrants, frequently misdescribed as actual pardons, are common for Hayes, often with a faded signature. By contrast, true pardon documents from his single term are only infrequently offered for sale.
Condition: Bifolium folio sheet measures 10.5 x 15.5, text on the front and second page, the third and fourth pages being blank. There are the usual folds and like almost every 19th Century pardon runs to the 2nd folio page or verso of the front. The two signatures are excellent with a large, embossed seal of the U.S. stamped on the upper left of the 2nd page, the impression being visible on the upper right of the front. There is a 3-inch tear running along a center fold, which could easily be repaired.
