Lincoln Discussion Symposium

I just came across this story from 5 years ago about a forged Lincoln pardon:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanraab/...cfff9c142e

Here's a link to a transcription of the forgery which actually made it into the Collected Works:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te...ncoln8:668

Does anybody know of any updates to this story? Since Hibbard is actually known to have been pardoned for desertion, has anybody been able to find a copy of the real pardon yet?

Many thanks to Steve for sending these Hiram Hibbard documents. Steve writes, "I haven't found an independent copy of the pardon's wording but I have been able to find a copy of the special order putting it into effect."

[Image: hibbard.jpg]

I looked up Hiram Hibbard in "Don't Shoot That Boy - Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice" by Thomas Lowry.
For what it's worth, he wasn't listed. His offense may not have earned him the death penalty which this book focused on

Secondly, I noticed the first document Roger posted was typed. This appears to me to have been well after the date of 1865 on the document, as typewriters were not immediately commercially successful, until the 1880's and 1890's.

https://blog.oup.com/2018/06/nine-striki...ypewriter/

(11-23-2019 01:05 PM)Gene C Wrote: [ -> ]I looked up Hiram Hibbard in "Don't Shoot That Boy - Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice" by Thomas Lowry.
For what it's worth, he wasn't listed. His offense may not have earned him the death penalty which this book focused on

Secondly, I noticed the first document Roger posted was typed. This appears to me to have been well after the date of 1865 on the document, as typewriters were not immediately commercially successful, until the 1880's and 1890's.

https://blog.oup.com/2018/06/nine-striki...ypewriter/

I am not sure that is a typed document. I believe that it was a typeset, printed piece. E.D. Townsend's name on it smacks more of 1865. The word "extract", however, does seem to indicate that it is a second rendering of the official order -- extracted for whom?

Laurie is correct the order was typeset printed, not typed. This microfilmed image of the order was the next image in the microfilm order following the image of Hibbard's muster roll abstract (the image of his second enlistment, where he deserted in Nov. 1864 -- #1680).

These muster roll abstracts were created by the state of New York (starting in 1876) copying the information from all of the original muster-out rolls of New York soldiers.

The full wording of the special order listed the pardons and commutations of several soldiers at once, the "extracts" are copies of the order with just the section for the specific soldier printed, so there are a couple of copies for the soldier's unit records/chain of command.

From the original microfilm images (they were cropped for Forum legibility), it looks like the order was folded between Hibbard's record and another soldier's record in the physical copy. I'd guess the order extract was printed in 1865 and placed in this record from some other record, rather than a new copy made in the 1870's. But I suppose we'd have to contact someone at the New York state archives to be sure of that.

(11-23-2019 01:05 PM)Gene C Wrote: [ -> ]I looked up Hiram Hibbard in "Don't Shoot That Boy - Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice" by Thomas Lowry.
For what it's worth, he wasn't listed. His offense may not have earned him the death penalty which this book focused on

Gene, I actually bought a copy of Lowry's book after an earlier discussion on the forum mentioned him and pardons, but it totally escaped my mind to try and look for Hibbard in it!

Thanks for correcting me on this - I learned something new. Smile

Many thanks to Steve for sending these articles. Steve writes, "One is an image of the forged version of the Hibbard pardon. For comparison, I've included another image of a genuine Lincoln letter written to Rev. Henry Ward Beecher around the time Hibbard was pardoned. I've also included a July 3, 1904 Decatur Herald which mentions the Hibbard pardon being shown with other Lincoln relics in a display put on by the Illinois State Historical Society for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 St. Louis World's Fair). For clarity's sake I've also included a cropped snippet from the article which mentions Hibbard.

[Image: Hibbard211.jpg]