President Ulysses S. Grant - Presidential Warrant Signed 05/03/1871

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About President Ulysses S. Grant - Presidential Warrant

PRESIDENT GRANT PARDONS AN ILLEGAL CIGAR MANUFACTURER ULYSSES S. GRANT. Partly Printed Presidential Warrant signed: "U.S. Grant", 1p, 7½x9½. Washington, D.C., 1871 May 3. In full: "I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to a Warrant for the conditional pardon of Edward Jaegar dated this day, and signed by me and for so doing this shall be his warrant." This warrant, filled out in unknown hand, directs the Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish (1808-1893), to place the Seal of the United States on a conditional pardon of Edward Jaeger, who had been convicted on January 19, 1871 by the U.S. District Court of Maryland for manufacturing cigars without complying with the law. Jaegar had been sentenced to six months' imprisonment and was ordered to pay a $100 fine and the costs of his prosecution. This conditional pardon issued by Grant, based upon the recommendations of the citizens of Maryland, required Jaeger to pay the fine and the court costs in order to be released from jail. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), as 18th U.S. President (1869-1877), had the power to grant pardons according to Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. He held the record for most presidential pardons (1,332) until it was shattered by President Woodrow Wilson (2,480). The Great Seal, kept by the Secretary of State, validated such official government documents. Prior to 1952, the Seal was only applied by the Secretary upon the signed order of the President; since that time, the volume of papers requiring authentication resulted in an executive order that permits the Secretary of State to use the Seal on certain official documents without a presidential warrant. Grant signed this warrant less than one month after Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act (April 20, 1871), which authorized the President to use Federal troops as a means... More information available. Please contact us if you have questions. DOCUMENT 46883