Partly-printed DS as president, signed “R. B. Hayes,” one page, 8 x 10, June 5, 1879. President Hayes directs the secretary of state to affix the seal of the United States “to a warrant for the pardon of Charles McDowell.” Neatly signed at the conclusion in ink by President Rutherford B. Hayes. In fine condition.
Charles McDowell, a Scotland native, immigrated to Boston in 1869 at the age of 24 years old. The shoemaker was convicted in January 1879 of impersonating a witness in an October 1878 naturalization hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The U.S. District Attorney recommended the pardon, writing that McDowell was a 'respectable gentleman of Boston.'
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