25097

Abraham Lincoln. Unsigned Autograph Document Abraham Lincoln. Unsigned Autograph

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:4,500.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Abraham Lincoln. Unsigned Autograph Document Abraham Lincoln. Unsigned Autograph
<B>Abraham Lincoln. Unsigned Autograph</B></I> Document. Champaign Co., Ill., 21 May 1855, one and one-half pages, folio, on faintly ruled paper. An affidavit prepared for and signed by George High, "<I>defendant in two certain indictments, found against him, by the Grand Jury of Vermilion County, for the supposed stealing of two mares…which indictments are now pending in…Champaign county…by change of venue…</B></I>" High swears that he "<I>can not safely go to trial at the present term because of the absence of one Jack, alias, John Noland…a material witness</B></I>" by whom he expects to prove that on the day the mares were stolen, August 29, 1852, he "<I>was not within said Vermilion, nor within ten miles of it, at any time during the whole of that day, and the succeeding night, and the larger half of the next day…</B></I>" Subpoenas were issued for Noland, but they "<I>have not been returned, nor has said witness appeared,</B></I>" and because he has been "<I>confined in jail"</B></I> High has "<I>had it not in his power to use any greater diligence…</B></I>" He states that he expects to procure Noland's "<I>attendance at the next term; and that this application is not made for delay but that justice may be done.</B></I>" High was in fact found guilty of horse theft and sentenced to three years in prison. In November 1857 Lincoln wrote a petition for High's pardon, which was signed by 27 residents of Vermilion county; after signing it himself, Lincoln personally carried the petition to Gov. William H. Bissell, who granted the appeal and made High a free man. SEE FOLLOWING LOT From the Henry E. Luhrs Collection.