Presented is a fascinating document signed by U.S. President Andrew Johnson, dated June 13, 1866, issuing a full pardon to Francis M. Hight, who had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death by a Military Commission in September 1865. Johnson has written in black ink on the 10 ½ x 16 ¾-inch white sheet, with his name signed at the top of the page. The reverse side has a white Presidential seal and a second signature by Johnson, as well as the signature of his Secretary of State, William H. Seward. The paper is brown with age and has some minor tears at the lower right corner and top right corner along the third fold.  The back of the paper is protected by white tape at the half-page fold.

Hight was convicted of murdering former Union Army Captain Alex Heasley in the fall of 1865 in Augusta, Georgia in a dispute over a woman.  President Johnson was persuaded to pardon Hight as he was “the sole support of a widowed mother.” Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson assumed the presidency as he was vice president of the United States at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. His plans did not give protection to the former slaves. He came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote. Johnson's main accomplishment as president is the Alaska purchase. This letter comes with a LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication. 

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