Partly-printed DS as president, one page, 8 x 10, February 12, 1857. President Pierce orders the Secretary of State "to affix the Seal of the United States to the pardon granted to John B. Curry." Neatly signed and dated at the conclusion by President Franklin Pierce. In fine condition, with toning to the left edge, and faintly along the folds. According to the Congressional Information Service's Index to Presidential Executive Orders & Proclamations, Curry had been convicted of mail robbery.
John B. Curry was born about 1820 in Tennessee. He served in the 2nd Regiment Mississippi Volunteer Infantry during the Mexican War (1846-1848). After the war he owned a stagecoach company, and undercover detectives caught him stealing packages from padlocked US Mail bags on the route between Columbus, MS, and Pickensville, AL. He was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to serve 10 years in prison in Jackson, MS.
In 1854, about halfway through Curry’s sentence, prominent Mississippi citizen Eli Abbott wrote to his friend US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis saying in part, 'You will confer a great favor on me, to present Curry’s case before the President of the United States and urge his release or pardon upon such terms and time as he may think best.' Curry’s military commander, trial judge, and prison keeper also vouched for him.
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