Petition of Eliza Peacock, 3 January 1805
The wife of a forger of bills of exchange appeals to the president in hopes of averting her husband's prosecution.
Punishments and Pardons
Individuals convicted of crimes in federal court and in the City of Washington appealed to the president for pardons. Pardons provide a brief glimpse into the lives of the petitioners and their families. This section also includes material on the treatment of enslaved persons punished for transgressions, which included running away.
To Thomas Mann Randolph, 8 June 1803
Jefferson asks that an enslaved teenage worker responsible for an attack at the nailery at Monticello be sold to a slave buyer from Georgia, thereby making “an example of him in terrorem to others.”
Petition of Ambrose Vasse and Others, 17 July 1803
A merchant whose store was broken into (but nothing stolen) and 51 other residents of Alexandria petition the president for clemency for Samuel Miller, a journeyman shoemaker who has been sentenced to death for the burglary.