In 1829, George Wilson and an accomplice received death sentences for murder and robbing mail trains. His accomplice quickly took a trip to the gallows, but Wilson had influential friends in Washington. These friends beseeched Andrew Jackson for leniency on behalf of their friend, and Old Hickory relented. In 1830, he pardoned Wilson for his capital crimes; the mail robber would only have to serve a twenty-year term for his other misdeeds.
It sounds like great news for Wilson, but when authorities presented him with the pardon, Wilson perplexingly refused to accept it.
After much legal back-and-forth, Wilson’s case came before the Supreme Court, which ruled that since the pardon was a bit of property, there was no legal way to force Wilson to accept it. Like his accomplice, Wilson was hanged. I guess a twenty year prison term is no walk in the park but it sure beats dying?
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