Pardon for manslaughter signed by California Governor John B. Weller

Pardon for manslaughter signed by California Governor John B. Weller, 1858

Overview of the Collection

Creator: University of Idaho. Library. Special Collections Dept.
Title: Pardon for manslaughter signed by California Governor John B. Weller
Dates: 1858 (inclusive)
18581858
Quantity: 1 item : bifolium ; 12 1/4 x 7 1/4 inch
Collection Number: MG 5754
Summary: Pardon issued by California Governor John B. Weller to Reuben Bessey, convicted of manslaughter in 1855 in the town of Columbia, Tuolumne County, CA.
Repository: University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Access Restrictions: The collection is open to the public. Researchers must use the collection in accordance with the policies of the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives.
Languages: This manuscript is in English.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Pardon issued by California Governor John B. Weller to Reuben Bessey, convicted of manslaughter in 1855 in Tuolumne County.

Reuben Bessey was born in Massachusets in 1816. Bessey may have gone to California during the gold rush. He served two years in prison for the killing of I. N. Issgrig in a brothel in the town of Columbia. The pardon was issued subsequent to Bessey's release from prison in 1857. It was signed by Governor Weller and attested to by Secretary of State Ferris Forman in 1858.

After his pardon Bessey moved to a gold mining camp in Warrens, Idaho, where he was a member of the party that first discovered gold there. Bessey was a fiddler in a dance band that played at Charles Bemis's saloon in Warrens. He died in 1898.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

Pardon for manslaughter signed by California Governor John B. Weller, MG 5754. Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Special Collections and Archives of the University of Idaho Library purchased this manuscript from Ian Brabner Bookseller, Wilmington, Delaware, in February 2013.

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