Scuffle with a knife
Biden’s great-great-grandfather pardoned by Abraham Lincoln
A US newspaper has unearthed an interesting anecdote about an ancestor of current President Joe Biden. The great-great-grandfather of the head of state was convicted of attempted murder after a brawl. However, after a few months, he was pardoned by then President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.
According to a report in the Washington Post, a court transcript in the US National Archives describes the incident that led to Moses J. Robinette's conviction. Biden's great-great-grandfather was employed by the Army of the Northern States as a veterinarian during the American Civil War. In a military camp, he clashed with another civilian employee named John J. Alexander.
According to the minutes, Robinette is said to have overheard Alexander saying something negative about him to a kitchen worker and then called him in. During the ensuing scuffle, Robinette pulled out a pocket knife and inflicted several cuts on his adversary before others present intervened.
Sentenced to two years in prison - and then pardoned
The 42-year-old later defended himself before a military court by saying that Alexander "might have seriously injured me if I had not resorted to the means I had chosen". Nevertheless, the court sentenced him to two years of hard labor.
However, several officers considered the punishment too harsh and demanded that Robinette be pardoned, as he had only defended himself against someone "far superior in strength and size". President Lincoln actually agreed and signed the pardon on September 1, 1864.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.