Andrew Johnson Pardons the “Great Commoner of Southern Methodism,”Chaplain and Rev. John B. McFerrin, Who Converted James Knox Polk and Cherokee Chief John Ross

John B. McFerrin was a preacher and leader of the Methodist Church in Tennessee in the middle of the 19th century.  He personally converted many great people to his religion, including long-time Cherokee Chief John Ross and future President James Knox Polk, who called McFerrin to his death bed to administer his last rites.  During the Civil War,McFerrin was a chaplain in the Confederate Army, and traveled ministering to anyone in need.  His biography notes he was a "pastor, friend, nurse."  He left behind in his biography and other works vivid depictions of the war.  "On August 16, I  preached in Chattanooga to a large congregation at the Methodist Church. Here I met for the first time William E. Munsey. He was a young man,  simple in manners and sweet in disposition,just beginning to take high rank as a  preacher. From this till the 19th of September I was constantly  engaged in preaching, visiting,and holding prayer-meetings in various parts of the army. At Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge,  Harrison, Tyner's  Station, and La Fayette, Georgia, many precious souls were converted during this revival. On the  19th and 20th of September, 1863, the  great battle was fought at Chickamauga, some fifteen miles from Chattanooga. The slaughter was tremendous on both sides….  I remained on the battle-field eleven days, nursing the sick and ministering to the wounded. The sight was awful. Thousands of men killed and wounded. They lay thickly all around, shot in every possible manner, and the wounded dying every day. O what sufferings! Among the wounded were many Federal soldiers who had been captured in the fight. To these I  ministered, prayed with  them, and wrote letters by flag of truce to their friends in the North. They seemed to appreciate every act of kindness."  

McFerrin was a great figure in the history of Southern Methodism. Indeed he was called the "Great Commoner of Southern Methodism."  In his lifetime, he ministered to slaves, Andrew Jackson and James Knox Polk, soldiers, and Native American tribes.  When he died, it was said that no one had done more up to that time for Southern Methodism than had McFerrin.

At the end of the war, McFerrin sought a presidential pardon, as many did.  Such a pardon was required for anyone who took part in the war, and although McFerrin had not fought, he had nonetheless served.  He writes of the occasion himself: "It was soon made manifest, however, that Mr. Johnson intended, as far as possible, to favor the Southern people and restore the seceding states to the Union.  He issued proclamations and announced conditions on which Southern rebels should be pardoned, restored to citizenship, and have their property restored to them.  My friends applied for me, and Gov. Brownlow, an inveterate Republican, joined in the request, and Mr. Johnson signed my paper. I was one of the first persons in the State of TN to be so favored.  Encouraged by this, I visited Washington in interest of the Publishing House and had a brief interview with Mr. Johnson."

This is his pardon, along with other documentation relating to it.  This material was acquired from McFerrin's descendants and has never before been offered for sale.

Document signed, Washington, DC, June 28, 1865, signed by President Andrew Johnson and William Seward as Secretary of State. "Whereas John B. McFerrin of Nashville, Tennessee, by taking part in the late rebellion against the Government of the United States, has made himself liable to heavy pains and penalties; And whereas the circumstances of his case render him a proper object of Executive clemency; Now therefore let it be known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, diverse other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby grant to the said John B. McFerrin a full pardon and amnesty for all offences by him committed and arising from participation, direct or implied, in the said rebellion, conditioned as follows: this pardon to begin and take effect from the day on which the said John B. McFerrin shall take the oath prescribed in the Proclamation of the President dated May 29th, 1865, and to be void and of no effect if the said John B. McFerrin shall hereafter, at any time, acquire any property whatever in slaves, or make use of slave labor; and that he first pay all costs which may have accrued in any proceedings hither instituted against his person or property…."

Included in the group is material related to his pardon and also to the return of his property by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, which after the war oversaw the disbursement of land and property claimed in the South by the North.  There is:

– The original oath of allegiance to "support, protect and defend the Constitution," dated May 26, 1865, required to obtain President Johnson's pardon.  It is signed by McFerrin, who notes that he served in General Palmer's Brigade in the "Rebel army;"

– Letter signed by Frank Stitt, dated June 29, 1865, relating to McFerrin that his pardon had been granted but that there might be a delay in receiving the parchment itself;

– A lease, dated early in June, 1865, requiring the McFerrin family to pay rent on their land confiscated by the US Government on victory in the war;

– An autograph letter signed by Union General Clinton B. Fisk, dated October 9, 1865, releasing the government's control over McFerrin's land, so he once again had full ownership. Fisk was a noted abolitionist and general, and the man who helped establish the first free public schools in the South for white and black children and who endowed Fisk University;

– A letter signed by Assistant Adjutant General Cochrane, dated October 9, 1865, formally restoring McFerrin's land to him, and enclosing the general orders allowing for this. General orders have been signed by Brig. General William T. Clark;

–  An autograph letter signed by Frank Stitt on Attorney General's Office letterhead dated October 2, 1865, congratulating McFerrin on the receipt of his pardon.  Interestingly, Stitt was in the same office as Walt Whitman; and

– An original Confederate Circular, dated August 22, 1861, relating to the issuance of bonds for the Confederacy.