The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1903-07-22
THE PARDON OF NANCE
A FULL HISTORY OF THE CASE IS
GIVEN.
A Letter from Judge Calhoon in Re-
gard to the Matter. He was
District Attorney at Time
OF Conviction.
From the jackson Evening News,

Oh Conviction.
From the Jackson Evening News.
The attack of the Okolona Mes
senger, edited by Abe Steinberg-
er, late of Kansas, on Gov. Lon
gino, for the pardoning of John
Nance early in 1901, who was SEN
fenced for life from Yazoo county
in 1868, forms the subject of a
correspondence between Hon.
Frank Johnston and Judge S. S.
Calhoon of the Supreme Court,
which is contained below. The
pardon was granted on the recon-
mendation of Judge j. A. P.
Campbell, who was then circuit
Judge of the Yazoo district, and
Hon. S. S. Calhoon, who was dis
trict attorney at the time. The
letters of Gen. Johnston and
Judge Calhoon, which follow, will
be read with interest all over the
State at this time:
|. jackson, Miss, July Is, 1903.
Judge S. S. Calhoon, Jackson,
Miss:
My Dear Sir: There is re-
cent criticism in the Okolona Mes
senger of Gov. Longino for par
doning John Nance in 1901, who
was convicted of rape in Yazoo
county in 1868, and sentenced to
Imprisonment for life. | under
stand that you were at the time of
his conviction district attorney
for that district, and that you rec
commended the pardon of Nance
to the Governor. In order that
no injustice may be done Gov.
Longino in the public estimation,
| beg leave to suggest the pro
priety of your giving a full state
ment of the considerations upon
which this pardon was granted.
| hand you herewith the article
alluded to in the Okolona Messen-
ger. Very sincerely yours,
FRANK JOHNSTON.
jackson, Miss, July IS, 1908.
Hon. Frank Johnston, City:
My Dear Sir:-I have yours
of date of yesterday delivered to
me on my return from an absence,
and of course there can be no hes
itancy in giving the facts upon
which Judge Campbell and my,
self recommended that the Gov
ernor pardon the convict, John
Nance.
AS was my duty in 1868, ]
prosecuted this convict before a
jury of Yazoo county and he was
convicted. At the time of his
conviction the law did not permit
the defendant to testify in his own
behalf. The presiding Judge,
that mosts distinguished iurist,
statesman and citizen, Judge j.
A. P. Campbell, concurred with
me in doubling the prisoners
guilt, and any resident of the
State of Mississippi, and espec.
tally of Yazoo county, must neces.
sarily have grave doubts of his
guilt from the very fact that be
was permitted to live to come to
trial, however much mob violence
may be, and ought to be, repro
bated. 1t is a further fact that
the persons in the neighborhood in
which the crime is alleged to
have been committed were by nc
means satisfied of the guilt of the
accused. AS Judge Campbell has
said, There was no Indignation
manifested as to the charge, no ex-
citement and no disposition to dc
violence, although the spirit of
lawlessness then prevailed to a
large extent. The case excited no
particular attention, which i'm
pressed me as being very
strange" Judge Campbell also
said: Although I thought the
narrative of the offense and the ac-
companying circumstances we'll
calculated to beget doubt as to
the facts charged, l had no alter
native but to sentence the prison
er for life, as the law then was. y
This man suffered Imprisonment
in the penitentiary for 80 years,
and there is no sort of question
in my mind that any governor
should have promptly pardoned
him, as Gov. Lonsgino did, when
the case was brought to his atten-
ton. | do not know that the GOV
ernor was in fact informed that
the convict was a negro, but it is
plain to any thinking man, that
in the exercise of judicial OF exec.
utive functions any officer would
be Infamous who would give even
a thought to the question Of
wealth, influence, poverty, nation
atty, race or color.
The application to the govern
Tor by Judge Campbell, in which
| heartily concurred, arose out OF
seeing by chance publication in
the Yazoo City Herald, a newspa-
per- published in Yazoo City,
which recalled to us the case OF
Nance, and on a conference we
concluded that the governor ought
to pardon him and that we ought
to ask him to do so. Publication
of the petition was made in the
Yazoo City Herald for thirty
days, as required by law. There
was no protest filed against the
pardon, and the editor of the Her
laid expressed the hope that il
would be granted.
/ It is very we'll known that I.do
not and have never figured in pol
itics except as a private citizen
interested in the welfare of my
4 State hl1f; T am snra II iS n1ornr