New York State Department of State Executive Orders for Commutations, Pardons, Restorations, and Respites
Statement on Language
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Overview of the Records
Repository
- New York State Archives
222 Madison Avenue
Albany, NY 12230
Summary
- This series consists of executive orders for pardons, commutations, restorations of citizenship or respites. Each order includes the date, convict's name, crime, place where tried, sentence, place of incarceration, and the governor's signature. Commutations also include the commutation terms. Respites also contain date where tried, execution date, and dates of respite. There are no name indexes.
Title
- Executive orders for commutations, pardons, restorations, and respites
Quantity
- 28 volume(s)
Inclusive Dates
Series Number
- B0049
Creator
Arrangement
Arranged by type of order (the pardons are sometimes separated from the commutations, restorations and respites, which are bound together and arranged therein chronologically by date).
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of twenty-eight bound volumes of executive orders directing the secretary of state to "make out" pardons, commutations, restorations of citizenship or respites. Under the provisions of the state's constitutions, the governor has the authority to issue these instruments. Each respite for pardon contains the date, convict's name, crime, place where tried, sentence, and place of incarceration, and the governor's signature. The commutations contain the date, convict's name, crime, place where tried, sentence, place of incarceration, terms of the commutation, and the signature of the governor. The restorations contain the same information as the pardons. The respites contain the date, convict's name, crime (usually murder), place and date where tried, date of execution, dates of respite, and the signature of the governor. There are no name indexes to the volumes.
Alternate Formats Available
The entire series is digitized as part of a larger collection of Executive Clemency records available to New York State residents for free on Ancestry.com New York. You must sign up for a free account to access these records without a paid subscription. To learn more, go to How to Use Ancestry.com New York
Executive Orders for Commutations, Pardons, Restorations, Clemency and Respites, 1845-1931 on Ancestry.com
Items Online
Related Material
13253 Executive pardons, respites, commutations, restorations of citizenship, and certificates contains related records pertaining to executive clemency.
B1201 Name index to executive pardons, respites, commutations, restorations of citizenship and certificates of good conduct contains related records pertaining to executive clemency.
B0042 Executive pardons contains related records pertaining to executive clemency.
B0046 Executive restorations of citizenship rights contains related records pertaining to executive clemency.
B0048 Respites and commutations, contains related records pertaining to executive clemency.
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.