on two separate leaves, dated November 4, 1865, pardon and amnesty for all offences committed by former South Carolina Governor John Manning of the Clarendon District, for his part in the "rebellion against the Government of the United States", with affixed seal, bearing signatures of President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward, 17-1/2 x 11-1/4 in. each leaf

Provenance: By direct descent of Governor John Lawrence Manning and Sally Bland Clarke Manning, Millford Plantation, South Carolina

Note:

John Laurence Manning was elected by the voters of Clarendon District to serve in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1842; he returned in 1844 and was elected to the state Senate in 1846. He was still serving as a Senator when he was elected governor in December 1852, a post he held until 1856.

He attended South Carolina's Secession Convention in 1860 and was one of 169 delegates to sign the Order of Secession. He sat in the state's Senate during the Civil War until November 4, 1865, when he resigned upon his election to the U.S. Senate.

This document, dated that same day, pardoned and gave him amnesty for his part in the secession but the US Senate refused to seat him and he resigned in December 1866. Returning for a brief period in 1878, he retired from public life before his death in October 1889.

Manning was one of the wealthiest men in South Carolina and Millford Plantation, his home near Pinewood, Sumter County, is largely considered one of the finest extant examples of Greek Revival residential architecture in America. Manning filled Millford Plantation with an extensive commission from New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe that included a mirrored dressing table (lot 795) and Klismos side chair (lot 796). A Classical mahogany work table (lot 797) also descended in the Manning family.

Manning's second wife, Sally Bland Clarke Manning, was the sister of Mary Ellen Clarke Gordon, whose oil on canvas portrait and prayer book (together, lot 794) are also included in this sale.