Information has come to light that President Andrew Johnson granted an amnesty in 1865 to Charles Harrison Ogburn (1804 -1877) .  The President had earlier granted a full Pardon and Amnesty ( but with 14 exclusions) for the Offense of Treason Against the United States during the late Civil War to those who took part in the Civil War on the Confederate side, but with exclusions which applied to C H Ogburn.

Those people falling within the exclusions to the general amnesty could get an amnesty pardon upon special application to the President which Mr Ogburn applied for.   A copy of the Deed of a Pardon by President Johnson is shown on this page, dated August 4, 1865. C.H. Ogburn fell under the 13th exclusion which applied to “voluntary participants in the rebellion who had property valued at more than $20,000.”  In other words, “wealthy planters and other landowners”  The President received over 14,000 special applications and granted amnesty pardons to about 13,500 worthy supplicants.

In September 1867,  President Johnson issued a 2nd Proclamation which reduced the number of exclusion categories from 14 to 3.  On July 4, 1868 President Johnson issued a 3rd Proclamation which only excluded Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Confederate Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge and General Robert E. Lee and some others.  On December 25, 1868, President Johnson granted amnesty “to all who had participated in the rebellion.”

The will of Mr C H Ogburn’s father of 1836 outlines the way in which slavery played a major part in their way of life. In 1862, Charles H. Ogburn owned 73 slaves. The victory in the Civil War by the Unionists  in 1865 where the abolition of slavery proposed by the Unionist side was the major issue that ended a Southern way of life.

Presidential Pardon for Charles Harrison Ogburn