I'm not sure what the inheritance has to do with it, but the statement of
loyalty to the union was because VA succeeded from the Union. 

Just because people lived in the south did not mean that they agreed with
the decision to succeed.  People handled their dissent from their state's
action in a variety of ways.  Some moved out (some people in TN moved to
IL), some retained their residence but traveled north to join the Union
forces.  Some stayed put and either kept their mouth shut or talked with
likeminded neighbors.    People in MO were killed for their support of the
Union.  There was a patch of E. TN that contained Union sympathizers. There
is a family story that when the Confederacy was falling and the Union was
marching through TN, a battalion saluted Julius Dugger's cabin/him because
of his service in the Revolutionary War.  Julius Dugger is a descendant of
the Dugger and Scarborough lines in VA.   

Likewise, people who lived too close to the "dividing line" such as Robert
E. Lee, owner of Arlington House (which became Arlington Cemetery), deserted
his home because he knew it would be one of the first to fall because it was
so close to Washington, D.C.  

War is messy.  

It may be that the petition was the first step in asking for monetary
support if he is poor despite his inheritance.  You wouldn't want the
government to discover that you have an inheritance on its own.  

Cynthia McDaniel 


-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Madaline Preston
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 4:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-ROOTS] clemency after Cival War

In a petition to President Andrew Jackson, dated 26 May1865, a Virginia man
swears he was always and is a Union man and asks for executive clemency.
The petition also mentions he was a poor man but had inherited $20,000 from
his deceased brother.  Why would a Union man need clemency from the United
States and what does the inheritance have to do with it?
My appreciation to anyone who can help me understand this "petition for
pardon."
M. Preston

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