Philadelphia papers of the 1st announce . . .

. . . the receipt of the pardon of Judge Vondersmith convicted in 1859 of forging applications for pensions, and sentenced to pay a fine of five thousand dollars and to undergo an imprisonment of twenty years.  Before the expiration of President Buchanan’s term of office he commuted the sentence to three years which would have expired in May next.  The pardon of President Lincoln is unconditional, and relieves him from the payment of five thousand dollars.  Since the incarceration of Vondersmith, his wife has died and this is urged as a reason for his pardon.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, February 8, 1862, p. 2