Medal of Honor Recipient

Presided over the hanging of the Lincoln conspirators!

Governor of Pennsylvania

(1830-89) A lawyer by profession, at the beginning of the Civil War he was colonel of the 4th Pennsylvania Infantry. Hartranft was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at the 1st battle of Bull Run. He then undertook the organization of the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry, and was commissioned their colonel on November 16, 1861, and led them in General Ambrose E. Burnside's expedition to the North Carolina coast in 1862. He was promoted to brigadier general on May 12, 1864, for gallant services rendered at the battle of Spotsylvania, and commanded a division during the Petersburg campaign. He was appointed special provost marshal for the trial of the Lincoln conspirators, and presided over their hanging on July 7, 1865. It was General Hartranft who led Mary Surratt, Lewis Thornton Powell, a.k.a. Paine, David Herold, and George Atzerodt to the gallows to be hung. He served as Governor of Pennsylvania, 1873-79.

Signature: 3 1/2 x 1, in ink, J.F. Hartranft. Light age toning and wear.