Archives: Historian tampered with Lincoln pardon

[January 25, 2011]  McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- The National Archives says a longtime Abraham Lincoln researcher has been caught telling a big lie about Honest Abe.

The Archives said Monday that historian Thomas P. Lowry, 78, of Woodbridge, has acknowledged that he used a fountain pen with special ink to change the date on a presidential pardon issued by Lincoln to a military deserter, making it appear that Lowry had uncovered a document of historical significance.

Specifically, Lowry changed the date of the pardon from April 14, 1864, to April 14, 1865. The Archive said the change made it look as if Lowry had discovered a document that was perhaps Lincoln's final official act before he was assassinated that evening at Ford's Theatre.

Lowry's purported discovery was hailed by historians when he came forward in 1998. At the time, a Civil War expert with the Archives said Lowry had made "a unique and substantial contribution to Lincoln research and to the study of the Civil War."

The National Archives gave the document prominent display, putting it on tour along with other important Lincoln documents.

But for several years, archivist Thomas Plante had been troubled by the document. The '5' appeared to be darker than the rest of the document and was perhaps covering another number. Plante then checked the document against an authoritative collection of Lincoln's writings, which showed the pardon of a Union Army deserter named Patrick Murphy had occurred in 1864. At that point, Plante took his concerns to the Archives' Office of Inspector General, where an investigator shared Plante's suspicions.

The Archives said it then contacted Lowry to try and determine what happened.

After initially refusing to speak with them, Lowry confessed to the Archives earlier this month to changing the date while he reviewed the documents in an Archives reading room in Washington to which historians and other members of the public enjoy access, officials said. He told the Archives he did it so it would appear that he had uncovered a historically significant document.

Calls to Lowry, a retired psychiatrist and a historian who has written numerous books on the Civil War, were not returned Monday. Over the past 15 years he has written books on sexual misbehavior in the Civil War and wartime bawdy houses in the Washington area, as well as works on Lincoln and military justice.

Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper said tampering with a document is a federal crime and that the Archives referred the case earlier this month to the Justice Department for prosecution. But she said officials were told that the statute of limitations had expired so Lowry could not be prosecuted.

The Archives has banned Lowry from its facilities.

Cooper said the archives is trying to determine if the document can be restored. While Cooper said that any document with Abraham Lincoln's signature is significant, the document "becomes one of many pardons that Lincoln signed."

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Online:

National Archives:
http://www.archives.gov/press/
press-releases/2011/nr11-57.html

[Associated Press; By MATTHEW BARAKAT]

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