John M. Binckley to Ulysses S. Grant, William H. Seward, Gideon Welles, Hugh McCulloch, Orville Hickman Browning, A. W. Randall, 17 August 1867

August 17, 1867. Circular Letter sent to, Gen. U. S. Grant, Acting Secretary of War, Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, Hon. H. McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. O. H. Browning, Secretary of the Interior, & Hon. A. W. Randall, Post Master General. Sir: I have been directed by the President to address to each of the Heads of Departments the following communication: Your attention is respectfully invited to the enclosed slip from the New York Times of the 15th inst. purporting to be a communication from a correspondent of that paper, writing from this city, in which he professes to recite at length a number of affidavits, & also a petition for the pardon of one, Dunham, & states that he copied them all from the originals, which, he says, are on file in the Attorney General's Office, the Bureau of Military Justice, & the War Department—& says also that they are on file in the proper Departments, where, he furthermore states, many more documents of the like character are on file. I have to state, for the information of the Heads of the several Departments, that there has not been found, upon due investigation, any papers corresponding to, or resembling in any degree, those recited in this publication, in the archives of the Attorney General's Office, except those which were recited in full in a Report from this Office, addressed to the President, under date of the 5th inst., in relation to an application for the pardon of Charles A. Dunham. The President instructs me to say that if any documents or papers resembling those recited in this publication are in the archives of the Government, he desires that they be immediately submitted for his personal examination. In the event of there not appearing to be in the Department committed to your charge, any papers or documents corresponding with the publication referred to, the President further directs me to request that your Report may be as prompt as your convenience will allow. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, Your ob'dt serv't, John M. Binckley, Act'g Attorney General.