Description:

Calvin Coolidge Signed Extradition Papers for Missourian Charged & Convicted of Forgery

A document signed by 30th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) as "Calvin Coolidge" at the top of the second page. Dated January 29, 1926, in Washington, D.C. Also cosigned by U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg (1856-1937) as "Frank B. Kellogg” below Coolidge's signature. The partly printed and partly handwritten document is on oversized bifold paper. A large embossed presidential paper seal measuring 3.5” diameter is affixed next to Coolidge’s signature. Uniformly creased and with light soiling and the usual folds. Else near fine condition. 10.5" x 16." Provenance: Accompanied by scans of key newspaper articles from the 1920s.

President Coolidge directed Clyde L. Lane, a guard and later an officer at the Missouri State Prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, to retrieve a fugitive named N.H. Stairs from Vancouver, Canada who had been recently apprehended by the Canadian mounted police. Contemporary newspapers "The Joplin Globe" (Joplin, Missouri) and "The Daily Capital News" (Jefferson City, Missouri) tell us about Stairs' fascinating criminal and escape record. 

For someone so young, N.H. Stairs would develop quite a lengthy rap sheet. In January 1921, Stairs was a 21-year-old man from Wichita, Kansas who was first charged and convicted of forgery--specifically issuing bogus checks--near Joplin, Missouri. Then, Judge Grant Emerson of the Missouri Circuit Court had issued a 5-year prison sentence that had been commuted to parole in light of Stairs' youth and lack of a previous criminal record. Yet Stairs was accused and convicted of forgery again in October 1922 and served time until escaping from the Missouri State Prison in May 1924. Even though President Coolidge ordered Stairs' extradition in 1926, it appears that Stairs evaded justice until at least January 1928, when a newspaper reported that Stairs had just been captured in San Francisco!

In January 1926, President Coolidge wrote in part:

“Whereas, It appears, by information in due form by me received, that N.H. Stairs, alias Keith, alias Sumerfelt, alias G.H. Kaufman, charged with and charged with the crime of convicted of the crime of forgery, is a fugitive from the justice of the United States, supposed to have taken refuge in Canada; And Whereas, Application has been made to the British authorities for the extradition of said fugitive, in compliance with existing treaty stipulations between the United States of America and Great Britain;

And Whereas, it is understood that, in compliance with such application, the necessary warrant is ready to be issued by the authorities aforesaid, for the delivery of the above-named fugitive into the custody of such person or persons as may be duly authorized to receive the said fugitive and bring him back to the United States for trial. Now, Therefore, You are hereby authorized and empowered, in virtue of the stipulations aforesaid, and in execution thereof, to receive the said … and to take and hold him in your custody, and conduct him from such place of delivery in Canada … to and into the United States, there to surrender the said … to the proper authorities of the State of Missouri... "

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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