The Con Man Pardoned by Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 8 August 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Joseph Howard Jr. was such a skilled con man that both Union President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis granted him pardons. Yet he was so notorious that a wealthy New York City woman once offered a $50,000 reward for his capture—dead or alive. This is the incredible true story of one of the most daring and elusive swindlers of the Civil War era.
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