Until 1897, Minnesota’s governors enjoyed unrestricted power to pardon, or commute the sentence of, anyone convicted of a crime in state courts. The first such pardon was given in 1854, the last in November 1896. In that span fourteen governors, from Willis Gorman to David M. Clough, issued more than 1400 acts of clemency (the blanket term for pardons and commutations). They covered crimes ranging from petty theft to murder, and canceled (or reduced) penalties as minor as a one-dollar fine, and as dire as death by hanging.