Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869) [Appointment of John Geary as governor of the territory of Kansas]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00071 Author/Creator: Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Document signed Date: 31 July 1856 Pagination: 1 p. ; 36.7 x 45.7 cm. Order a Copy
Partially printed document signed by Franklin Pierce as President of the United States. Countersigned by William L. Marcy as Secretary of State. Accompanied by paper seal.
Geary replaced Wilson Shannon as governor of the Kansas territory. He disbanded the militia but did not get enough federal troops, and so resigned on 4 March 1857.
In San Francisco from 1849 to 1852, Geary was the first U.S. postmaster, the last alcalde (a mayor having judicial powers), and the first mayor. President Franklin Pierce appointed him governor of "bleeding" Kansas in July, 1856. In the Civil War, Geary was made a brigadier general of volunteers in Apr., 1862. He was wounded at Cedar Mt. (1862), commanded a division of the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg (1863), distinguished himself under Joseph Hooker in the Chattanooga campaign (1864), and fought in W. T. Sherman's campaigns (1864–65). He was made major general of volunteers in Jan., 1865. Geary was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 1866 and held that office until shortly before his death. [excerpted from Columbia Encyclopedia]
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