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Collection Reference Number GLC00071
From Archive Folder Documents Relating to 1856 
Title Appointment of John Geary as governor of the territory of Kansas
Date 31 July 1856
Author Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869)  
Additional authors Marcy, William Learned (1786-1857)
Document Type Government document
Content Description Partially printed document signed by Pierce as President of the United States. Countersigned by William L. Marcy as Secretary of State. With seal.
Subjects African American History  Westward Expansion  President  Bleeding Kansas  Slavery  Politics  
People Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869)  Marcy, William Learned (1786-1857)  Geary, John White (1819-1873)  
Place written Washington, D.C.
Theme Westward Expansion; Government & Politics; The Presidency
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information 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]
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
Related documents Letter from Franklin Pierce to John W. Geary about how to deal with the pro-slavery faction in Kansas