Will be for final version
ANDREW H. REEDER
FIRST TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
OF KANSAS
AN AMERICAN HERO
by James C. Mershon
Wichita, KS
©2012
ANDREW H. REEDER
Andrew Reeder was running for his life. His trademark sideburns shaved off
clean, his face smudged with burnt cork, a woodsman's ax and a carpet bag slung over his
shoulder, he bore little resemblance to the man he actually was: Kansas' first territorial
governor and one of its newly elected Free State senators.
However, he was not on his way to claim his seat in the U.S. Senate in
Washington, D.C. He was a fugitive, armed with a pair of revolvers and a knife, posing
as an itinerant Irish laborer. He had been indicted for treason and branded a
"revolutionary" by the very president who had persuaded a reluctant Reeder to take the
territorial governor's job in the first place.
Earlier, when a federal marshal approached to arrest Reeder, the beleaguered
Reeder had made it clear that the marshal did so at the peril of his own life. The marshal
astutely desisted, knowing Reeder and several of his supporters to be armed and would
defend themselves.
The year was 1856, years before the first cannonade fell on Fort Sumter signaling
the start of the American Civil War. However, the thunderclouds of conflict had already
gathered over the Kansas prairies, where pro-slavery forces and free-staters were
contesting what kind of state Kansas ultimately would become.
Andrew Reeder was already being driven by the gathering floodwaters of that
conflict, trying desperately to get back to the safety of the pro-Union eastern United
States. Even then, Reeder seemed to realize the drama of the moment, he actually paused,
and had a photograph taken of himself in his getaway disguise during his escape.
He may have been a reluctant politician, but he was an astute politician.
THE MAN
Andrew Horatio Reeder came to Kansas at a
pivotal time for Kansas and for the nation. During this
time the Kansas Territory was called “bleeding Kansas”
because of the hostilities already taking place between the
pro-slavery forces in Missouri Territory and those
opposing slavery in the Kansas Territory. A few years
later, the North and South fought an even bloodier war
that would be called the Civil War.
Reeder was born in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1807.
He attended the Academy in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1828,
returned to Easton, PA to practice law. He was described
as a man of good appearance, tall with a very erect
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carriage, muscular, with full and dark blue eyes; in speech and manner he was deliberate,
adroit, and mastered the use of ridicule and humor.
Reeder was a Democrat for much of his life and campaigned for Democrats James
Polk in 1850 and Franklin Pierce in 1852, both of whom were controlled by a strong
Southern cabal in Washington, led by Jefferson Davis. When appointed the first
Territorial Governor of the Kansas Territory by Franklin Pierce in June 1854, he had
never been a seeker of public office and did not seek this office. It was apparently
assumed that Pierce could manipulate him. He was known for his intellect, moral courage
and devotion to family. He was the right person for the time but it was presumed by those
nominating him that he would eventually become the governor of Nebraska and then to
oblivion. Reeder’s grandfather owned slaves on his large farm near Trenton. Reeder did
not oppose slavery and sympathized with the Southern position. Nevertheless, he would
not choose to own slaves.
He believed strongly in self-determination and squatters rights and strongly
supported the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Experience
taught him that the issue of slavery for a man from Pennsylvania was far different from
for the men awaiting him at the Missouri-Kansas border. It is said that he was “the man
who had felt the first onset of rebellion (over the slavery issue) in our territories”. The
Organic Act provided that the President could appoint only the governor and the chief
judiciary in the territories.
THE LAND
The Kansas Territory extended west from Missouri’s western border to the Rocky
Mountain Continental Divide. The elevation increased from 700 feet to 5,280 feet. The
land in the eastern third was fertile and hilly but became progressively more arid prairie
to the west. This was the land described by a Kansas physician in 1872 as the “Home on
the range, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging
word, and the skies are not cloudy all day.”
Gold was discovered in the far west part of the Territory in 1858, the Rocky
Mountains and Pikes Peak were in the Kansas Territory (now in Colorado) and maps to
the “Kansas Gold Mines” were published.
THE ISSUES
The slavery issue was always present from the time of the Constitution. Congress
had admitted alternately Slave States then Free States. In 1820 the Missouri Compromise
was passed, admitting Missouri as a slave state, and declared that all land west of the
Mississippi River and north of 36-degree 30-minute latitude (southern border of
Missouri) would be free. Torment regarding slavery continued, and, in 1850, Stephen A.
Douglas of Illinois introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the purposes were to organize
the Nebraska Territory into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and to take the issue of
slavery out of the hands of Congress and to place it in the hands of the people. The Act
became law in 1854 and nullified the Missouri Compromise, and each new territory to
become a state could vote for or against slavery. There were angry demonstrations in the
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North, which felt betrayed because the Act would certainly allow the spread of slavery. In
the South, it was assumed Kansas would be a slave state because of its more temperate
climate and being adjacent to Missouri, already a slave state. Nebraska’s climate was less
hospitable to southern crops of cotton and hemp, and it was adjacent to Iowa, a Free
State, and which would presumably vote against slavery.
THE MAN IN THE LAND
Enter Andrew H. Reeder in October 1854, at age 47, married and the father of
five children. As the first territorial governor of Kansas, he was to supervise establishing
a government and organizing the territory for elections to Congress; each Territory could
be represented in Congress by one non-voting delegate. Reeder may have seen maps of
the Kansas Territory and knew the “lay of the land” but probably knew very little about
the existing political scene. (Six territorial Kansas governors and four acting governors
served in the years 1854-1860. Most lasted less than six months, all having been removed
by the President or through resignation.)
Earlier that year began a migration into Kansas by Missourians and by settlers
from northern states. The New England Emigrant Aid Society had been organized in
Boston under the aegis of philanthropist Amos Lawrence (for whom the town of
Lawrence Kansas was named). There were several such societies, and it was no secret
that one purpose was to populate the territory with like-minded citizens. While their
expenses were not paid, the emigrants were given assistance in acquiring land and being
settled. Many were given arms and some received advancements of capital to start
businesses important to the economy, such as erection of sawmills.
Settlers from Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, etc. also began arriving after 1850 to get
good land. Settlers heading farther west used trails that crossed the Kansas Territory
(Santa Fe, Oregon, and Kansas Gold Mine trails). In time, many of these settlers became
discouraged, before or after reaching their destinations, and elected to return to the more
hospitable land in Kansas
REEDER WELCOMED
Reeder arrived at Fort Leavenworth on October 7, 1854, where he put his
temporary office. He was welcomed by the populace and by the officers of the fort. In his
speech, Reeder talked cautiously, mostly in generalities, and gave no intimation of his
policy toward slavery. Slaveholders and their friends had been confident he would
support slavery because of his appointment by Pierce. Two days later the Governor
declined to be a guest of the proslavery forces in Missouri. This was interpreted as
hostile, and thus he was branded as “Abolitionist”. The situation became even more
strained when proslavery forces demanded immediate elections for members of the
Territorial Legislature. Again, Reeder respectfully declined, reminding them that the
Organic Act of Congress required that first a census be taken.
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Reeder made the decision to commence a tour on October 7, 1854 to visit the
populated areas, for official business (and apparently for unofficial business described
below). One piece of official business was urgent. In his statement about his visit to the
interior he explained that to postpone the election of a delegate to Congress would mean
that Kansans would have no direct representation in Washington until the following year.
Thus, some haste was required to prepare the Territory for elections on November 29,
1854, to choose a representative to Congress. His tasks included creating sixteen election
districts and sites for voting, a process he wanted to do in person. He did so with the
accompaniment of two territorial judges and other important officials, but of this group,
only he and his personal secretary were from a northern state. Pierce, in order to
discharge his duties to the Southern cabal, had purposely named Southerners to the other
positions. In each location, Reeder made speeches to introduce himself and to gain
support from the populace.
When he arrived at Fort Riley, the commandant apparently persuaded him to buy
land from the Town Company of Pawnee. (Reeder subsequently acknowledged to
President Pierce that he did own lots in several towns and diverse projected towns and
copies of these documents are extant).When he subsequently visited settlements he may
have acquired land by purchase or been given land by hopeful land speculators. There
was speculation that he hinted to townspeople that he would use his influence to plant the
capital in those towns. Still others thought his intention was honorable because he sought
to distance the capital from Missouri and the” border ruffians”. One might reason that he
was looking to future expansion to the west and Pawnee would be more centrally located
in the vast Kansas territory. Whatever his motive, this action would eventually be used
against him as an excuse by proslavery forces to have him recalled. His accusers would
call it “capitol jobbing". When he returned from this expedition, he published a report of
his official actions.
THE ELECTIONS
The Governor further displeased the proslavery group when he called for
elections to Congress before forming a territorial legislature. The election took place on
November 29, 1854. The Missourians stuffed the ballot boxes, replaced election judges,
or intimidated Free Staters not to vote. The slavery forces easily won the first round but
totally lost their influence on Reeder. He eventually became an ardent Free Stater. The
subsequent service he rendered to Kansas in the cause of freedom was of major
importance; however, his life was threatened on many occasions. He surely knew he was
alienating the political powers in Washington.
THE THREATS COMMENCE
Up until this time, Reeder had supported the Kansas-Nebraska Bill that allowed
for the issue of slaves to be determined by the voters of each new state. It is very likely
that he did not personally support slaveholding. He abhorred tactics of the slavery forces,
which used force and violence by armed, rowdy and drunken crowds. Reader eventually
became an ardent Free Stater.
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Matters came to a head rapidly with Reeder’s taking a census in January 1855.
The total population was 8,000 with 3,000 eligible voters. He called for the election of
the territory’s legislature for March 30, 1855. Missourians, intent on voting at any cost,
invaded Kansas with guns and Bowie knives, used intimidation to discourage voting by
the Free-Staters and “stuffed” the ballot boxes. There were 8,000 votes cast and 5400
were proslavery votes! When Reeder refused to certify the candidates who were
fraudulently elected he was threatened with assassination. He and fourteen of his friends
armed themselves. A local newspaper reported that a committee of Missourians told him
he had one of three choices: “Sign the certificates in 15 minutes, resign or be hanged.” He
replied: “Gentlemen, my mind is made up and without further advisement, I shall hang.”
The proslavery forces, for the moment, had been thwarted.
In May 1855, Reeder called for special elections in those districts with obvious
fraud. He also called for the legislature to meet in July 1855 in the small village of
Pawnee, near Fort Riley. Also in May, he returned east to visit family and consult with
President Pierce. Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, had been urging the President to
remove him. Pierce encouraged Reeder to resign and take another federal position, but
Reeder declined. On the eve of returning to the Kansas Territory, he received a message
asking him to appear the following morning to provide the President further explanations
regarding his official conduct. Reeder respectfully declined but offered to reply later.
Reeder was summoned May 6 before the grand jury of Douglas County. He
declined to obey the subpoena on the ground that it was of more importance that he
should attend the sessions of the committee than of the grand jury. Thursday, May 8th,
the committee returned to Lawrence. There Deputy Marshal Fain appeared with an
attachment against Reeder for "contempt of court". Reeder refused to be captured, and
told the marshal that if he touched him it would be at his peril -- a show of spirit that
pleased the spectators, who came crowding into the room. But the situation soon grew
intolerable, and there was safety only in flight. Reeder succeeded in reaching Kansas
City, KS where he lay concealed some days at the American House, a hotel kept by
the Eldridge brothers. The well-known free-state character of the hotel gave it about
town a bad name, which was now blackened especially by rumors that abolitionists were
skulking there -- rumors that subjected it to constant mob - surveillance. On one occasion,
suspicious border-ruffians resorted to a formal search of the premises, and it was only by
the cleverest ingenuity and presence of mind on the part of the household that they failed
to unearth the fugitive. While concealed in the hotel, Reeder concluded that the time
had fully come to make his will, into which he incorporated a brief but vigorous
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REEDER IN PAWNEE, KANSAS TERRITORY
By June, 1855 a two-story building which could serve as a capitol and a hotel had
conveniently been constructed in Pawnee, a full 100 miles away from the then center of
population, and could be reached only by horse or oxen over tortuous roads. The
members of the legislature protested, but to no avail, and 26 members of the House and
13 members of the Senate presented themselves. The first action of the legislature was to
unseat the Free State members, creating a legislature called “bogus” by the Free Staters,
and the second was to move the seat of government temporarily to Shawnee Mission, a
Methodist manual school near present-day Kansas City, and closer to Missouri. All of
Reeder’s vetoes were passed over. A few days later the members reconvened in Shawnee
Mission. Reeder vetoed all of their bills on the grounds they were meeting illegally. He
and his friends armed themselves for trouble. The “bogus legislature” was legitimized by
a decision of the United States Court of the Territory which was handed down by Chief
Justice Lecompte.
REEDER RETURNS TO WASHINGTON
The Legislature sent a communiqué to President Pierce asking for Reeder’s
removal. One citation concerned his land speculations and another was titled “capitol
jobbing.” In May 1855, he returned to Easton to see his family and then to Washington to
confer with the President. Pierce told Reeder, “Well, I shall not remove you for your
political actions; if I remove you it will be on account of your speculations in land.”
Cutter, in his textbook, wrote, “The scheme was to remove Andrew Reeder the land
speculator, and thus be rid of an honest governor, whom neither threats nor bribes could
induce to countenance the outrages on law and decency.” Most historians hold that his
land purchases were probably legal as the land was in the process of being ceded by
Indians. The charge of rigging the site for the capital was serious. The notice was
dispatched before the memorial from the bogus legislature had reached Washington. It
was received by Reeder on July 21, 1855. He departed from office graciously, but he
stayed in Kansas for nearly a year and worked with Free State forces.
In August the territorial capitol was moved to Lecompton. The territorial
legislature passed restrictive and oppressive laws that made opposition to slavery an act
of treason. John W. Whitfield was elected as the Pro Slavery delegate to Congress.
In September the Free Staters held a convention in Big Springs, near Topeka,
adopting a platform and arranging for general elections to be held on October 2, 1855. At
the time Reeder was staying in the Free State Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, and
preparing to return to his home in Pennsylvania. When he heard about the Big Springs
convention, he changed his plans and joined the convention in progress. He was greeted
with much applause and responded with an eloquent speech. The convention called for
elections in October to elect delegates to the constitutional convention. Reeder was
selected as the delegate to Congress. A memorial to that effect was to be sent to
Congress. When he arrived in Washington, John Whitfield had already been seated.
Reeder’s’ petition to secure the seat was denied, but, as a result of his testimony, a
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Congressional Commission was appointed to investigate his charges. He and Whitfield
accompanied the commission to Kansas.
REEDER AND THE FREE-STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The elected Free State territorial delegates to a constitutional convention met in
Topeka on October 23, 1855. The constitution was ratified in December, and several
resolutions authored by Reeder were passed. An election was held by the Free State
legislature; Reeder and James H. Lane were elected as United States senators. When the
news reached Washington President Pierce declared the actions to be “revolutionary and
rebellious.” Congress was faced with the dilemma of accepting representatives of both
the recognized Kansas Territorial Legislature and the Free State Legislature.
The issue was resolved on May 5. Reeder and about 70 leading Free-Staters,
including Governor Charles Robinson, were indicted for treason by a grand jury
appointed by Judge Lecompte. Reeder knew his life was in danger and refused to appear
unless a federal commission could guarantee his safety. That was impossible. When a
marshal approached to arrest him Reeder told him that he did so at the peril of his life.
Knowing that Reeder and his supporters were armed and would defend themselves, the
marshal astutely desisted,
REEDER’S ESCAPE
Reeder’s friends helped him escape to Kansas City,
Kansas. The diary kept by Reeder relates in colorful detail the
peril encountered during his last days as governor, his flight
from Kansas and his thrilling escape by rowboat and then
steamer across Missouri to Illinois and freedom. He and three
others were secreted in rooms in the American Hotel in Kansas
City, Kansas. After two weeks of anxious waiting he shaved
his sideburns, covered his face with burnt cork, and dressed as
an Irish laborer. He elbowed his way through a motley crowd
and exited the hotel via the bar. He met friends who, under the
cover of darkness, secreted him from the city. The next day he
and a friend, disguised as woodcutters, started down river to
meet the steamer. They each carried an ax and a carpet-sack; they declined offers of jobs
to cut wood by feigning they were on their way to another job. Armed with two revolvers
and a knife he boarded the steamer. Certain that his identity had been discovered he
departed the boat in the morning and made his way to Alton, Illinois. During a short visit,
he commissioned a photograph of himself in the costume. He boarded the Alton-Chicago
train for Chicago. In the major cities east of Missouri, there were large crowds who
greeted him with loud ovations after each speech and gave him promises of protection.
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REEDER AS NATIONAL HERO
Reeder returned to his law office and later supported Lincoln. In 1859, now a
Republican and a strong Lincoln supporter, he allowed his name to be on the ballot for
vice-president and he placed fourth on the first ballot. In 1861 he turned down Lincoln’s
appointment of Brigadier General, citing age and lack of experience. Three of his sons
fought for the Union. In March 1857 John Brown, accompanied by his biographer and
Martin Conway (then a congressman from Kansas), met with Reeder for the purpose of
inducing him to return to Kansas and become the leader of the Free State party. Reeder
politely but emphatically declined. Brown, originally from Pennsylvania, presented to
Reeder a handsome sword cane on behalf of citizens from Erie, Pennsylvania. Reeder
died at Easton on July 5, 1864, at the age of 57. He is considered a hero in the annals of
Kansas and American history.
Bibliography of Principal References
Zornow, William Frank Kansas A History of the Jayhawk State. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1957
Socolofsky, Homer E. Kansas Governors. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1990
Connelly, William E. Kansas Territorial Governors. Topeka: Crane & Company, 1900
Kansas State Historical Society and Proceedings of the Kansas Quarter-Centennial Celebration at Topeka,
January 29, 1886
Gladstone, Thomas H. The Englishman in Kansas. New York: Miller & Company, 1857. Reprinted by the
University of Nebraska Press, 1971, through the courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society
Connelly, William E. History of Kansas, State and People. Chicago: The American Historical Society Vol.
1, 1928.
Mershon, Grace Olmstead, "Andrew Mershon and his Descendants". Private Publications from the
Archives of The Descendants of Henry Mershon Association; www.henrymershon.com.
Documents in the Mershon Room, Lawrenceville New Jersey Presbyterian Church
Correspondence from Reeder family: courtesy of Mrs. W.J.B. Stokes
Picture credits courtesy Kansas State Historical Society
I am indebted to the following for reviewing the manuscript:
Mary Louise Reeder Stokes, Gov. Reeder's great granddaughter;
Dr. Richard Todd, professor emeritus, Department of History, Wichita State University;
Mary Nelson, assistant curator, Special Collections Library Wichita State University;
William Trott, genealogist for the Association of the Descendants of Henry Mershon;
Andrew Wray, business information specialist;
Beverly Mershon; Susan Mershon; Michael Berry
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See Appendages
Appendage 1
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Appendage 2
"SEAL OF THE TERRITORY OF KANSAS / ERECTED MAY 30,
1854"
Seals have been used as emblems of authority throughout history. The impression of a
seal attached to a document is a sign of the approval and power of the sender. Kansas'
territorial seal supposedly was engraved by Robert Lovett of Philadelphia from a design
developed by Andrew Reeder, the first Territorial Governor of Kansas. The Kansas
Historical Society has documents in its collections affixed with this seal.
Deciphering the Seal's Symbols
Encircling the border of the twobrass die is the text, "SEAL OF
TERRITORY OF KANSAS /
ERECTED MAY 30, 1854." The
features a pioneer holding a rifle
hatchet opposite Ceres (the
goddess of agriculture) who stands
a sheaf of grain. At their feet lie a
and the axe that felled it. Between
two figures is a shield with a plow
top compartment and a hunter
stalking a buffalo below. No
these symbols were carefully
to represent Kansas as brimming
nature's bounty and filled with
promise.
inch
THE
face
and
next to
tree
these
in the
doubt
chosen
with
Above the shield is a banner reading, "POPULI VOCENATA." This Latin motto has
been translated to read "Born by the voice of the people" or "Born of the popular will."
The motto speaks directly to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, creating the territory and
establishing popular sovereignty whereby voting residents would decide if Kansas
became a slave or free state.
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