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In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Kansas Territory quickly earned a reputation as a violent and dangerous place where pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions frequently came to blows. While Charles Lawrence Robinson was first attracted to Kansas by its agricultural opportunities, he was also an avowed abolitionist committed to seeing the territory enter the Union as a free state. He was also no stranger to violence, having suffered it and meted it out during a brief residency in California.
Robinson had been active in the Squatter's Association, which advocated for the rights of newcomers to the California Territory who had been drawn there by the discovery of gold in 1849. The influx of fortune seekers led to conflicts with earlier settlers who held claims to land in the area, who in turn enlisted local government officials to aid them. After several months of tensions, including the destruction of squatters' homes and the jailing of squatter leader James McClatchy, two days of riots erupted in Sacramento in August 1850.
Mayor Hardin Bigelow arranged an armed posse after fearing that a squatters' march intended to free McClatchy from a prison ship. When the groups clashed, three squatters and a city assessor were killed; Bigelow was seriously wounded, and later had to have his arm amputated. On the second day of riots, Sheriff Joseph McKinney and several others were killed.
Accounts on Robinson's actions during this violence differ, though it's generally agreed that he was shot in the chest and narrowly avoided a fatal wound. One story holds that he subsequently managed to beat his assailant to death with an iron bar. Another version suggests that he was able to return fire and fatally wound the man who shot him.
Despite this willingness to partake in violence, Robinson was regarded as a more moderating force in Kansas who helped defuse situations that might otherwise have erupted into bloodshed. He would later get him elected governor of the state, though an ongoing feud with a more notorious anti-slavery figure and a questionable war bonds arrangement resulted in an impeachment hearing against him and other state officials.
Early life
Charles Lawrence Robinson was born on July 21, 1818, in Hardwick, Massachusetts. He found his career path while attending Amherst College, where vision troubles interfered with his studies. He decided to walk on foot to Keene, New Hampshire, to visit a celebrated physician named Dr. Twichell for help. Robinson was so impressed with Twichell's work that he decided to leave Amherst to pursue a medical career.
After studying as a student of Twichell's for awhile, Robinson returned to Amherst to work for another doctor. He earned a medical degree from Berkshire Medical School in 1843 and began practicing in Belchertown. He later moved to Springfield, where he opened a hospital, and then to Fitchburg.
Robinson joined the 1849 gold rush to California, though this decision was motivated at least in part by a breakdown in his health. Believing a change in climate would be beneficial, he headed west. Passing through Kansas along the way, he was struck by the fertile prairie soil. The observation would stay with him, helping to motivate a more permanent relocation within a few years.
Although he tried his hand at panning gold, Robinson gave up the effort after a couple of weeks. He instead opened a boarding house and restaurant in Sacramento, which proved successful until it was destroyed by a flood. Robinson continued to practice medicine, and also introduced and edited a newspaper called the Settler's and Miner's Tribune. He was vocal in his criticism in how local officials and land speculators treated the new arrivals to California, and also expressed his disdain for the proposal to split California into two states - one slave, one free.
Following his involvement in the squatter's riot, Robinson was arrested and charged with murder, assault, and conspiracy. While recuperating on a prison ship, he issued a manifesto blaming local speculators for the deaths caused by the riots. After 10 weeks behind bars, Robinson was tried and acquitted. His reputation elevated by his advocacy for Californian settlers, and Robinson was elected to a single term in the California house of representatives in 1850.
During his time in California, Robinson became a strong advocate of John C. Fremont and supported him as a pick for U.S. Senator - a position then named by the legislature. Fremont later returned the favor when Robinson was governor of Kansas, kicking off his 1856 presidential campaign with an open letter to Robinson published in the Free State newspaper in Kansas. "As you stood by me firmly and generously, when we were defeated by the Nullifiers in California, I have every disposition to stand by you in the same way in your battle with them in Kansas," Fremont declared.
Settlement in Kansas
Robinson decided to return to Massachusetts in 1851. He experienced some adventure on the way, when his ship wrecked on the Mexican coast about 80 miles from San Francisco. Robinson helped guard the cargo of gold dust until the crew and passengers were rescued a couple of weeks later.
Showing some reluctance to return to the medical field, Robinson became the editor of the Fitchburg News. However, he soon became concerned that the Kansas-Nebraska Act could lead to Kansas being admitted as a slave state. In 1854, he joined the New England Emigrant Aid Company as a financial agent and accompanied it as it established its first colony in the territory. While the organization ostensibly aimed to capitalize on the financial opportunities available in Kansas, it also made no secret of the fact that it sought to bring Kansas into the Union as a free state.
By the time he arrived in Kansas, Robinson's passion for the medical field had cooled completely. Though his friends still referred to him as "Doctor," he focused his efforts on farming and serving as an agent for the New England Emigrant Aid Company. He later worked as a real estate promoter.
Robinson, along with other members of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, took an active role in establishing the free settlement of Lawrence and bolstering its defenses. He was among those expressing opposition to the Kansas Territorial Legislature, which was named after elections on March 30, 1855. Pro-slavery forces led by former U.S. Senator David R. Atchison crossed into Kansas from Missouri to take part in the territory's elections and pack the legislature with pro-slavery candidates. The fraud was obvious enough that in some places the vote tally exceeded the entire voting populace, but the legislature was still recognized by the federal government.
Free staters denounced the body as the "Bogus Legislature" and sought to establish their own governing bodies. Robinson became a founder and leader of the Free State Party, and later in 1855 served as a delegate to the Topeka Constitutional Convention, which created a state constitution prohibiting slavery and named Robinson governor. This constitution, along with the convention's petition to be granted statehood, was rejected by Congress.
The year came to a tumultuous end with the Wakarusa War in December. Following the murder of free state settler Charles Dow in Douglas County due to a land dispute, the proslavery sheriff ordered the arrest Jacob Branson, of the land owner who had recovered Dow's body, but not the proslavery man who had killed him. Outraged free staters formed a posse to rescue Branson from prison and bring him to Lawrence, prompting the sheriff to request Governor Wilson Shannon to bring out a militia. The result was an enormous group of pro-slavery men, swelled by volunteers from Missouri, who stood ready to raze Lawrence.
Following several days of tensions, the conflict was peacefully resolved. Robinson and James Lane signed the peace treaty for the free staters, and each man had kind words for the other. Robinson praised Lane for "the thorough discipline of our forces and the complete and extensive preparations for defense," while Lane in turn describes Robinson as a "clear-headed, cool and trustworthy commander." This friendly state of affairs between the two would prove temporary.
On May 10, 1856, Robinson was indicted for treason and usurpation, the charges stemming from the fact that he was the head of a government counter to the pro-slavery one that had been recognized by the federal government. Later in the month, he was arrested, along with other free state advocates, while attempting to travel east to seek aid from anti-slavery governors and other sympathizers. Robinson's wife continued in his stead, and the couple's house in Kansas was burned to the ground.
A depiction of Charles Robinson's arrest. (Source)
Robinson's incarceration wasn't too burdensome. One story suggested that he was held by a cordial judge who, when a pair of men arrived trying to stir up a lynch mob, offered to turn an equally armed Robinson into the street, at which point the duo fled. By chance, his arrest also ensured that he would be incarcerated during some of the most notorious acts of violence during the "Bleeding Kansas" time period, namely the Pottawatomie Massacre led by John Brown and the sack of Lawrence.
In September, Robinson was acquitted after a jury concluded that since Kansas was not a state, he could not have actually usurped power. Though his mission had been delayed by several months, Robinson nevertheless traveled to New York City to pursue the business of the New England Emigrant Aid Company. He resigned his claim to the Kansas governorship in October due to his absence.
After returning to Kansas, Robinson became active in the establishment of the Republican Party in the territory. He also took part in efforts to create a port at the settlement of Quindaro, although this initiative was ultimately unsuccessful.
Free staters had generally boycotted the territorial legislature elections, considering them corrupt and illegitimate, but in October 1857 they mustered their forces and elected the first ever free state majority. They returned to their usual abstinence when a constitutional convention, which had been recessed until after the election, met at Lecompton and decided that the only question that would be sent to voters would be whether the constitution would be accepted with or without slavery. Since free staters considered that a vote for "without" would still allow Kansas residents to retain existing slaves, they refused to participate. The "with" option won handily, 6,226 to 569, in a vote on December 21.
Free staters called their own constitutional convention in Leavenworth in March 1858, though their work demonstrated how those opposed to the extension of slavery weren't always in favor of equal rights for black citizens. Many delegates wanted to limit voting rights to white men only, and the final Leavenworth constitution called for the exclusion of free blacks from Kansas.
The ratification of the Lecompton Constitution also prompted a rancorous debate over the document's legitimacy in Washington. President James Buchanan urged Congress to approve the Lecompton Constitution, which would admit Kansas as a slave state. A majority of the Senate concurred, but the House preferred to resubmit the constitution for a popular vote. A compromise between the two chambers agreed that if the Lecompton Constitution was approved in a fair up-or-down vote, Kansas would be a slave state. On August 2, the constitution was overwhelmingly defeated in an 11,812 to 1,926 result.
Free staters had ratified the Leavenworth constitution in May, but serious efforts to pursue it ended after the Lecompton Constitution was defeated. Yet another convention, held in Wyandotte in July 1859, prohibited slavery and granted citizenship rights, but not voting rights, to blacks. Robinson backed some more radical elements, including women's suffrage, that failed to make the final document. On October 4, 1859, Kansas citizens approved the Wyandotte Constitution in a 10,421 to 5,530 vote.
Kansas governor and conflict with Lane
In the gubernatorial election held in December 1860, Robinson was named the Republican candidate and faced off against Samuel Medary, the incumbent Democratic territorial governor. Despite efforts by Democrats to frame Robinson and the Republicans as radicals in the mold of John Brown, who had led the Pottawatomie Massacre before heading east and raiding Harper's Ferry in October 1859, Robinson won the race with 7,908 votes to Medary's 5,395.
Kansas was formally admitted to the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861. By this time, six Southern states had already seceded in response to Abraham Lincoln's election as President. When Robinson took office on February 9, Texas had joined the list of seceders. Two months after he began his duties, the attack on Fort Sumter prompted the departure of four more states and kicked off the Civil War.
Robinson oversaw efforts to establish the new state government and judicial system, as well as a relocation of the state capital to Topeka, but the conflict quickly became his primary focus. Although Missouri remained in the Union fold, tensions between slave state and the newly admitted free Kansas remained; Robinson had to dedicate considerable attention to the frequent raids and counter-raids across the state line. Although Kansas was not included when Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to help put down the rebellion, Robinson organized a state militia to aid the cause. When a second call for volunteers allotted a quota of 5,006 to Kansas, the state sent more than twice that number.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Robinson and Lane had deteriorated considerably. Despite the praise the men had for each other after the Wakarusa War, they had fundamentally different backgrounds and temperaments. Lane, a former Democratic congressman, was hot-tempered, vulgar, and militaristic; since he had supported pro-slavery legislation in the past, he was also seen as something of an opportunist. Robinson was generally regarded as more levelheaded and ambitious.
James Lane, who became a fierce rival of Robinson. (Source)
Lane, who was active in mustering Kansas troops, lobbed a variety of accusations at Robinson during the war. He went so far as to accuse the governor of treason, and of willfully depriving him of necessary artillery. Late in 1861, Lane and his allies in the legislature tried to oust Robinson on a technicality, claiming that his term ended in January 1862, not 1863. They staged an election that named George A. Crawford as Robinson's successor, but the result was declared illegitimate by the state supreme court.
Lane would finally land a disabling blow against Robinson with a fairly obscure issue: whether state bond sales had been carried out correctly.
Impeachment
As part of their effort to fund and sustain a militia, as well as get the state institutions up and running, the Kansas legislature authorized the issuance of $150,000 in state bonds. Under previously established guidelines, the bonds were to be sold at no less than 70 cents on the dollar.
John W. Robinson, Robinson's unrelated secretary of state, and George S. Hillyer, the state auditor, didn't abide by this stipulation when they set up an agreement with bond agent Robert Stevens. The two men promised to effectively deliver bonds at 60 cents on the dollar, since Stevens would purchase $50,000 at 40 cents on the dollar and $37,000 at 70 cents on the dollar. Governor Robinson claimed that while he thought it was good state policy to sell the bonds at a lower rate if they were unable to get a better one, he recognized the problem with doing so and declined to sign a paper authorizing the transaction. However, he had given his secretary of state and state auditor approval to make the bond arrangements, and they ultimately finalized the agreement and attached his name without his approval.
Although it wasn't ideal, the arrangement wasn't necessarily corrupt. None of the officials involved benefitted personally from selling the bonds at a lower return, and there was also the risk that refusing to sell to Stevens would result in no bond sale and thus no proceeds at all. Still, selling the bonds below the stipulated amount was a violation of state legislation, and therefore a violation of the law.
Lane's allies in the legislature pounced on the opportunity to take down Robinson, and the house of representatives authorized an investigation at the end of January 1862. Lane was one of the people deposed, and alleged that the money from the bond sales was being sought "for use against my friends and myself in Kansas, and that it would not go into the State Treasury." On February 15, the state house of representatives approved five impeachment charges against Robinson, as well as eight charges against John W. Robinson and seven against Hillyer. Robinson was the first U.S. governor to be impeached.
After a lengthy debate over how to proceed, the trial went forward in June. John W. Robinson's impeachment trial was the most comprehensive, and resulted in his removal from office following conviction on a single count of the "high misdemeanor" of selling bonds below the rate set by the legislature. The state senate immediately began the proceedings against Hillyer, with the agreement that the evidence introduced in John W. Robinson's trial (with the exception of Hillyer's own testimony) would be applicable to the new trial. Hillyer was also convicted of the same charge.
Governor Robinson's charge was perfunctory, starting and concluding on June 16. The testimony suggested that the governor was not directly involved in the bond sale, since he was in Kansas while John W. Robinson and Hillyer sought to make the transaction in Washington, D.C. General J.C. Stone, quartermaster general, testified that he had told Robinson several times that he thought the bonds could be disposed of for 100 cents on the dollar, but also realized that the governor had no control over the bonds. John W. Robinson and Hillyer also took the stand, saying there had been no real arrangement with Robinson on how the bonds would be disposed of.
Wilson Shannon, arguing for the defense, proclaimed that the prosecution had advanced no evidence showing that the governor was complicit in the bond sales. The state treasurer had the duty to issue them, while the governor and auditor could only sign them. The mere signing of the bonds, he noted, had not been upheld as a high misdemeanor in Hillyer's trial.
Davies Wilson, leading the prosecution, praised Robinson's character and lamented that he was facing removal from office, but said it was nevertheless the duty of the state senate to carry out their duty. "Precious may be our tried friends and trusted leaders, yet more precious should be purity and integrity," he declared. "And when, in these venal days, it is given us the privilege of proving our allegiance to virtue, and honor and truth, even at so great a price, let us be bold to set an illustrious example, and declare that here at least there are none so exalted, none so protected from process of law, none so powerful as to do wrong, yet fear no penalty."
Robinson was acquitted on all five counts. There were only three votes to convict scattered across two charges, and on three articles the vote to clear him was unanimous.
Although the result was a rather decisive exoneration, the impeachment proved crippling to Robinson's political career. At the Republican state convention on September 17, he lost the gubernatorial nomination to Thomas Carney, who subsequently succeeded him in office. Robinson left office on January 12, 1863, having completed a single term.
Later life
Robinson followed a variety of pursuit after his time as governor. In addition to maintaining his farm, he was a regent at the University of Kansas for several years as well as director of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad Company. He also served as the president of the Kansas Historical Society from 1879 to 1880 and superintendent of the Haskell Institute at Lawrence from 1887 to 1889.
Robinson didn't abandon politics entirely. Starting in 1873, he served eight years as an independent in the Kansas state senate. He also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1886 and governor of Kansas in 1890. Becoming estranged from the Republican Party, he left it in 1886 and worked with both Democrats and Populists, helping back fusion candidate of Lorenzo D. Lewelling as governor of Kansas in 1892.
Contemporary accounts have credited Robinson with being a moderating force that helped to keep the antebellum violence in Kansas from spiraling out of control. He wrote about these prewar tensions in 1891 in a book entitled The Kansas Conflict.
Robinson died in Lawrence on August 17, 1894.
Sources: Kansas Historical Society, Lecompton Historical Society, National Governors Association, Territorial Kansas Online, The Kansas City Public Library, Dickinson College's "House Divided" Search Engine, The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, The California Gold Rush and the Coming Civil War by Leonard L. Richards, The Pursuit of Public Power: Political Culture in Ohio 1787-1861 edited by Jeffrey P. Brown and Andrew R.L. Clayton, Kansas's War: The Civil War in Documents edited by Pearl T. Ponce, Man of Douglas, Man of Lincoln: The Political Odyssey of James Henry Lane by Ian Michael Spurgeon, The Life of Charles Robinson: The First Governor of Kansas by Frank Wilson Blackmar, Proceedings in the Cases of the Impeachment of Charles Robinson, Governor; John W. Robinson, Secretary of State; George S. Hillyer, Auditor of State, of Kansas
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