Charles L. Robinson: The First U.S. Governor Impeached

(Source)

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)

One of the earlier conflicts between Robinson and Lane occurred on October 5, 1857, when Lane called for a military movement against pro-slavery settlers and the destruction of the legislature. While this proposal was rejected, he did manage to create a military board at a meeting of the legislature on January 4, 1858, and have himself appointed to lead it, whereupon he continued to advocate for violence against pro-slavery camps. When Robinson was called before the board, he effectively undercut it by saying the entity had no authority to summon him.

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

Jonathan M. Davis: pardon me boys

Image from kshs.org

With just weeks left in his term, Governor Jonathan McMillan Davis of Kansas went after an unexpected target. In December of 1922, he led the University of Kansas Board of Administration in firing the school's chancellor, Ernest H. Lindley. The decision was done without a hearing on the basis of several reputed charges, including aloofness from the student body, failing to abide by the board's orders, and partisan politics. The last one in particular brought cries of hypocrisy, given that Davis discharged his Republican appointee to the board, William P. Lambertson, and replaced him with a Democrat soon after Lambertson opposed Lindley's removal.

The uproar would blow over almost immediately after Davis left office. Lindley, who had been chancellor at the university since 1920, was reappointed by Davis' Republican successor, Ben S. Paulen, a few days into his term. Lindley would go on to hold the position until his retirement in 1938. But during the tumult, the Lawrence Journal-World criticized the rationale for the firing as trivial and suggested that Davis was engaging in "petty politics" and either taking out his anger over his failed re-election on Lindley or trying to stir up trouble for Paulen. Davis probably thought he was doing the right thing, the newspaper opined, but also suggested that the outgoing governor had an arrogant streak and was especially humiliated at the loss considering his presidential aspirations earlier in the year. The editors felt that his lame duck actions had "caused more grief and humiliation to the state of Kansas than any governor in half a century."

Despite these harsh words, the paper said they did not consider him to be dishonest or corrupt. They may well have held off their opinion on this topic if they had been aware of the scandal that would erupt scarcely a week after the editorial ran.

Born in Bronson, Kansas in April of 1871, Davis began attending the University of Kansas in 1888 and stayed there until 1891 before transferring to the University of Nebraska. He never graduated, for the death of his father brought him back to his hometown to help manage the family farm. Davis would remain heavily invested in the farm, although he also spent seven years managing a bank.

Davis first entered politics in 1900 when he was elected to the state house of representatives. After a prolonged absence, he returned there after winning the 1908 and 1910 elections and became a member of the state senate in 1912. He succeeded in winning the Democratic nomination for governor in 1920, but lost the general election to Republican candidate Henry J. Allen. Two years later, Davis returned to win the election and successfully contested Allen for the title.

Described as a "dirt farmer governor," Davis was especially concerned about lowering taxes and helping the state's agricultural workers. In July of 1923, he advised wheat farmers to implement a "selling strike" by storing up supplies to drive up prices. Davis contended that the prices were too low and that he would work with other governors in the Midwest to spread the idea, since buyers would simply go to other markets if only Kansas put the strike into effect. "The only way the farmer can fight for a fair price is to store his wheat and refuse to sell it until he gets a price that is just," he said. During his term, Davis also oversaw the distribution of $25 million in bonuses to ex-servicemen of World War I, limited banking procedures, put utilities under public control, authorized an improved road bill, and endorsed prohibition and women's suffrage.

The populist appeal of Davis was such that there were rumors that he would seek the presidency or a Senate seat. Sure enough, in April of 1924 the Democratic state convention passed a resolution vowing to support his nomination for President at the upcoming national convention. The resolution only asked the delegates to commit themselves to Davis for as long as it was expedient, but in a crowded field his nomination on the national stage was not out of the question. He traveled to the event pledging "to get something done for the farmer" while in office, with a platform including an adjustment of freight rates as well as the credit basis for farmers, reducing tariffs, making credit available to farmers in the same way it was available to businesses, and stabilizing markets.

The deadlock between former Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo and New York Governor Al Smith led the convention to choose a John Davis as a compromise candidate, but it was not the Kansas governor. John W. Davis, ambassador to the United Kingdom and a former West Virginia congressman, would go on to unsuccessfully contest Calvin Coolidge for the presidency. In his re-election bid, meanwhile, Davis turned on the organization that had supported him in 1922 and drafted a plank declaring the Democratic Party "unalterably opposed" to the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan shifted its support to the Republican side, aiding candidate Ben Sanford Paulen to victory in November.

The firing of Lindley and replacement of Lambertson were not the only lame duck actions that earned Davis criticism during his final months in office. He also came under fire for a questionable series of pardons and paroles. In one case, he pardoned Dr. W.A. Nixon after Nixon had served only a few years behind bars after conviction of the sensational murder of an attorney. In another, he pardoned F.D. Bushnell, who had been charged with swindling a black farmer.

The Kansas City Journal eventually got word that Davis was making offers in exchange for cash. They set up a sting operation with the cooperation of Fred Pollman, a former banker who had gone to prison on forgery charges and was on parole at the time. With just three days left in Davis' term, the newspaper set up a hidden listening device in Pollman's room at the Topeka Hotel and gave Pollman marked bills. Government officials and reporters from the Journal listened in from another room as Davis' son, Russell, met with Pollman. Russell left the room after Pollman gave him $1,000, then returned with a pardon from the governor. Pollman then gave Russell another $250. As he was leaving, reporters confronted Russell about the exchange. Caught off-guard, Russell nevertheless said that his father was not involved in the deal. Davis admitted that Russell had been "inveigled into accepting the money" and characterized the incident as a "frame up by my political enemies to 'get me.'" Davis also said he had already decided to grant the pardon when Russell was caught by the newspaper.

The Journal also reported that Glenn A. Davis, imprisoned on a murder charge, claimed to have acted as the governor's agent in the Pollman transaction. He said Governor Davis also offered him a pardon in exchange for cash, and rejected his request for parole when he refused. Davis had been uncertain whether he would attend Paulen's inauguration on January 12, 1925, but in the end he wouldn't have a choice. With just hours left in his term, Davis and Russell were arrested on bribery charges. While Paulen took the oath of office, they made their first appearance in court. The scandal soon grew to include Carl J. Peterson, the state bank commissioner and a friend and political adviser to Davis. Investigators charged that Peterson asked convicted banker Walter Grundy for $4,000 in exchange for a pardon and settled for $2,500 after consulting with Davis. Peterson soon resigned, two and a half months before his term was to end.

Davis returned to work on the farm until May of 1925, when he faced his first bribery trial in the Grundy case. Davis testified in his own defense, and in the end the jury voted to acquit him. Peterson went to trial on the same issue in February of 1926 and was also acquitted. They were good signs for Davis' second trial, which ran in March and April of that year. Davis reiterated that he knew nothing of his son's deal with Pollman, saying the ex-banker requested one so he could go into the coal mining business and that he acquiesced. Character witnesses also testified on his behalf. Davis was once again acquitted, a verdict which also cleared Russell of charges.

The three verdicts rejuvenated Davis, who promptly sued the Journal and others involved in the sting in an unsuccessful claim for $5 million in damages. He considered that his administration had been vindicated and that there was still a political future for him. "I am strong enough to fight and when the farmers want me to run again for governor to carry out to carry out a tax reduction program, the call will be loud enough for me to enter the ring," he said. "But until then I shall stay on the farm." Despite this claim, Davis also told Paulen, "Looks like I'll have to run. And if the Democrats choose me again, and the Republicans renominate you, I hope our friendship will not be impaired."

Both men did get re-nominated by their respective parties, though Davis' won by a narrow margin. Out of about 62,000 ballots cast in the primary, he was selected by a margin of only about 1,600 votes. During the general election campaign, he again advocated tax reduction and a compulsory banking law while also speaking against the power of large corporations. With the scandal fresh in the state's memory, however, Paulen was easily able to keep his post.

Davis would return to his farm for the remainder of his life, but he would take a crack at elected office at nearly every opportunity. In 1928, he was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for state representative. He withdrew from the race later on, saying he could not campaign and manage the farm at the same time and that it would only be more difficult if he won the election. Two years later, the party chose Nellie Cline to run for Senate; when she failed to file her intent to run, Davis made a surprise bid by filing just before the deadline. Once again, the Republican incumbent cleaned up at the polls as Senator Arthur Capper won a fourth term.

In the next years, Davis was able to regain a bit of influence as some legislators and newspapers supported his call for a special legislative session aimed at lowering expenditures and taxes. However, Davis was not able to wrest the Democratic nomination for state senator from incumbent Harry Warren and instead ran an unsuccessful independent campaign. In 1934, for the first time in over a decade, Davis' name didn't appear on the election year ballot.

He returned in 1936 to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. He challenged attorney Walter Huxman for the spot, supporting the Townsend Plan for pensioning to open up more employment opportunities for younger residents. As always, Davis also returned to his favorite planks of tax relief and farm support. Huxman won the nomination and went on to win the general election.

In 1938, Davis launched an independent campaign for governor. The Democrats opposed the bid, fearing that it would siphon off votes from Huxman. At the final tally, however, Davis mustered just 15,605 votes out of 755,202 cast. Huxman still lost his office, with Republican challenger Payne Ratner decisively winning the gubernatorial election. Two years later, Davis again unsuccessfully challenged Warren for the state senate nomination.

By 1942, it seemed that Davis was seeking office out of habit as much as anything else. He briefly considered running for the House of Representatives but instead filed for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. In the four-way race, Davis narrowly won the nomination to appear in the general election for the first time in 16 years. Voters still favored the GOP, however, with Jess C. Denious winning lieutenant governor and Andrew F. Schoeppel becoming governor.

It was the last race Davis attempted. He died seven months later, in June of 1943.

Sources: National Governors Association, Kansas State Library, "The Next Governor a K.U. Man" in the October 22 University of Kansas Graduate Magazine,"Kansas Governor Asks Grain Strike" in the Milwaukee Sentinel on Jul. 15 1923, "Republicans Fear Losses in Senate Through Revolt" in the Montreal Gazettee on Jul. 31 1923, "Gov. Davis is Willing" in the New York Times on Aug. 2 1923, "Convention Backs Davis Aspirations" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Apr. 2 1924, "Davis, Kansas, to Work for Farmer at Convention" in the Reading Eagle on Jun. 21 1924, "Paulen Will Make a Klan Statement" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Aug. 27 1924, "Is It Policy or Is It Just Davis?" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Jan. 2 1925, "Davis Act Legal; Dr. Lindley is Out" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Jan. 10 1925, "Governor Davis' Son Takes Pardon Coin" in the Palm Beach Post on Jan. 11 1925, "Says Governor Desired Money to Give Pardon" in the Palm Beach Post on Jan. 11 1925, "Governor Davis is Arrested on Bribery Charge" in the Providence News on Jan. 12 1925, "Second Charge Brought Against Ex.-Governor Davis" in the Evening Independent on Jan. 13 1925, "Chancellor Talks to Student Body" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Jan. 14 1925, "Kansas Bank Chief Quits in Defiance" in the New York Times on Jan. 16 1925, "Trial of Davis Nears Its Close" in the Spokesman-Review on May 20 1925, "Former Governor Takes the Stand" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Mar. 31 1926, "Jury Acquits Gov. J.M. Davis" in the Gettysburg Times on Apr. 6 1926, "Davis Found Not Guilty By Kansas Jury" in the Southeast Missourian on Apr. 25 1926, "Former Governor Loses Libel Suit" in the Berkeley Daily Gazette on Nov. 4 1926, "Farm Issue Faces Votes in Wheat Belt Primaries" in the Evening Independent on Aug. 5 1930, "3 States Vote at Primaries" in the Pittsburgh Press on Aug. 4 1936, "Victory Claims by Both Parties" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Nov. 8 1938, "The Press and Lindley" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Dec. 7 1938, "The Post-Gubernatorial Career of Jonathan M. Davis" by John R. Finger, Encyclopedia of Kansas by Nancy Capace, Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Kansas, American Legislative Leaders in the Midwest 1911-1994 by Nancy and James Sharp

William W. Rose: beer bandit

Image from kckpl.lib.ks.us

History has been kind to William Warren Rose. Though his decision to flaunt a court order may not have put him in the best light, his expulsion from office was a politically-tinged affair resulting in his refusal to uphold an unenforceable law.

Rose was born in Oyster Bay, New York in March of 1864. As a child, he moved to Ogdensburg and later spent time in New York City apprenticing in architecture with G.A. Schellinger. Rose left to start an independent practice in Birmingham, Alabama and partnered with Charles E. Reid. The business was a successful one, and received contracts for several public buildings including a hospital, college, and church. Rose then moved again, settling down in Kansas City, Missouri in 1886 to partner with James Oliver Hogg. Their business extended to the city of the same name in Kansas, and Rose relocated there in 1896. He ran for mayor almost immediately, appearing in the 1897 contest as a fusion candidate.

Rose did not win in that year, but succeeded in the race almost a decade later; it was the first of several times in a two-year span when he appeared as a candidate. In April of 1905, he was elected on a Democratic ticket after establishing a platform urging public rather than private ownership of municipal infrastructure such as the water company and the electric grid. After the election, Rose found that buying out the Metropolitan Water Company was more complicated than he expected due to tax methods and limited debt allowed for the city. He settled for an ordinance allowing a buyout for cost of construction with franchise value excluded. The measure was debated for 10 months, but the city finally purchased the company. William Elsey Connelley wrote in his history of Kansas that Rose had "shown a practical energy and a common sense attitude towards public affairs which have won him a large and loyal following and has made him a leader properly credited with much of the material advancement of Kansas City." However, Rose also got on the bad side of businesses such as packing houses and railroads controlled by Republican political bosses who had managed to avoid their fair share of taxes, by firing the tax assessor. Rose's allies blamed these foes when the mayor was targeted for his involvement in a rather common practice.

A nationwide prohibition on the consumption of alcohol was still several years away, but Kansas already had a law on the books making it a dry state. The prohibition wasn't very strictly enforced, however, and Rose even announced during his campaign that he had no intention of upholding this particular law. In Kansas City alone, some 150 saloons kept the liquor flowing. Varying practices existed in the state to ensure that the saloons paid de facto liquor licenses in exchange for continued operation, such as arresting a barkeep, collecting bail, and keeping it when the person didn't bother to show up in court. Such bartering could easily lead to money going into private hands, but Rose tried to ensure that it would go to the municipal coffers.

When Kansas City was targeted for stricter enforcement, Rose was one of the louder protesters. He argued that prohibition would have little effect on actually stopping the liquor traffic, and that those who fancied a drink would simply take their money to Missouri. By his calculations, the city would lose lose over $100,000 a year in indirect liquor license fees with stricter enforcement. As saloon crackdowns made this financial squeeze a reality, diminished property values and the city's inability to push the tax rate past an established limit forced Rose to slash the budget. He cut about half the police budget and two engine crews in fire department, suspended street cleaning operations, laid off several city engineers, and asked higher-paid city employees to accept voluntary salary reductions.

Worse still for the mayor, the Kansas Supreme Court took him to task for his failure to enforce the prohibition. The court accused him of collecting $50 monthly contributions from the violators without ever informing the county attorney of the infractions. The justices said he had failed to enforce anti-gambling laws as well. A lawsuit seeking his ouster was filed against Rose in September of 1905, and in January of 1906 the court approved the action. In April of 1906, liquor issues proved a major point in the aldermen elections and the officials brought in were opposed to Rose. Three days before the court injunction was to go into effect, Rose and police chief Vernon J. Rose resigned.

With a special election set for May, Rose once again ran for mayor to fill the vacancy caused by his own resignation. Republican councilman Edward E. Venard was named acting mayor and served about a month before becoming his party's mayoral candidate. Council president Joseph C. Laughlin became acting mayor for all of four days before the election. Rose's name wasn't even on the ballot due to the court's ouster decision. Nonetheless, he earned a plurality of 1,600 votes over Venard and Socialist candidate David Harris. In the midst of the year, which was quite a tumultuous one for Rose, the Democratic state convention nominated him for a House of Representatives seat by one vote; Rose opted not to accept.

The Kansas Supreme Court was none too pleased with Rose's victory. The mayor said that his resignation nullified the ouster, and that even if it remained in effect he was serving in the capacity of his latest election rather than the one in 1905 . He had been duly elected, Rose argued, and the court had no right to take him out of office. The court did not agree, and in July it fined him $1,000 for contempt for holding office despite the ouster. Rose needed to pay the fine within 20 days or else face jail. His defense attorneys successfully filed a writ of error, staying the judgment and allowing him to continue his duties as mayor. In September, however, both Mayor Rose and Police Chief Rose resigned, along with police captain John F. Kelly, in exchange for the court dropping its contempt investigations against the trio. One month later, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the matter, leaving the Kansas Supreme Court's ruling in effect.

Laughlin once again took over the office, this time holding it from September until a special election in December. Rose was debarred from holding the mayor's office until after the term he was elected to expired. Instead, he backed Democratic candidate M.J. Phelan. Victory in the December election went to Dr. George M. Gray.

Rose returned to architectural work after his time in office, starting work with David P. Peterson in 1909. The partners won contracts for several more public buildings, including schools, libraries, and hospitals. He remained involved in politics to some degree, serving as a member of the Government War Labor Board during World War I. He made an unsuccessful bid for the state senate in 1916, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1920.

Rose died in May of 1931. Writing in the Kansas City Kansan, A.E. Neal declared, "W. W. Rose was perhaps the boldest and most original political thinker that has attracted attention in Wyandotte County."

Sources: The Political Graveyard, The Kansas Collection at the Kansas City Public Library, "Results Of Prohibition" in the Feilding Star on Jan. 27 1906, "A Temperance Defeat" in the New York Times on Apr. 4 1906, "Ex-Mayor Rose Of Kansas City Re-Elected" in the Deseret News on May 9 1906, "Jail Threat For A Mayor" in the New York Times on Jul. 6 1906, "Rose Gets A Writ" in the Deseret News on Jul. 12 1906, "Mayor Rose To Quit" in the New York Times on Sep. 7 1906, "Mayor Must Pay $1,000 Fine" in the New York Times on Oct. 23 1906, A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Volume 4 by William Elsey Connelley, The Public Vol. 9 edited by Louis Freeland Post and Alice Thatcher Post and Stoughton Cooley, The Lawyers Report Annotated Book 6 edited by Burdett A. Rich and Henry P. Farnham

James H. Lane: soldier of misfortune

Image from bioguide.congress.gov

Like William Hull, James Henry Lane could be considered as much or more of a military man than a politician. Though he had considerably more political experience than Hull, Lane nevertheless spent much of his time in the field. Ultimately, it was a mix of both political and military issues that led to Lane's downfall.

Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1814. After attending school and studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1840 and opened up a practice in his hometown. While there, he became a member of the city council and speaker of the Indiana house of representatives. Six years after opening his practice, Lane left to join the Third Indiana Volunteers. Ultimately, he became a colonel and served in the Mexican War, leading a brigade at the Battle of Buena Vista. Upon returning home, Lane raised the Fifth Indiana Volunteers and served as Lieutenant Governor from 1849 to 1853.

Lane left this position after being elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives in 1852. He served one term, during which his most noted vote was one in favor of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, an act that led to the "bleeding Kansas" struggles between pro- and anti-slavery settlers in the territory. Not one to shy away from trouble, Lane moved to the Kansas Territory after his term in the House and joined the anti-slavery "free state" faction.

In 1855, Lane became the chairman of the executive committee of the Topeka constitutional convention, which formed the first state government. He was also elected major-general of the Free State Troops, and organized the defense of Lawrence during the conflict in late 1855 known as the "Wakarusa War." The key feature of the defense was a network of rifle pits throughout the settlement's streets, ensuring that any attacking pro-slavery army would pay a high price. In a speech after Lawrence's successful defense from Missouri raiders, Lane declared, "That beloved Union, for the safety of which we trembled, will not again, we trust, be imperiled by a foreign force from a sister state invading our Territory. They must and will see the impropriety and injustice of meddling in our affairs until they become our fellow citizens."

Lane was known for such speeches in his efforts to encourage anti-slavery settlers to come to Kansas and in his general denunciation of slavery. In an 1856 speech, Lane blamed Franklin Pierce for the bloodshed, since the territory had been rejected for statehood, and arraigned the President as a murderer. The accusation referred to the government's decision that year to not recognize a memorial presented to Congress requesting statehood. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois accused Lane of perpetrating fraud, since the memorial was plagued with added sentences and several signatures that appeared to be in the same handwriting. An incensed Lane challenged Douglas to a duel, but Douglas refused to accept, saying Lane was not a Senator and therefore not his equal. The rebuke was especially cutting because the Topeka government had appointed Lane to sit in the Senate if statehood was granted. According to John Speer, a compatriot and biographer of Lane, Douglas and Lane eventually became friends due to the approaching Civil War, and Lane mourned Douglas when he died a few months after the conflict began.

Lane continued his activities against pro-slavery men in Kansas, earning him the nickname "The Grim Chieftain." When raiders sacked Lawrence in May of 1856, Lane gathered troops from Iowa and Nebraska and entered Kansas to bolster the anti-slavery forces and drive out raiders. During the same month, Lane was indicted for high treason. The New York Times, in Lane's obituary, reported that Douglas County handed down the indictment for Lane's support for the Topeka government, while historian Donald L. Gilmore says the indictment was handed down by a U.S. district court chief justice who charged Lane and a number of other anti-slavery leaders with resisting territorial laws.

The indictment led Lane to keep out of sight more than usual, but by the next year he was back on the scene, assisting with efforts to remove raiders from Bourbon and Lion counties. He served as president of the Leavenworth constitutional convention, and was elected major-general of the Kansas troops by the territorial legislature. Lane also corresponded with John Brown during 1857, appointing him a brigadier-general and encouraging him to come to the territory to fight. Brown declined, as he was making preparations for his famed 1859 raid against Harper's Ferry in Virginia.

Lane's first serious trouble came in June of 1858, when he shot and killed fellow free state leader Gaius Jenkins as Jenkins came onto land that both men claimed in order to get water from a well. According to Lane's account, Jenkins was accompanied by three other armed men, and he did not open fire himself until three shots had been leveled at him, including one that struck him in the knee. Lane was charged with homicide, but ultimately released on the grounds of self-defense. The incident haunted Lane for at least another year, when a public resolution called him a coward and murderer and said the incident "adds one more infamous page to a life of treason, stratagem, and spoils." In a response published in the Lawrence Republican in March of 1859, Lane declared that he had not expected to kill Jenkins. "It is true that Mr. Jenkins fell by my hand," he wrote. "But no one has more deeply felt or grievously mourned that misfortune than myself."

After Kansas was admitted to the Union as a state in early 1861, the legislature elected Lane to the U.S. Senate with 55 votes, a slight majority over Samuel C. Pomeroy, the other man appointed. By this time, Lane had fallen in with the Radical Republicans, who not only opposed slavery but supported civil rights for African-Americans. He had also fallen on poor times. Speer said that when Lane was elected, he was so poor that he "was refused credit for a loaf of bread in Lawrence."

With the Civil War underway, one of Lane's most notable actions was commanding the Frontier Guard. Made up of Kansas troops, the Guard was raised for the defense of Washington, D.C. in the early part of the war. They were even camped in the East Room of the White House for a time, according to the New York Tribune. Lane also sent the men on a few offensive actions, including an attempt to capture Confederate general Robert E. Lee. While this failed, they did manage to capture the first rebel flag of the war from the homestead of a secessionist.

In June of 1861, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Lane to be brigadier-general of the volunteers. Lane accepted, and for four months commanded the Kansas Brigade, made up of three volunteer units. Following the retreat of Union troops at Wilson's Creek and threats of further violence by pro-slavery raiders, Lane gathered troops and fought skirmishes at Dry Wood and Papinsville. He then led the men on to sack Osceola, Missouri.

Lane's military activities back in the West weren't exactly conducive to his duties as a U.S. Senator. Following his nomination to be brigadier-general, the Judiciary Committee determined that he "virtually resigned his seat." Governor Charles Robinson appointed Frederick P. Stanton, a former governor of the Kansas Territory, to fill the vacancy. Robinson was not very fond of Lane, resentful of his influence and troop-raising activities, which were not strictly within his authority. Though the Senate considered the question of whether Lane was "not entitled to a seat in this body," the seat remained Lane's when the question was amended in January of 1862 to remove the word "not" and accepted.

Though Lane's hope was to raise an expedition of Kansas troops, Native Americans, cavalry, and artillery to invade the southwestern portion of Confederacy, the idea was abandoned due to impracticality. Nevertheless, Lane continued to see action in the West during the Civil War. In July of 1862, he was named commissioner to superintend the recruitment of volunteers.

One noted result of Lane's recruiting efforts was the First Kansas Colored Volunteers, the first black regiment created in the Union army. He sent agents throughout the Union to raise troops, but ultimately the War Department asked that it be put to a stop after receiving complaints that it was hindering efforts to recruit white men. Undeterred, Lane continued to muster troops without federal or state backing. He even hired black recruiting agents, promising pay equal to their white counterparts. Eventually, the regiment received federal authorization.

Already an enemy of pro-slavery forces in Kansas, Lane's activities and declarations (including one that overthrowing slavery would destroy the Confederacy) did nothing to endear him to them. One goal of William Quantrill's 1863 raid on Lawrence was to find and kill Lane. Though his house was one of some 185 buildings torched, Lane was not among the approximately 150 casualties of the massacre. He had managed to escape through a window and nearby cornfield. Enraged by the attack, he called for western Missouri to be converted into "a desert waste." He also pressured a local brigadier-general to pass an order calling for the inhabitants in four Missouri counties to evacuate if they were not loyal to the Union and relocate to a military post if they were. In October of 1864, Lane was named volunteer aide-de-camp when martial law was proclaimed in Kansas.

Lane managed to find some time in these adventures to do work in the Senate. He chaired the Committee on Agriculture during 1864, and also helped to get the Union Pacific Railroad moved three miles to access Lawrence and Topeka. When the railroad requested $300,000 to counteract the loss of funds the diversion would cause, Lane responded, "Before you get a dollar out of that burned and murdered town, you will take up every stump, and every old log you have buried in your grade to save money, and stone-ballast every rod to Lawrence; and even then, when you get your first subsidies, let Jim Lane know!"

When the war concluded, the Chicago Tribune published an account suggesting that a U.S. Senator was personally receiving $20,000 in a deal involving Indian Bureau transactions and military contracts. Though the newspaper didn't name anyone, the Boston Commonwealth suggested it could be Lane. He denied any involvement in such a deal, and was supported by the Senators from Indiana, who declared him innocent after looking the matter over.

Though he was exonerated on the accusations, the incident only further stressed Lane, who had been returned to the Senate in 1865. He lost favor among the Radical Republicans when he opted to support President Andrew Johnson's watered-down approach to the Reconstruction, including Johnson's opposition to the Freedmen's Bureau and veto of the Civil Rights Bill. In July of 1866, Lane visited his brother-in-law, a Captain McCall, and the two rode out from Fort Leavenworth. When McCall opened the carriage door for him at a stop, Lane stepped out, said, "Goodbye, Mac," and shot himself in the head. He died 10 days later.

In pondering the incident, contemporary sources often turned to mental illness as a way to explain the suicide. Speer, declaring Lane overworked and deranged, said, "There is nothing strange about such a man becoming insane." The New York Times obituary stated, "Mr. Lane's present term in the Senate was unmarked by ought that was peculiar or out of the ordinary routine. He was eminently social, kind-hearted, and just faithful ever to his friends, relentless ever to his foes." Initially referring to his condition as "temporary insanity," the newspaper declared four days later that a doctor had determined that the suicide was "attributed solely to mental aberration, induced by extreme prostration and derangement of the nervous system, and aggravated by anxiety."

Sources: The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, The Kansas Historical Society, Territorial Kansas Online, "Obituary: James H. Lane, United States Senator From Kansas" in the New York Times on Jul. 4 1866, "Gen. James H. Lane; His Conduct Previous To The Attempt To Commit Suicide" in the New York Times on Jul. 8 1866, Life of General James H. Lane, "The Liberator of Kansas" by John Speer, Jim Lane: Scoundrel, Statesman, Kansan by Robert Collins, Rebel Invasion of Missouri and Kansas by Richard Josiah Hinton, Compilation of Senate Election Cases from 1789 to 1913, The Black Military Experience by Joseph Patrick Reidy, Kansas edited by Frank W. Blackmar, John Brown, Abolitionist by David S. Reynolds, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Vol. 3, Encyclopedia of the American Civil War edited by David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler, John M. Schofield and the Politics of Generalship by Donald B. Connelly, Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield by James Gillespie Blaine, Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border by Donald L. Gilmore, "New Perspectives On The West" at pbs.org