Life span: 12/30/1819 to 02/08/1873TabsLife SummaryFull name: John White GearyPlace of Birth: Mount Pleasant, PABurial Place: Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, PABirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: NorthOrigins: Free StateNo. of Spouses: 2No. of Children: 4Family: Richard Geary (father), Margaret White (mother), Margaret Ann Logan (first wife, 1843), Mary Church Henderson (second wife, 1858)Education: OtherOther Education: Jefferson CollegeOccupation: PoliticianMilitaryAttorney or JudgeBusinessmanChurch or Religious Denomination: PresbyterianGovernment: Pierce Administration (1853-57)GovernorLocal governmentMilitary: US military (Pre-Civil War)Union Army Note Cards John White Geary (American National Bibliography) ScholarshipIn July 1856 President Franklin Pierce appointed [John Geary] territorial governor of Kansas. By that date "Bleeding Kansas" had become the nation's most urgent issue, influencing the pending presidential election, as Democrats championed congressional noninterference with slavery and Republicans immediate admission under a free-state constitution, threatening the welfare of Geary's party and nation. Assured of the Pierce administration's support and determined to restore peace, Geary in September reached Kansas, where armed bands roved the territory, terrorizing settlers. Within a few weeks Geary had substantially restored order, disbanding the proslavery militia, organizing a new one subject to his orders, and averting an attack on Lawrence, threatened by a force of proslavery men. The judicial system was a more difficult problem. The federal judges he deemed negligent and incompetent, the U.S. marshal wanting in courage and energy, the attorney general uncooperative. Geary's troubles with securing justice came to a head when Chief Justice Samuel Lecompte twice freed an accused murderer, the marshal refused to arrest the freed man, the U.S. Senate refused to confirm a judge nominated to replace Lecompte, and Secretary of War William L. Marcy asked that Geary explain his earlier condemnation of Lecompte. James A. Rawley, "Geary, John White," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00409.html. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 09/10/1856 09/10/1856 John White Geary officially takes up his position as Territorial Governor of Kansas 09/15/1861 09/15/1861 Union troops push back attacking Virginia units around Harpers Ferry near Pritchard's Mill on the Potomac 09/24/1861 09/24/1861 At Point of Rocks, Union troops on the Maryland side skirmish with Confederate units across the Potomac 02/07/1862 02/07/1862 Union artillery units shell Harpers Ferry in response to the reported abuse of a flag of truce 03/29/1862 03/29/1862 In Loudon County, Virginia, Pennsylvania infantry storm the streets of Middleburg and take the town 03/29/1862 03/29/1862 Pennsylvania troops reportedly use the machine gun in open combat for the first time in the war 04/27/1863 04/30/1863 The Army of the Potomac concentrates on Chancellorsville in preparation for an attack on Lee 05/01/1863 05/01/1863 Union and Confederate armies collide near Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania County, Virginia 05/02/1863 05/02/1863 "Stonewall" Jackson's flanking movement seizes the initiative in the Battle of Chancellorsville 05/03/1863 05/03/1863 Lee's Army of Northern Virginia forces back entrenched Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville 05/05/1863 05/06/1863 The beaten Union Army retreats across the Rappahannock, ending the Battle of Chancellorsville 11/24/1863 11/24/1863 Above Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union troops storm the Confederate positions on Lookout Mountain 08/23/1865 08/23/1865 Henry Wirz, former commandant of the Andersonville prison camp, goes on trial in Washington 08/24/1865 10/17/1865 At the Capitol, the trial of Henry Wirz, former Andersonville prison commandant, continues in Washington 11/10/1865 11/10/1865 Henry Wirz, former commandant of the Andersonville prison camp, is executed in Washington, D.C. 01/15/1866 01/15/1866 More than a hundred general officers of volunteers are mustered out of the Union Army 03/05/1866 03/05/1866 Pennsylvania Democrats convene in Harrisburg, praise the president, nominate Hiester Clymer for governor 03/07/1866 03/07/1866 In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Republicans nominate former Union General John White Geary for governor 10/09/1866 10/09/1866 In Pennsylvania, General John W. Geary is elected governor as Republicans again dominate. Major TopicsMexican WarBleeding KansasSherman's March Documents Author Docs Date Title 03/21/1857 New York Times, “Farewell Address of Governor Geary,” March 21, 1857 Subject Docs Date Title 12/03/1855 Louisville (KY) Journal, "Exciting News from Kansas," December 3, 1855 12/15/1855 Charleston (SC) Mercury, "Affairs in Kansas," December 15, 1855 01/03/1857 New York Times, "Kansas Affairs," January 3, 1857 01/27/1857 New York Times, "Kansas Affairs," January 27, 1857 02/09/1857 New York Times, “Affairs in Kansas,” February 9, 1857 02/12/1857 Washington (DC) National Era, “Affairs in Kansas,” February 12, 1857 02/27/1857 New York Times, “Important from Kansas,” February 27, 1857 03/02/1857 New York Times, “News from Kansas,” March 2, 1857 03/05/1857 Washington (DC) National Era, “Affairs in Kansas,” March 5, 1857 03/11/1857 New York Herald, “Practical Effect of the Dred Scott Judgment,” March 11, 1857 03/17/1857 New York Times, “Corruption in Congress,” March 17, 1857 03/19/1857 Carlisle (PA) American Democrat, "Resignation of Gov. Geary," March 19, 1857 03/20/1857 New York Times, “A Few Words About Kansas,” March 20, 1857 03/28/1857 New York Times, “Governor Geary’s Last Interview with Mr. Buchanan,” March 28, 1857 04/27/1857 New York Times, “The Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Question,” April 27, 1857 07/25/1857 New York Times, "The New Troubles in Kansas," July 25, 1857 01/27/1858 New York Herald, "The Approaching Conclusion of the Kansas Comedy," January 27, 1858 03/07/1866 Selected Resolutions, Pennsylvania Republican Party Convention, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1866 Images John White Geary John White Geary, detail John White Geary, engraving John White Geary, engraving, detail Bibliography Chicago Style Entry Link Geary, John White, William Alan Blair, and Bell Irvin Wiley. A Politician Goes to War: The Civil War Letters of John White Geary. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. View Record Tinkcom, Harry Marlin. John White Geary: Soldier-Statesman, 1819-1873. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1940. View Record
John White Geary (American National Bibliography) ScholarshipIn July 1856 President Franklin Pierce appointed [John Geary] territorial governor of Kansas. By that date "Bleeding Kansas" had become the nation's most urgent issue, influencing the pending presidential election, as Democrats championed congressional noninterference with slavery and Republicans immediate admission under a free-state constitution, threatening the welfare of Geary's party and nation. Assured of the Pierce administration's support and determined to restore peace, Geary in September reached Kansas, where armed bands roved the territory, terrorizing settlers. Within a few weeks Geary had substantially restored order, disbanding the proslavery militia, organizing a new one subject to his orders, and averting an attack on Lawrence, threatened by a force of proslavery men. The judicial system was a more difficult problem. The federal judges he deemed negligent and incompetent, the U.S. marshal wanting in courage and energy, the attorney general uncooperative. Geary's troubles with securing justice came to a head when Chief Justice Samuel Lecompte twice freed an accused murderer, the marshal refused to arrest the freed man, the U.S. Senate refused to confirm a judge nominated to replace Lecompte, and Secretary of War William L. Marcy asked that Geary explain his earlier condemnation of Lecompte. James A. Rawley, "Geary, John White," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00409.html.
