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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR 78-12,334 DAY, Donald Eugene, 1932- A Lif e OF w i l s o n s h a n n o n , g o v e r n o r o f o h i o , DIPLO%»T, TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR OF KANSAS. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1978 History, United States University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan 4< © Copyright by Donald Eugene Day 1978 A LIFE OF WILSON SHANNON, GOVERNOR OF OHIO, DIPLOMAT, TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR OF KANSAS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University Donald Eugene Day, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1978 Reading Committee: Approved By Merton L. Dillon Richard Hopkins Gary W. Reichard L, , Adviser Department of History For Professors Francis P. Weisenburger and Merton L. Dillon, my family, and Joan Marino. They would not let me quit. October 26, 1932 . Born - Roachdale, Indiana 1954 ................ B.A., DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana 1960 ................ Research Assistant, Department of History, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 1963 ................ M.A., Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 1962-1965........... Teaching Assistant, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1965-1973........... Assistant Professor of History, Department of History, Political Science and Economics, Lock Haven State College, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania 1973-1978........... Associate Professor of History, Department of History, Political Science and Economics, Lock Haven State College, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy History of Sectionalism, the Civil War, and Reconstruction History of the Emergence of Modern America History of England since 1714 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION....................................... ii VITA ............ ............ ill INTRODUCTION ......................................... 1 Chapter I. THE FORMATIVE YEARS IN BELMONT COUNTY .... 6 II. GOVERNOR OF OHIO, 1838-1840 ................ 38 III. GOVERNOR OF OHIO, 1842-1844 ................. 126 IV. MINISTER TO MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA FORTY-NINER............................ 152 V. GOVERNOR OF KANSAS TERRITORY, 1855.......... 175 VI. GOVERNOR OF KANSAS TERRITORY, 1856........... 244 VII. EPILOGUE: THE "FOREMOST" LAWYER IN KANSAS. 305 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................... 326 INTRODUCTION Most historical depictions of "Bleeding Kansas" in 1855-1856 reflect a seemingly permanent propaganda victory for the antislavery version of that infamous melodrama. Their basic premise is that the antislavery forces in Kansas were the "good guys." All those who did not endorse the free-state movement— proslavery southerners, northern moderates advocating popular sovereignty, and others— are ca.st as villains. One expects such simple-minded judgments to be rendered by contemporaries actively engaged in the antislavery crusade. It is quite shocking, on the other hand, to find the same biased viewpoints dominating discussions of "Bleeding Kansas" in modern textbooks and monographs. One significant nineteenth century public figure whose reputation has been victimized by these distorted presentations is Wilson Shannon, governor of Kansas Territory from August, 1855, to August, 1856, at the height of the troubles there. Shannon was a states' rights Jeffersonian Republican of the "Old School" who opposed the antislavery movement in Kansas and elsewhere as a threat to the perpetuation of the Union. Because of his views and some of his actions, historians have consistently, unfairly portrayed him as a major villain in the "Bleeding Kansas" scenario, a willing sycophant of the Missouri border ruffians and at least partially responsible for the "sack" of Lawrence in 1856. Since there is abundant, readily available published documentation refuting these pejorative assess ments of Shannon's conduct, the conclusion is inescapable that many historians have been negligent, even incompetent, in researching the sources on "Bleeding Kansas." No extensive scholarly account of Shannon's life has been hitherto undertaken. The brief published sketches most commonly cited in historical works are those by Wendell H. Stephenson in the Dictionary of American Biography, an anonymously authored portrait in volume III of the Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society, arid a chapter in William E. Connelley's Kansas Territorial Governors.^ Only the anonymous author treats his subject with respect. Connelley bitterly denounces Shannon's conduct as Kansas territorial governor as "obsequious," "base," "servile," and even "villainous." Stephenson presents a broader indictment by concluding that, despite a seemingly impressive public career encompassing terms as governor of Ohio (1838-1840, 1842-1844), minister to Mexico (1844-1845), and congressman (1853-1855) in addition to the year in Kansas, Shannon had been nothing more than a weak, "time-serving politician." Similarly denigrating judgments are found in the applicable influen tial works of such prominent scholars’ as Allan Nevins, Roy F. Nichols, Kansas State Historical Society, ed. F. G. Adams (Topeka, 1875-1908), III, 279-323; William E. Connelley, Kansas Territorial Governors (Topeka, 1900), pp. 37-60; Wendell H. Stephenson, "Wilson Shannon," Dictionary of American Biography (hereafter cited as DAB), ed. Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone (rev. ed.; New York, 1964-1975), VII, 20-21. Stephen B. Oates, and James Rawley.^ In defense of Shannon, it should be noted that many, if not most, of his contemporaries adjudged him to be an honorable man devoted to worthy principles and desirous of contributing signifi cantly to the public good. He was so highly regarded by the Ohio Democracy that they nominated him for governor three consecutive times despite his firm adherence to policies conflicting with those of the dominant radical, hard money, antibank wing of the party. In statesmanlike fashion, he persistently maintained that banking facilities and some non-specie currency were essential to a viable state and national economy. As governor, furthermore, he led the minority conservative Democratic faction in its successful efforts to thwart radical schemes to destroy Ohio's banks in the 1840's. Because of his refusal to cater to their wishes, state Democratic leaders eliminated Shannon after 1843 from their list of acceptable candidates for high public office. His. course as governor of Ohio was decidedly contrary to that of a "time-serving politician." In Kansas Territory, Shannon advocated the implementation of popular sovereignty to resolve the slavery issue. He acted as governor in accordance with his belief in democratic principles exercised through a government of laws rather than of men. Once he ascertained that both proslavery and free-state forces in the 90; Roy F. Nichols, Franklin Pierce (2d ed. rev.; Philadelphia, 1969), pp. 478-79; Stephen B. Oates, To Purge This Land with Blood; A Biography of John Brown (New York, 1970), p. 100; James A. Rawley, Race and Politics; "Bleeding Kansas" and the Coming of the Civil War (Philadelphia, 1969), pp. 92, 158. 4 territory were prepared to ignore the processes of orderly govern ment, Shannon wisely asked President Franklin Pierce for authority to use a neutral third party, the United States Army troops stationed in Kansas, to protect the rights of all citizens. Although Pierce's half-hearted response left him without the powers he so desperately needed, the governor was