President Franklin Pierce appointed Andrew Horatio Reeder of Easton, Pennsylvania, as the very first territorial Governor of Kansas on June 29, 1854. Reeder arrived in the territory with the monumental task of organizing a government under the controversial concept of popular sovereignty, which allowed local settlers to vote on whether to permit slavery. He quickly found himself caught in the crossfire of a violent, lawless territory that would soon become known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as armed factions from both sides flooded across the borders to manipulate the local elections.
The true test of Reeder’s character occurred when he chose to risk his life by refusing to validate fraudulent, pro-slavery election results. His bold defiance enraged militant border ruffians, leading to his abrupt dismissal by the president and making him a marked man with a bounty on his head. To escape certain assassination by pro-slavery mobs, the former governor was forced to dye his hair, don the humble clothes of a woodcutter, and slip away under the cover of darkness. The political appointment made on this date thrust an ordinary northern lawyer into a crucible of violence, forcing him to sacrifice his career to stand against the expansion of human bondage.
