Charles Lawrence Robinson (July 21, 1818 – August 17, 1894) was an American politician who served in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The ...

from 1851-52, and later as the first

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 1861 until 1863. He was also the first governor of a US state to be

impeached Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

by a state legislature, although he was found not guilty during subsequent State Senate

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...

and was not removed from office. After his time as governor he served in the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

from 1873 to 1881. To date, he is the only governor of Kansas to be impeached.

Biography

Massachusetts

Robinson was educated at Hadley and Amherst academies, and at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...

. He studied medicine in

Woodstock, Vermont Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Cha ...

, and later in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, where he earned his medical degree at the

Berkshire Medical College Berkshire Medical College (originally the Berkshire Medical Institution, and sometimes referred to as Berkshire Medical College) was a medical school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is notable for establishing the first professorship in mental d ...

in 1843. He practiced medicine in

Belchertown Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,350 at the 2020 cen ...

, Springfield, and Fitchburg.

California

In 1849, he traveled overland to California. He edited a daily paper in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

called the ''Settler's and Miner's Tribune'' in 1850, took an active part in the riots of 1850 as an upholder of squatter sovereignty, was seriously wounded, and, while under indictment for conspiracy and murder, was elected to the

California legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

. He was subsequently discharged by the court without trial. He represented

California's 12th State Assembly district California's 12th State Assembly district is one of 80 California State Assembly districts. It is currently represented by Republican Heath Flora of Ripon. District profile The district consists of part of the northern San Joaquin Valley ...

from 1851 to 1852. He married Sara Tappen Doolittle Lawrence in 1851, and they had two children. She later published ''Kansas, its Exterior and Interior Life'' (Boston, 1856), in which she describes the scenes, actors, and events of the struggle between the friends and foes of slavery in Kansas. In 1852, Charles returned to Massachusetts, and conducted in Fitchburg a weekly paper called the ''News''.

Kansas

In 1854, Robinson happened to attend a meeting at which

Eli Thayer Eli Thayer (June 11, 1819 – April 15, 1899) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. He was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in 1 ...

of the

New England Emigrant Aid Society The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...

spoke about the need to oppose slavery. After the speech, the two were introduced to one another. Thayer took an immediate liking to Robinson and asked him to act as the New England Emigrant Aid Company's official financial agent, to which Robinson agreed. In June of that year, Robinson went to

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas. ...

with Charles Branscomb to find suitable land upon which the Emigrant Aid Society could found a town dedicated to the free state cause. Robinson's efforts eventually led to the founding of

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

. During the tragic

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

period, Robinson angered many with his passionate support for the Free-Staters, who were promoting a fight against pro-

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

advocates. He was illegally elected Territorial Governor of Kansas under the Topeka Constitution in January 1856. From the spring of 1856 until September, Robinson and several other Free-State leaders, including John Brown, Jr., the son of

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

John Brown, were held in custody in Camp Sackett. This United States

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

(named for Delos B. Sackett) was located about southwest of Lecompton, Kansas.

Impeachment

In 1861, Robinson took office as governor of the newly admitted State of Kansas and served one term from February 9, 1861, to January 12, 1863. In 1861, the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craft ...

him along with Secretary of State J. W. Robinson and State Auditor George S. Hillyer for alleged mishandling of bond sale to fund the raising of troops in support of the Union cause. Robinson was found not guilty in his

before the State Senate, but it hurt his political career; both Robinson and Hillyer were found guilty and removed from office. Robinson's impeachment resulted from a political rivalry with James H. Lane, the first U.S. Senator from Kansas.

Later life

Elected to the Kansas State Senate, Robinson served from 1873 to 1881. He served as president of the Kansas Historical Society from 1879 to 1880.Charles Robinson
''Kansas Historical Society'' Later, he became a Superintendent of the Haskell Institute and served from 1887 to 1889, and was regent of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

for twelve years. Robinson died on August 17, 1894, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence.

References

External links

Kansas State Historical SocietyPublications concerning Kansas Governor Robinson's administration available via the KGI Online Library
*
National Governors Association
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Charles L. 1818 births 1894 deaths 19th-century American politicians 19th-century Christian universalists Amherst College alumni Berkshire Medical College alumni Bleeding Kansas California Whigs Governors of Kansas Kansas Republicans Kansas state senators Members of the California State Assembly Members of the Universalist Church of America People from Hardwick, Massachusetts Republican Party governors of Kansas Union (American Civil War) state governors Impeached state and territorial governors of the United States