page_title: Charles L. Robinson
section_title: Kansas
hierarchical_section_title: Charles L. Robinson / Biography / Kansas
caption_attribution_description: English: Sara Tappan Doolittle Robinson
context_page_description: Charles Lawrence Robinson was the first Governor of Kansas. He was also the first governor of a US state to be impeached by a state legislature, although he was found not guilty during subsequent state Senate trial and was not removed from office. To date, he is the only governor of Kansas to be impeached.
context_section_description: In 1854, Robinson happened to attend a meeting at which Eli Thayer of the New England Emigrant Aid Society 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 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.
  During the Bleeding Kansas tragedy, Robinson angered many with his passionate support for the Free-Staters, who were promoting a fight against pro-slavery 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 the son of abolitionist John Brown, were held in custody in Camp Sackett. This United States military camp (named for Delos B. Sackett) was located about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Lecompton, Kansas.
caption: Sara Tappan Doolittle Robinson
exif: {}