Charles R. Jennison

Charles Rainsford Jennison also known as "Doc" Jennison (June 6, 1834 – June 21, 1884) was a member of the anti-slavery group during Bleeding Kansas. He was also a famous Jayhawker, and a member of the Kansas State Senate in the 1870s. He later served as a Union colonel and as a leader of Jayhawker militias during the American Civil War.

Early life and Bleeding Kansas
Charles R. Jennison was born on June 6, 1834 in Antwerp, Jefferson County, New York.  His family moved to Wisconsin in 1846 where Jennison studied medicine.  Marrying at 20 years old, Dr. Jennison moved to Osawatomie, Kansas in 1858 and to Mound City, Kansas shortly thereafter.Wilkie, Frank B., edited by Banasik, Michael, Missouri in 1861:  The Civil War Letters of Frank B. Wilkie, Newspaper Correspondent, Part IV, 2001, page 247, footnote 215  Jennison was considered the most brutal jayhawkers.  Whereas some other importnat leaders of irregulars in the Bleeding Kansas border conflict shared these traits, Jennison was different because he plundered for personal gain.Castel, Albert, Civil War in Kansas: Reaping the Whirlwind, (), University Press of Kansas, 1997, page 43  Jennison worked with James Montgomery in opposing pro-slavery settlers and irregulars believed to be working with Border Ruffians.

Civil War
Even before the start of the war, Jennison became a captain of the Mound City Guards on February 19, 1861.Connelley, William E., A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Lewis Publishing Company, 1918, "Charles R. Jennison"

After the war
Jennison was elected to the Kansas Legislature from Leavenworth County in 1865, re-elected in 1867, and elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1872. He died at Leavenworth, Kansas June 21, 1884.

References

Other websites
Civil War St. Louis website, article about Jayhawking by Castel 
7th Regiment Kansas Cavalry from Cutler's History of the State of Kansas
15th Regiment Kansas Cavalry from Cutler's History of the State of Kansas
"White Radicals for Racial Equality: An Intercultural Perspective on the Kansas Free State Struggle, 1854-1864" by, Charles Reitz

Category:1834 births
Category:1884 deaths
Category:American abolitionists
Category:People from Leavenworth, Kansas