Samuel Medary

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Samuel Medary
Samuel Medary

Minnesota Territory


3rd Territorial Governor
In office
April 23, 1857 – May 24, 1858
Lieutenant(s) none
Preceded by Willis Arnold Gorman
Succeeded by Henry Hastings Sibley

Born February 25, 1801
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Died November 7, 1864
Columbus, Ohio
Political party Democratic
Profession newspaper owner

Samuel Medary (February 25, 1801–November 7, 1864) Born and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, he settled in Ohio in 1825. After a term in the Ohio legislature (1834) and state senate (1836-38) as a Jackson Democrat, he purchased a newspaper in Columbus that became the Ohio Statesman, which he edited until 1857. Active at the National Democratic Conventions at Baltimore in 1844, where he was instrumental in the nomination of James K. Polk; and at Cincinnati in 1856, where he was the President pro tem. President James Buchanan appointed him as the 3rd Territorial Governor of Minnesota from April 23, 1857 to May 24, 1858. Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858 and elected Henry Hastings Sibley.

Samuel Medary was also Governor of Kansas Territory from December, 1858 to December,1860. William F. Wheeler was territory Librarian and the Governor's Secretary while in office.

Returning to Ohio, he established a newspaper he named The Crisis. Medary was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1864 for conspiracy against the government and was arrested. He was released on bonds, but died in Columbus, Ohio before he could be tried.

Preceded by
Willis A. Gorman
3rd Governor of Minnesota Territory
1857 – 1858
Succeeded by
Henry Hastings Sibley (state)