Wednesday, October 05, 2005

This Day in Republican History 10/05/05

October 5, 1861 Death of Michigan anti-slavery activist Kinsley Bingham, elected in 1854 as nation’s first Republican Governor Adamantly opposed to slavery, Kinsley Bingham broke from the Democratic Party of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Republican Party chose Bingham as its candidate for governor in Jackson County's famous "Under the Oaks" convention of 1854. Six months later he took office as the nation's first Republican governor, and in 1856 he was reelected. Chosen U.S. Senator in 1859, Bingham died in Green Oak Township, Michigan on October 5, 1861.

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