John W. Geary (1819-1873)
New Cumberland, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Two-term Governor of Pennsylvania, 1867-73. Major General in Civil War. Colonel, 2nd Pa. Regiment in Mexican War. Governor, Kansas Territory. First postmaster & first mayor of San Francisco. His home was a block east at 308 Market Street.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
John W. Geary lived one of the most eventful public lives of 19th-century America. He served as a colonel in the Mexican War, became the first postmaster and first mayor of San Francisco during the Gold Rush, and was appointed governor of the volatile Kansas Territory during the "Bleeding Kansas" crisis over slavery. He then won distinction as a Union major general in the Civil War before serving two terms as governor of Pennsylvania from 1867 to 1873. His home stood just east of here in New Cumberland.
Why it matters
Geary's career threads through nearly every major current of mid-19th-century America—westward expansion, the sectional crisis, and the Civil War—embodied in a single restless public servant.
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Related people
- · John W. Geary
Related events
- · Mexican War
- · Bleeding Kansas
- · Civil War
Themes & tags
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