Source

State Archives of Florida, Series S577

Description

Letter from Governor Harrison Reed to Lieutenant Governor William H. Gleason asserting his authority as governor and his intention to continue acting as such until the impeachment proceedings pending against Reed reach a conclusion.

Date

1868-11-07

Creator

Reed, Harrison, 1813-1899

Format

Letters (correspondence)

Coverage

Reconstruction Era Florida (1865-1877)

Topic

Politics and Government

Subjects

Florida--Governor (1868-1873 : Reed)
Gleason, William Henry, 1829-1902
Impeachments

Geographic Term

Florida

General Note

Harrison Reed (1813-1899), a native of Littleton, Massachusetts, served as Florida governor from 1868 until 1873. Reed lived in Wisconsin until 1861, when he came to Washington, D.C. to work in the Treasury Department. He was appointed Direct Tax Commissioner for Florida and moved to Union-occupied Fernandina in 1863. At the close of the war he became a Federal postal agent for Florida. In 1868 he won election to governor, but during his term he faced virulent opposition from Democrats and even from factions within the Republican Party. The latter groups made two attempts to remove him from office. This document relates to the first effort to oust Reed, which occurred in 1868. In the fall of that year, an anti-Reed faction in the state legislature attempted to remove the governor, but the legislature adjourned on November 7 before the Senate could conduct an impeachment trial. Lieutenant Governor William H. Gleason proclaimed himself governor and, though was barred from the capitol by Reed supporters, he established an office and issued documents signed as the state's chief executive. On November 24, the Supreme Court of Florida ruled that Reed had never been officially impeached because a quorum did not exist when the Senate originally charged him. Reed then successfully moved to oust Gleason as lieutenant governor on the grounds that he failed to meet the state's residency requirements. Gleason would subsequently be removed from office the following month.