Governor of the Dakota Territory. He was born in North Carolina; conflicting sources indicate either Wake County or Craven County. He completed a local schooling, and then became an apprentice at the Raleigh Star, a well-regarded newspaper of the era. By 1858 he had become the editor of the New Bern Progress, a modern style newspaper which received world-wide news via the telegraph. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Pennington was commissioned a First Lieutenant with a heavy artillery battery formed in Craven County. He resigned this commission several months later, and returned to journalism. As the war progressed, New Bern fell to the Union Army, and Pennington moved his newspaper to Raleigh, naming it the Daily Progress. With the end of the war in 1865, Pennington moved to Alabama, and was elected to the Alabama State Senate, serving from 1868 until 1873. On January 1, 1874 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Pennington as the Governor of the Dakota Territory. It was an era of upheaval for the Territory. Several political factions fought for control of the government. Land speculators often influenced corrupt officials. Crops were destroyed by plagues of grasshoppers. Gold was discovered in the Black Hills, resulting in an invasion of settlers who ignored the law which made the area off limits to all but the Native Americans. So rancorous was the fighting in the Territory that a separatist movement formed, aiming to divide the Territory. Pennington became a victim of this unrest, and was replaced in April, 1878. Much to his credit, Pennington was never accused of any dishonesty or official malfeasance. He remained in Yankton for many years, returning to journalism, and operating the Weekly Telegram. By 1891 Pennington departed for Alabama, where he died on July 11, 1900. Pennington County, South Dakota, is named in his honor.