Governor of Florida. He served as the ninth Governor of Florida from July 4, 1868 to January 7, 1873. He was also a journalist and legislator. His political career began in 1861 when he moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Washington, DC, to accept a post at the Treasury Department. In 1863, he was appointed by President Lincoln to be Tax Commissioner in Florida to deal with seized Confederate property. He was subsequently appointed by President Andrew Johnson as the postal agent for Florida and in 1868, was elected Governor of Florida. His term as Governor was tumultuous, prompted by contentious Civil War reconstruction era factions, even within his own Republican party. The 76 Florida legislators at time of his election consisted of 13 "carpet baggers," 21 southern loyalists, 19 Blacks, and 23 white conservatives, a mix indicative of the times and issues. He was threatened with impeachment four times, a threat acted upon twice. He believed that Blacks needed protection in dealing with their newly acquired freedoms and was a member of the Jacksonville Republican Club, which functioned partially to provide this protection. As governor, he appointed Florida's first African American Secretary of State. He ultimately survived the impeachment threats and served out his term. After leaving office as Governor, he returned to his 12 acre estate on Flagler Avenue in Jacksonville. In 1890, he was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to a postal position and after that, until his death in 1899, he served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Duval County. Before getting into politics, he had been a journalist, first owning the Milwaukee Sentinel and then co-founding the Madison State Journal. In later years, he was editor of a monthly magazine devoted to southern agricultural and economic development, the Semi-Tropical.