Medary, Samuel, the last regularly appointed territorial governor of Kansas, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., Feb. 25, 1801. The name was originally spelled "Madeira." On the maternal side he was of Quaker extraction, his mother's ancestry having come to America with William Penn. He was educated at the Norristown Academy, and at the age of sixteen years was a contributor to the Norristown Herald. The encouragement he received from the editor of that paper doubtless influenced him to select journalism for a profession. He learned the printer's trade and in 1825 went to Batavia, Ohio, where three years later he started the Ohio Sun, in the interest of Gen. Andrew Jackson's candidacy for presidency. In 1834 he was elected as a Democrat to the lower house of the Ohio legislature, and at the expiration of his term was chosen to represent his district in the state senate. He then purchased the newspaper known as the Western Hemisphere, at Columbus, and changed the name to the Ohio Statesman, which he continued to edit until 1857. His paper became a power in Ohio politics, and even wielded a national influence with the Democratic party. When the Oregon boundary became a subject of dispute, Mr. Medary is credited with being the author of the slogan: "Fifty-four Forty or Fight." In 1844 he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention at Baltimore, where he produced a letter from Gen. Jackson requesting him, in case of discord, to present the name of James K. Polk for the presidency. This was done, and Polk was nominated. In 1856 Mr. Medary was temporary chairman of the national convention that nominated James Buchanan and did all in his power to secure the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas. In March, 1857, he was appointed governor of the Territory of Minnesota. When it was admitted as a state in May, 1858, he was made postmaster at Columbus, Ohio, and held that position until appointed governor of Kansas the following November. He resigned the governorship in Dec., 1860, returned to Columbus and established the Crisis, which he continued to publish until his death on Nov. 7, 1864. Gov. Medary was endearingly called the "Old wheel-horse of Democracy," and in 1869 the party in Ohio erected a monument at Columbus "In commemoration of his public services, private virtues, distinguished ability, and devotion to principle."