Mr. Sibley was permitted to return to private life at the close of his second term and devote himself to closing up his relations with the American Fur Company, of which he had remained the head. Mr. Rice was selected to succeed him by a three fourths majority vote over Alexander Wilkin, his Whig opponent. CHAPTER VII TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT The triumph of the Democratic party in the elections of 1852 was notice to all the appointive territorial officers of Minnesota that their days were numbered. On May 15, 1853, Governor Ramsey gave place to the Hon. Willis A. Gorman, and the Whig judges were succeeded by Messrs. William H. Welch, Andrew G. Chatfield, and Moses G. Sherburne. The appointment of governor was a disappointment to the friends of Mr. Sibley, who felt that he had good right to aspire to the office. His connection with the now discredited fur company, and his failure to ally himself with the Democratic machine in Minnesota, left the President free to bestow the appointment on some one who had done loyal service in the late campaign. In this regard few were more deserving than Colonel Gorman of Indiana. Born in 1816, he was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty, and three years later became a member of the legislature. At the outbreak of the Mexican War he raised and commanded a battalion of riflemen and later a regiment of infantry. After that war he served two years in Congress, and deserved well of his party. His power upon the stump was enhanced by a graceful personality and a voice of great melody and strength. The affairs of the territory had already been organized and had fallen into an orderly routine, so that Governor Gorman’s administration of four years was not marked by notable executive acts. His messages abound in eloquent passages, generally commendatory of worthy enterprises and objects. The exigencies of politics and business presently put him and Mr. Sibley into the same bed, and affiliated Mr. Ramsey to some degree with Mr. Rice. Legislative action was devoted mainly to provisions for the needs of a rapidly swelling population and expanding settlements. New counties were organized from year to year, and towns, cities, and villages were incorporated in astonishing numbers. College and university charters were distributed with liberal hand to aspiring municipalities. The disposition of the government appropriation for territorial roads occupied much time of the houses. The commissioners and surveyors employed in laying out the roads, and the contractors who undertook the construction, saw to it that no idle surpluses were left over. Plank-road charters were numerous, but none were ever built. Railroad incorporations occupy great space in the journals and statutes, perhaps because they had been excepted out of the general law of 1851 for the creation of corporations. Ferry privileges were much sought for.