1867 – The first statewide Republican convention met in Tallahassee on this date. Thirty counties were represented and 125 delegates attended the meeting. Approximately half of the attendees were African American. Harrison Reed was elected chairman of the party and was subsequently elected governor of the state of Florida a year later, the first Republican governor of Florida. He held that position until 1873. Reed first came to Florida in 1865 after President Johnson appointed him postal agent for Florida at the end of the Civil War.