Johnathan C. Gibbs becomes the first African-American Secretary of State. Gibbs, originally a carpenter by trade, attended Dartmouth College and then went through the seminary at Princeton University. As a Presbyterian minister he moved to Florida in 1865 to organize churches and schools for newly freed African Americans. He was appointed Secretary of State on November 6, 1868 and served until January 17, 1873. He then served as Superintendent of Public Instruction until his death on August 14, 1874.