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Kansas Superintendent of Public Instruction

Find a chronological list of Kansas superintendents of public instruction. The position was included as part of state government during Kansas Territory in 1858.  The Kansas State Board of Education was created to replace the position effective January 14, 1969, pursuant to an amendment to the Kansas Constitution adopted November 8, 1966.

  Name Term Notes

Kansas Territory School Superintendents
1. James H. Noteware March 1, 1858 - December 2, 1858 Commissioned February 13, 1858; took oath of office March 5, 1858
2. Samuel Wiley Greer December 2, 1858 - January 2, 1861 From Leavenworth, commissioned December 2, 1858
3. John C. Douglas January 2, - February 9, 1861 From Leavenworth

Kansas State Superintendents of Public Instruction
1. William Riley Griffith February 9, 1861 - February 12, 1862 Republican from Marmaton, took oath of office March 4, 1861, died February 12, 1862, in Topeka
2. Simeon Montgomery Thorp March 24, 1862 -  January 12, 1863 Republican from Lawrence, vice under Griffith, died August 21, 1863, in Lawrence
3. Isaac Tichenor Goodnow January 12, 1863 - January 14, 1867 Republican from Manhattan, died March 20, 1894, in Manhattan
4. Peter McVicar January 14, 1867 -  January 9, 1871 Republican from Topeka, died June 5, 1903, in Topeka
5. Hugh DeFrance McCarthy January 9, 1871 -  January 11, 1875 Republican from Leavenworth, died September 12, 1887 in Highland
6. John Fraser January 11, 1875 -  January 8, 1877 Republican from Lawrence, died June 4, 1878, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania
7. Allen Borsley Lemmon January 8, 1877 -  January 10, 1881 Republican from Winfield, died May 12, 1919, in Los Angeles, California
8. Henry Clay Speer January 10, 1881 - January 12, 1885 Republican from Junction City, died September 2, 1936, in Redlands, California
9. Joseph Hadden Lawhead January 12, 1885 - January 14, 1889 Republican from Fort Scott, died August 16, 1892, in Guthrie, Oklahoma
 
10. George Wesley Winans January 14, 1889 - January 9, 1893 Republican from Junction City, died January 14, 1918, in Hutchinson
11. Henry Newton Gaines January 9, 1893 - January 14, 1895 Populist from Salina, died July 27, 1928, in Topeka
12. Edmund Stanley January 14, 1895 - January 11, 1897 Republican from Lawrence, died May 21, 1928 in Wichita
13. William Stryker January 11, 1897 - January 9, 1899 Populist from Great Bend, died February 25, 1918, in Tulsa, Oklahoma
 
14. Frank Nelson January 9, 1899 - January 12, 1903 Republican from Lindsborg, died July 27, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
15. Insley LeYantis Dayhoff January 12, 1903 - January 14, 1907 Republican from Hutchinson, Died May 24, 1959, in Independence, Missouri
16. Edward Thomson Fairchild January 14, 1907 - November 19, 1912 Republican from Ellsworth, resigned, died January 23, 1917, in Durham, New Hampshire
17. Wilbert Davidson Ross November 19, 1912 - January 13, 1919 Republican from Oskaloosa, appointed vice under Fairchild; elected 1912, 1914, and 1916, died August 16, 1944, in Newton, Massachusetts
18. Lorraine Elizabeth (Lizzie) Wooster January 13, 1919 - January 8, 1923 Republican from Salina, died July 4, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois
 
19. Jess Wells Miley January 8, 1923 - January 10, 1927 Republican from Girard, died January 19, 1932, in Topeka
20. George Augustus Allen, Jr. January 10, 1927 - December 7, 1932 Republican from Frankfort, died December 7, 1932, in Carthage, Missouri
21. Walter Tipton Markham December 13, 1932 - January 9, 1939 Democrat from Yates Center, appointed  December 12, 1932, vice under Allen and took oath following day; elected 1934, 1936, died January 18, 1946, in Dodge City
22. George Lemuel McClenny January 9, 1939 - January 8, 1945 Republican from Topeka, died June 7, 1947, in Topeka
23. Laverne Wright Brooks January 8, 1945 -  January 10, 1949 Republican from Wichita
24. Adel F. Throckmorton January 10, 1949 - August 31, 1966 Republican from Wichita, resigned, died December 20, 1973, in Wichita
25. W. C. Kampschroeder September 2, 1966 - November 8, 1967 Republican from Topeka, appointed vice under Throckmorton; elected November, 1966died November 8, 1967, in Wichita
26. Murle M. Hayden December 5, 1967 - January 14, 1969 Republican from Topeka, appointed vice under Kampschroeder; office abolished 1969

Entry: Kansas Superintendent of Public Instruction

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: June 2019

Date Modified: June 2019

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.