William Eugene Stanley Sr. (December 28, 1844 – October 13, 1910) was an American lawyer and the 15th Governor of Kansas.

Biography

Born in

Danville, Ohio Danville is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,044 at the 2010 census. History Modern Danville had its start in 1923 by the merging of two neighboring villages called Buckeye City and Rosstown (Rossville). The or ...

, Stanley was the son of a physician, reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools of

Hardin County, Ohio Hardin County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,696. Its county seat is Kenton. The county was created in 1820 and later organized in 1833. It is named for ...

. He attended

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, but left before he graduated. He studied in Kenton and Dayton, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in Kenton, Ohio in 1868. He married Emma Lenora Hills and they had four children. Arriving in Jefferson County, Kansas, in 1870, Stanley opened his practice and taught school in Perry. He served as county attorney from 1871 to 1872. He resigned that position and moved to

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. He began practicing law and continued to do so except when in office. He served as Sedgwick County Attorney from 1874 to 1880. Elected to the Kansas House of Representatives, he served from 1881 to 1883. In 1898, Stanley won the Republican gubernatorial nomination and upon winning the election, he was sworn in on January 9, 1899. Reelected to a second term, he left office on January 12, 1903. During his tenure, a US prison revolt at Fort Leavenworth and a 1901 convict strike were dealt with, a traveling library commission was authorized, and the state supreme court was increased to seven judges. After leaving office, he returned to Wichita and his law practice. From 1903 to 1904, he served on the

Dawes Commission The United States, American Dawes Commission, named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes, was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tr ...

to the

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek ...

. Stanley died on October 13, 1910, in

, and is interred at Highland Cemetery in Wichita.

References

External links

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National Governors AssociationPublications concerning Kansas Governor Stanley's administration available via the KGI Online Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, William E. Republican Party governors of Kansas 1844 births 1910 deaths People from Danville, Ohio Methodists from Kansas 19th-century American politicians Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives