William Yoast Morgan (April 6, 1866 – February 17, 1932) was an American newspaperman, author and politician who served as the 21st

Lieutenant Governor of Kansas The lieutenant governor of Kansas is the second-ranking member of the executive branch of Kansas state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four-year term. The lieutenant governor succeeds to the off ...

from 1915 to 1919 under Governor

Arthur Capper Arthur Capper (July 14, 1865 – December 19, 1951) was an American politician from Kansas. He was the 20th governor of Kansas (the first born in the state) from 1915 to 1919 and a United States senator from 1919 to 1949. He also owned a radio ...

. He was a member of the Republican Party.

Family and early life

Morgan was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where his grandfather James Morgan settled after emigrating from Ireland in 1847. Morgan's father

William Albert Morgan William Albert Morgan (born Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, March 6, 1841; died Hutchinson, Kansas, March 24, 1917) was an Irish-American newspaper publisher, politician and prominent citizen of the state of Kansas. Early years Morgan's father Ja ...

(1841–1917) was apprenticed to a printer and then served in the Civil War. In 1871 he moved to Cottonwood Falls,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and started the ''Chase County Leader'' newspaper, which he continued until retiring in 1903. He also served in both houses of the state legislature. Morgan's mother Wilhelmina (Yoast) Morgan (1843–1910) was active in civic organizations and politics, serving as Mayor of Cottonwood Falls in 1885. Morgan himself was educated in Cottonwood Falls and then at the

state university A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, territory or federal district. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. State univers ...

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, majoring in journalism. Morgan married Colie Adair (1872–1958) in November 1890; they had one daughter, Claudia (d. 1958).

Career

After working at the '' Lawrence Journal'' for two years, Morgan purchased and edited the ''Republican'' in Strong City. He sold that paper after four years and purchased the '' Emporia Daily Gazette''; he operated that until selling it to

William Allen White William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America. At a 1937 ...

in 1895. He then organized a corporation to purchase and operate ''

The Hutchinson News ''The Hutchinson News'' is a daily newspaper serving the city of Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. The publication was awarded the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for its courageous and constructive campaign, culminating in 1964, to bri ...

'' in Hutchinson,

, where he remained until his death. As of 1912 it had the largest circulation of any newspaper in central Kansas. From 1899 to 1903 he was the state printer. Morgan was active in the Republican Party; in 1903 he was elected to the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

, where he continued to serve until 1910. He was

from 1915 to 1919, serving under Governor

. He was a delegate to the 1916 and 1920 Republican National Conventions, as well as the Republican candidate for

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

in 1922. He lost the general election to

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Jonathan M. Davis Jonathan McMillan Davis (April 27, 1871 – June 27, 1943) was an American politician and the List of Governors of Kansas, 22nd Governor of Kansas. Biography Davis was born in Bronson, Kansas, to Jonathan McMillan and Eve (Holeman) Davis. H ...

. Morgan had extensive business interests around Hutchinson, including the Hutchinson Printing Company. He served briefly as the president of the State Exchange Bank there. He served on the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Board of Regents, as president of the Kansas Editorial Association, as state commander of the Sons of Veterans and the head of various charitable enterprises. From 1903 until 1905, Morgan served as Archon Councilor of his fraternity,

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

.List of Archon Councilors, Phi Gamma Delta website
/ref> Letters Morgan wrote while travelling were compiled into four books: ''A Journey of a Jayhawker'' (1905), ''A Jayhawker in Europe'' (1911), ''The Near East'' (1913) and ''"Yurrup" As Is'' (1926). Morgan Elementary School in Hutchinson is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, William Yoast 1866 births 1932 deaths People from Cottonwood Falls, Kansas University of Kansas alumni 20th-century American male writers People from Hutchinson, Kansas Editors of Kansas newspapers Lieutenant Governors of Kansas 19th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century American newspaper editors Journalists from Ohio Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives Writers from Cincinnati 20th-century American politicians American people of Irish descent 19th-century letter writers 20th-century letter writers