Kansas Secretaries of State

• Alphabetical listing of secretaries of state
• Chronological listing of secretaries of state
• Records of the Office of the Secretary of State

Alphabetical listing of Kansas Secretaries of State & Territorial Secretaries

Edwin Bird Allen
Died 31 Mar 1908 in Missouri (St. Joseph or Kansas City?)
Term of Office: 12 Jan 1885 - 14 Jan 1889
Republican from Wichita

Rinaldo Allen Barker
Term of Office: 9 Jan 1865 - 11 Jan 1869
Republican from Atchison

George M. Beebe
Born 28 Oct 1836, and died 4 Mar 1927
Term of Office: 1 July 1860 to 9 Feb 1861
Democrat

Chris Biggs
Born 14 Oct 1958 in Kansas City, Missouri
Term of Office: 16 Mar 2010 to 10 Jan 2011
Democrat

John Thomas Botkin
Died 15 Dec 1928, Wichita, Kan.
Term of Office: 11 Jan 1915 - 13 Jan 1919
Republican from Galena

Jack Brier
Term of Office: 10 May 1978 - 12 Jan 1987
Republican from Overland Park

Joel Randall Burrow
Died 30 Sept 1931, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 12 Jan 1903 - 14 Jan 1907
Republican from Smith Center

William Eben Bush
Died 6 Oct 1943, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 11 Jan 1897 - 9 Jan 1899
Populist from Mankato

Thomas Horne Cavanaugh
Died 31 Aug 1909, Tacoma, Wash.
Term of Office: 11 Jan 1875 - 13 Jan 1879
Republican from Salina

George Alfred Clark
Died 9 Oct 1938, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 9 Jan 1899 - 12 Jan 1903
Republican from Junction City

Edgbert Albert Cornell
Died 9 July 1951, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 14 Jan 1929 - 9 Jan 1933
Republican from Topeka

Charles Eugene Denton
Died 6 Mar 1913, Wichita, Kan.
Term of Office: 14 Jan 1907 - 9 Jan 1911
Republican from Attica

James W. Denver
Born 23 Oct 1817, and died 9 Aug 1892
Term of Office: Commissioned 11 Dec 1857; took the oath 21 Dec 1857; served 21 Dec 1857 to 12 May 1858
Democrat

William Corydon Edwards
Died 4 May 1922, Wichita, Kan.
Term of Office: 14 Jan 1895 - 11 Jan 1897
Republican from Larned

William Preston Graves
Born 9 Jan 1953, Salina, Kan.
Term of Office: 12 Jan 1987 - 9 Jan 1995
Republican from Salina

William Higgins
Died 14 July 1925, Bartlesville, Okla.
Term of Office: 14 Jan 1889 - 9 Jan 1893
Republican from Topeka

Kris W. Kobach
Born 26 March 1966, Madison, Wis.
Term of Office: 10 Jan 2011 -
Republican from Piper

Warren Wirt Henry Lawrence
Died 20 Aug 1906, Mentor, Ohio
Term of Office: 12 Jan 1863 - 9 Jan 1865
Republican from Peoria City

David Owen McCray
Died 5 June 1930, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 14 Nov 1922 - 8 Jan 1923; appointed to fill vacancy
Republican from Topeka

Thomas Moonlight
Died 7 Feb 1899, Leavenworth, Kan.
Term of Office: 11 Jan 1869 - 9 Jan 1871
Republican from Leavenworth

Russell Scott Osborn
Died 22 May 1912, Stockton, Kan.
Term of Office: 9 Jan 1893 - 14 Jan 1895
Populist from Stockton

Lewis Julian Pettijohn
Died 4 Apr 1936, Dodge City, Kan.
Term of Office: 13 Jan 1919 - 10 Nov 1922; resigned to become secretary of Federal Farm Loan Bank in Wichita
Republican from Dodge City

John Winter Robinson
Died 11 Dec 1863, Fort Smith, Ark.
Term of Office: 9 Feb 1861 - 28 July 1862
Republican from Manhattan

Frank Joseph Ryan
Died 12 Mar 1949, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 8 Jan 1923 - 14 Jan 1929 and 9 Jan 1933 - 10 Jan 1949
Republican from Leavenworth

Larry Ryan
Died 3 Feb 1972, Wichita, Kan.
Term of Office: 10 Jan 1949 - 8 Jan 1951
Democrat from Manhattan

Charles Harrison Sessions
Died 25 Dec 1942, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 9 Jan 1911 - 11 Jan 1915
Republican from Topeka

Elwill Mattson Shanahan (Mrs. Paul Shanahan)
Term of Office: 28 Apr 1966 - 10 May 1978; appointed 27 Apr to fill vacancy caused by her husband's death and took the oath of office the following day
Named Secretary of State Emerita on 4 Jan 1979
Republican from Salina

Paul R. Shanahan
Died 14 Apr 1966, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 8 Jan 1951 - 14 Apr 1966
Republican from Salina

Sanders Rufus Shepherd
Died 30 Aug 1915, Leavenworth, Kan.
Term of Office: 28 Aug 1862 - 12 Jan 1863; appointed to fill vacancy
Republican from Topeka

William Hillary Smallwood
Died 26 Oct 1919, Duluth, Minn.
Term of Office: 9 Jan 1871 - 11 Jan 1875
Republican from Wathena

James Smith
Died 28 May 1914, Topeka, Kan.
Term of Office: 13 Jan 1879 - 14 Jan 1885
Republican from Marysville

Frederick P. Stanton
Term of Office: Commissioned 13 Mar 1857; took the oath 2 Apr; served 16 Apr to 21 Dec 1857
Democrat

Ron Thornburgh
Term of Office: 9 Jan 1995 - 15 Feb 2010
Republican from Topeka

Hugh Sleight Walsh
Term of Office: Served 12 May 1858 to 28 June 1860
Democrat

Daniel Woodson
Term of Office: Commissioned 29 June 1854; took the oath 28 Sept; served 29 June 1854 to 16 Apr 1857
Democrat

Records of the Office of the Secretary of State

The State Archives has the following record series from the office: Corporation Filings and Annual Reports; official lists of county officers; commissions and bonds of notaries public; correspondence; abstracts of election returns; miscellaneous commissions; and records of election campaign expenses. Indexes to charters of corporation are available on microfilm through our interlibrary loan program.

For more information, please ask the reference staff. We answer research requests by mail, telephone, and e-mail. Our ask a research question page describes the reference services we can provide.

State Archives

The inactive unpublished records of state government with enduring historical value.

• Archives Catalog
• Territorial Records, 1854-1861
• State Records, 1861-present
• Guides to Federal Records
• Guides To State Record Groups

Use the box below to search ATLAS for items cataloged since 1994.

       

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