Governors from Wichita oversaw big changes

This is one in a series of vignettes celebrating Kansas history. The series' name comes from the state motto, Ad astra per aspera: "To the stars through difficulties."

BY BECCY TANNER

Five times now a governor has come from Wichita -- more than from any other city in Kansas.

Although Mark Parkinson no longer lives in Wichita, the new Kansas governor was born and raised here.

Historically, whenever the state has a governor whose home is Wichita, the state undergoes major changes.

As Kansans, we know about the uncertain times we are facing.

But a look back at what other Kansans faced when Wichitans were at the helm shows us this:

• Lorenzo Lewelling, a Populist businessman, nearly incited a war in his first few days of office.

In the winter of 1893, after Lewelling was inaugurated as the state's 12th governor, angry words and fists flew in the Kansas House of Representatives.

It was a showdown between the Republicans and the Populists for control of the Legislature.

To establish order in the House, Lewelling called in 250 militiamen from across the state, and a battery of Gatling guns.

No shots were fired, but the incident became known as Lewelling's War.

• William Stanley, the 15th governor, had a career marked by hard work.

Stanley's gubernatorial years centered around railroad expansion and economic recovery.

While he was in office, a traveling library commission was authorized; the elimination of unproductive state offices was recommended; a federal prison revolt at Fort Leavenworth and a 1901 convict penitentiary strike were dealt with; the Supreme Court was increased to seven justices; and funds were appropriated to finish construction on the Statehouse.

• Henry J. Allen, Kansas' 21st governor, was editor and publisher of the Wichita Beacon.

He and his wife, Elsie, were enormously popular. They enjoyed a close friendship with Emporia publisher William Allen White, who urged Allen to run for governor in 1918.

Allen won that election decisively even though he was in France with the Red Cross for most of the campaign.

He made his mark on Kansas politics as the governor who took on the Ku Klux Klan.

• Edward F. Arn, a Republican and a lawyer, was Kansas' 32nd governor. Before he was governor, he also served as attorney general of Kansas and was a justice of the state Supreme Court.

During Arn's tenure, the Kansas Turnpike Authority was established, as well as the state grain commission; worker's compensation benefits were improved; the Department of Social Welfare was restructured; a state Department of Administration was organized; and the Kansas Veteran's Commission was formed.

He also weathered the destructive floods of 1951.