Ben Sanford Paulen (1925-1929)

Governor Benjamin S. Paulen was born in Illinois but moved with his family to Wilson County, Kansas, in 1867 when he was just a year old. Elected lieutenant governor in 1922, Paulen captured the Republican nomination for governor in 1924 and won the general election contest, which featured the independent candidacy of William Allen White. Governor Ben Paulen signed the 1927 Kindergarten bill into law. He died in his hometown of Fredonia on July 11, 1961.

Governor biographies courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society.