Kansans in U.S. Congress
Territorial Delegates
The territory of Kansas was created in May 1854 amidst much conflict over the issue of slavery in western lands controlled by the United States government. A territorial governor was appointed and the territory's first election was held in late November-voters chose a lone, non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress.
Whitfield, John Wilkins (1854-1857)
State of Kansas, Members of Congress, 1861-present
Kansas entered the Union as the 34th state on January 29, 1861, and thereafter its lone representative in the U.S. House of Representatives could caste a vote. But the infant state had only that one representative, elected at large, until 1872 when, due to a substantial increase in its population, Kansas was allotted three seats in the lower house. Two years later, the first congressional districts were drawn and went into effect with the election of November 1874. Congress reapportions its fixed membership every 10 years, and Kansas has enjoyed as many as eight of 435 total seats. The state's population growth has been relatively modest since the 1930s, however, and Kansas opened the 21st century with only four seats in the House of Representative, plus two in the U.S. Senate, of course. Since statehood, 109 different men and four women have represented Kansas in the lower house of the U.S. Congress. There average age upon entering the House of Representatives is just under 49 years, with the youngest being 31 years old (Dudley Doolittle, D., Strong City, 1913-1919) and the oldest almost 74 (Howard S. Miller, D., Morrill, 1953-1955). Not surprisingly, most had some previous experience in public service at the state and local levels, and predictably, the vast majority has had a background in the law. Twelve individuals came to the Congress from journalism or publishing, however, and another dozen could be said to have been primarily engaged in agriculture. Republicans have outdone Democrats by a margin of three to one in the number of seats captured: 76 Republicans, 26 Democrats, and 10 members of the People's Party have comprised the state's congressional delegations since 1861. With the exception of Kansas itself, which has been the place of birth for 39 of the 112 Members of Congress, Ohio has been the most prolific supplier of Kansas congressmen with 15, followed closely by Illinois (14) and Pennsylvania (eight).
Martin Franklin Conway (1861-1863), Lawrence, Republican
Abel Carter Wilder (1863-1865), Leavenworth, Republican
Sidney Clarke (1865-1871), Lawrence, Republican
David Perley Lowe (1871-1875), Fort Scott, Republican
Stephen Alonzo Cobb (1873-1875), Wyandotte, Republican
William Addison Phillips (1873-1875; 1875-1879, 1st District), Salina, Republican
John Randolph Goodin (1875-1877, 2nd District), Humboldt, Democrat
William Ripley Brown (1875-1877, 3rd District), Hutchinson, Republican
Thomas Ryan (1877-1885, 3rd District; 1885-1889, 4th Dist.), Topeka, Republican
Dudley Chase Haskell (1877-1883, 2nd District), Lawrence, Republican
John Alexander Anderson (1879-1885, 1st Dist.; 1885-1891, 5th District), Manhattan, Republican
Samuel Ritter Peters (1883-1885, at-large; 1885-1891, 7th District), Newton, Republican
Edmund Needham Morrill (1883-1885, at-large; 1885-1891, 1st Dist.), Hiawatha, Republican
Lewis Hanback (1883-1885, at-large; 1885-1887, 6th District), Salina, Republican
Bishop Walden Perkins (1883-1885, at-large; 1885-1891, 3rd District), Oswego, Republican
Edward Hogue Funston (1883-1894, 2nd District), Iola, Republican
Erastus Johnson Turner (1887-1891, 6th Dist.), Hoxie, Republican
Harrison Kelley (1889-1891, 4th Dist.), Burlington, Republican
John Grant Otis (1891-1893, 4th District), Topeka, Populist
Case Broderick (1891-1899, 1st District), Holton, Republican
William Baker (1891-1897, 6th District), Lincoln, Populist
Benjamin Hutchinson Clover (1891-1893, 3rd District), Cambridge, Populist
John Davis (1891-1895, 5th District), Populist, Junction City
Jeremiah Simpson (1891-1895, 1897-1899, 7th District), Medicine Lodge, Populist
William Alexander Harris (1893-95, at-large), Linwood, Populist
Thomas Jefferson Hudson (1893-1895, 3rd District), Fredonia, Demo-Populist
Charles Curtis (1893-1899, 4th Dist.; 1899-1907, 1st Dist.), Topeka, Republican
Horace Ladd Moore (1894-1895, 2nd Dist.), Lawrence, Democrat
Richard Whiting Blue (1895-1897, at-large), Pleasanton, Republican
Orrin Larabee Miller (1895-1897, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Republican
Snyder Solomon Kirkpatrick (1895-1897, 3rd Dist.), Ferdonia, Republican
Chester Isaiah Long (1895-1897 & 1899-1903, 7th Dist.), Medicine Lodge, Republican
William Alexander Calderhead (1895-1897, 1899-1911, 5th Dist.), Marysville, Republican
Edwin Reed Ridgely (1897-1901, 3rd Dist.), Pittsburg, Democrat/Populist
Mason Summers Peters (1897-1899, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Demo-Populist
Jeremiah Dunham Botkin (1897-1899, at-large), Winfield, Populist
Nelson B. McCormick (1897-1899, 6th Dist.), Phillipsburg, Populist
William Davis Vincent (1897-1899, 5th Dist.), Clay Center, Populist
William Augustus Reeder (1899-1911, 6th Dist.), Logan, Republican
Willis Joshua Bailey (1899-1901, at-large), Baileyville, Republican
Justin De Witt Bowersock (1899-1907, 2nd Dist.), Lawrence, Republican
James Monroe Miller (1899-1911, 4th Dist.), Council Grove, Republican
Alfred Metcalf Jackson (1901-1903, 3rd Dist.), Winfield, Democrat
Charles Frederick Scott (1901-1907, at-large; 1907-1911, 2nd Dist.), Iola, Republican
Phillip Pitt Campbell (1903-1923, 3rd Dist.), Pittsburg, Republican
Victor Murdock (1903-1907, 7th Dist.; 1907-1915, 8th Dist.), Wichita, Republican
Daniel R. Jr. Anthony (1907-1915, 8th Dist., 1915-1929, 1st Dist.), Leavenworth, Republican
Edmond Haggard Madison (1907-1911), Dodge City, Republican
Alexander Clark Mitchell (1911-1911), Lawrence, Republican
Joseph Taggart (1911-1917, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Democrat
Fred Schuyler Jackson (1911-1913, 4th Dist.), Eureka, Republican
Rollin R. Rees (1911-1913, 5th Dist.), Minneapolis, Republican
Isaac Daniel Young (1911-1913, 6th Dist.), Beloit, Republican
George Arthur Neeley (1912-1915, 7th Dist.), Hutchinson, Democrat
Dudley Doolittle (1913-1919, 4th Dist.), Strong City, Democrat
Guy Tresillian Helvering (1913-1919, 5th Dist.), Marysville, Democrat
John Robert Connelly (1913-1919, 6th Dist.), Colby, Democrat
Jouett Shouse (1915-1919, 7th Dist.) Kinsley, Democrat
William Augustus Ayres (1915-21, 1923-33, 8th Dist.; 1933-34, 5th Dist.), Wichita, Democrat
Edward Campbell Little (1917-1924, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Republican
Jasper Napoleon Tincher (1919-1927, 7th Dist.), Medicine Lodge, Republican
Homer Hoch (1919-1933, 4th Dist.), Marion, Republican
James George Strong (1919-1933, 5th Dist.), Blue Rapids, Republican
Hays Baxter White (1919-1929, 6th Dist.), Mankato, Republican
Richard Ely Bird (1921-1923, 8th Dist.), Wichita, Republican
William Henry Sproul (1923-1931, 3rd Dist.), Sedan, Republican
Chauncey Bundy Little (1925-1927, 2nd Dist.), Olathe, Democrat
Ulysses Samuel Guyer (1927-1943, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Republican
Clifford Ragsdale Hope (1927- 1943, 7th Dist.; 1943-1957, 5th Dist.), Garden City, Republican
William Purnell Lambertson (1929-1945, 1st Dist.), Fairview, Republican
Charles Isaac Sparks (1929-1933, 6th Dist.), Goodland, Republican
Harold Clement McGugin (1931-1935, 3rd Dist.), Coffeyville, Republican
William Randolph Carpenter (1933-1937, 4th Dist.), Marion, Democrat
Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy (1933-1935, 6th Dist.), Hays, Democrat
Frank Carlson (1935-1947, 6th Dist.), Concordia, Republican
John Mills Houston (1935-1943, 5th Dist.), Newton, Democrat
Edward White Patterson (1935-1939, 3rd Dist.), Pittsburg, Democrat
Edward Herbert Rees (1937-1961, 4th Dist.), Emporia, Republican
Thomas Daniel Winter (1939-1947, 3rd Dist.), Girard, Republican
Errett Power Scrivner (1943-1959, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Republican
Albert McDonald Cole (1945-1953, 1st Dist.), Holton, Republican
Wint Smith (1947-1961, 6th Dist.), Mankato, Republican
Herbert Alton Meyer (1947-1950, 3rd Dist.), Independence, Republican
Myron Virgil George (1950-1959, 3rd Dist.), Altamont, Republican
Howard Shultz Miller (1953-1955, 1st Dist.), Morrill, Democrat
William Henry Avery (1955-1963, 1st Dist.; 1963-1965, 2nd Dist.), Wakefield, Republican
Floyd Breeding (1957-1963, 5th Dist.), Rolla, Democrat
Newell Adolphus George (1959-1961, 2nd Dist.), Kansas City, Democrat
Denver David Hargis (1959-1961, 3rd Dist.), Coffeyville, Democrat
Robert Fred Ellsworth (1961-1963-2nd Dist.; 1963-1967-3rd Dist.), Lawrence, Republican
Garner E. Shriver (1961-1977, 4th Dist.), Wichita, Republican
Robert Joseph Dole (1961-1963, 6th Dist.; 1963-1969, 1st Dist.), Russell, Republican
Walter Lewis, Jr. McVey (1961-1963, 3rd Dist.), Independence, Republican
Joe Skubitz (1963-1978, 5th Dist.), Pittsburg, Republican
Chester Louis Mize (1965-1971, 2nd Dist.), Atchison, Republican
Edward Lawrence Winn (Larry), Jr. (1967-1985, 3rd Dist.), Prairie Village, Republican
Keith George Sebelius (1969-1981, 1st Dist.), Norton, Republican
William Robert Roy (1971-1975, 2nd Dist.), Topeka, Democrat
Martha Elizabeth Keys (1975-1979, 2nd Dist.), Manhattan, Democrat
Daniel Robert Glickman (1977-1995, 4th Dist.), Wichita, Democrat
Robert Russell Whittaker (1979-1991, 5th Dist.), Augusta, Republican
James Edmund Jeffries (1979-1983, 2nd Dist.), Atchison, Republican
Charles Patrick Roberts (1981-1997, 1st Dist.), Dodge City, Republican
James Charles Slattery (1983-1995, 2nd Dist.), Topeka/Atchison, Democrat
Jan Meyers (1985-1997, 3rd Dist.), Overland Park, Republican
Richard Nichols (1991-1993, 5th District), McPherson, Republican
Sam Dale Brownback (1995-1996, 2nd District), Topeka, Republican
Todd Tiahrt (1995-present, 4th District), Wichita, Republican
Jim Ryun (1997-2007, 2nd District), Jefferson County, Republican
Jerry Moran (1997-present, 1st District), Hays, Republican
Vince K. Snowbarger (1997-1999, 3rd District), Olathe, Republican
Dennis Moore (1999-present, 3rd District), Lenexa, Democrat
Nancy Boyda (2007-2009, 2nd District), Topeka, Democrat
Lynn Jenkins (2009 - present, 2nd District), Topeka, Republican
Entry: Kansans in U.S. Congress
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: November 2005
Date Modified: June 2011
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
