Benjamin S. Paulen

Benjamin Sanford Paulen (July 14, 1869 – July 11, 1961) was an American banker and the 23rd Governor of Kansas from 1925 to 1929.

Benjamin S. Paulen
23rd Governor of Kansas
In office
January 12, 1925 – January 14, 1929
LieutenantDe Lanson Alson Newton Chase
Preceded byJonathan M. Davis
Succeeded byClyde M. Reed
23rd Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
In office
January 9, 1923 – January 12, 1925
GovernorJonathan M. Davis
Preceded byCharles Solomon Huffman
Succeeded byDe Lanson Alson Newton Chase
Member of the Kansas Senate
In office
1911–1919
Personal details
BornJuly 14, 1869
DeWitt County, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJuly 11, 1961(1961-07-11) (aged 91)
Fredonia, Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseBarbara Ellis
Professionhardware clerk, banker, politician

Biography

Paulen was born in DeWitt County, Illinois, four miles south of Fredonia, to Jacob Walter and Lucy Bell (Johnson) Paulen. The family moved to Wilson County, Kansas, in late 1869 when he was less than six months old. He graduated from Fredonia High School in 1887 and took one term at Kansas University.[1] He took a course at Bryant and Stratton Business College in Saint Louis, Missouri, and then worked in his father's merchandise store in 1889. He married Barbara Ellis in Holton, Kansas, on February 14, 1900, and they had no children.

Career

Paulen served as city councilman, city treasurer, and then mayor of Fredonia. He was elected in 1912 and re-elected in 1916 to the Kansas State Senate. In 1922 Paulen was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kansas.

Paulen received support from the Ku Klux Klan during the Republican gubernatorial primary election in 1924.[2]

Paulen was elected and reelected to serve two terms as Governor of Kansas from 1925 to 1929. During that time, he signed the 1927 Kindergarten Bill into law,[3] cigarette sales became legal and taxed, a state gasoline tax was sanctioned, an insurance code was established, and a banking board was organized.

Paulen served as President of the Kansas Bankers Association and was a member of the executive council of the American Bankers Association.[4] He was a member of the state's constitutional revision committee in 1957.

Death and legacy

Paulen died in 1961 in Fredonia, Kansas. He is interred at Fredonia City Cemetery. Now part of the Fredonia High School, the Ben S. Paulen Elementary School in Fredonia was named in his honor in 1961.

References
  1. "Benjamin S. Paulen". Get Rural Kansas. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  2. "For decades, the Ku Klux Klan openly endorsed candidates for political office". Washington Post. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  3. "Benjamin S. Paulen". Get Rural Kansas. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  4. "Benjamin S. Paulen". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
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