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The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
Michigan: Superintendents of Public Instruction

Michigan Superintendents of Public Instruction, 1836-1987 (May be incomplete!)
John D. Pierce 1836-41 Franklin Sawyer, Jr. 1841-43 Oliver C. Comstock 1843-45 Ira Mayhew 1845-49 Francis W. Shearman 1849-54 Ira Mayhew 1855-58 John M. Gregory 1859-64 Oramel Hosford 1865-72 Daniel B. Briggs 1873-76 Horace S. Tarbell 1877-78 Cornelius A. Gower 1878-81 Varnum B. Cochran 1881-83 Herschel R. Gass 1883-85 Theodore Nelson 1885-86 Joseph Estabrook 1887-90 Ferris S. Fitch 1891-92 Henry R. Pattengill 1893-96 Jason E. Hammond 1897-1900 Delos Fall 1901-04 Patrick H. Kelley 1905-06 Luther L. Wright 1907-13 Fred L. Keeler 1913-19 Thomas E. Johnson 1919-26 Wilford L. Coffey 1926-27 Webster H. Pearce 1927-33 Paul F. Voelker 1933-35 Eugene B. Elliott 1935-48 Lee M. Thurston 1949-53 Clair L. Taylor 1953- Lynn M. Bartlett 1957-65 Ira Polley 1966 John W. Porter 1969-79 Philip Runkel 1980-87

Events and Candidates (may be incomplete!)

  • 1874: Duane Doty (Dem), defeated.
  • 1878 Sep 1: Cornelius A. Gower, appointed.
  • 1881 May 10: Varnum B. Cochran, appointed.
  • 1883: Herschel R. Gass, appointed.
  • 1883 Feb 21: Varnum B. Cochran, resigned.
  • 1885 Apr 2: Herschel R. Gass, resigned.
  • 1886 Nov 2: Joseph Estabrook (Rep), elected; David Parsons (Fusion), defeated; David Bemiss (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1892: Ferris S. Fitch (Dem), defeated.
  • 1900: Stephen H. Langdon (Dem), defeated.
  • 1902: Woodbridge N. Ferris (Dem), defeated.
  • 1906 Nov 6: Luther L. Wright (Rep), elected; Elmer R. Webster (Dem), defeated; Delavan B. Reed (Prohibition), defeated; Etta Menton (Socialist), defeated; George A. Young (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1908: Luther L. Wright (Rep), elected.
  • 1909 Apr 5: Luther L. Wright (Rep), elected; W. Sherman Lister (Dem), defeated; Burton J. Vincent (Prohibition), defeated; Thomas F. G. Dougherty (Socialist), defeated; Frederick N. Hitchcock (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1911 Apr 3: Luther L. Wright (Rep), elected; John B. Cleveland (Dem), defeated; Deufay B. Hovey, Sr. (Socialist), defeated; Harold A. Millican, defeated; Frederick N. Hitchcock (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1913: Gerrit Masselink (Progressive), defeated.
  • 1913 Nov 15: Fred L. Keeler, appointed.
  • 1915 Apr 5: Fred L. Keeler (Rep), elected; Frank A. Jensen (Dem), defeated; Gerrit Masselink (Progressive), defeated; William E. Witt (Socialist), defeated; George H. Hanly (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1917 Apr 2: Charles W. Obee (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1919: Mary L. Hinsdale (Dem), defeated.
  • 1919 Apr 4: Fred L. Keeler, died in office.
  • 1921: Mary L. Hinsdale (Dem), defeated.
  • 1923 Apr 2: Thomas E. Johnson (Rep), elected; Theodore A. Norris (Dem), defeated; Harold R. Luttenbacher (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1926 Nov 16: Wilford L. Coffey, appointed.
  • 1927 Apr 4: Webster H. Pearce (Rep), elected; Marvin S. Pittman (Dem), defeated; Sarah Victor (Workers), defeated; John S. McColl (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1929 Apr 1: Webster H. Pearce (Rep), elected; John S. Hall (Dem), defeated; Axel O. Londal (Socialist), defeated; Marien A. Brooks (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1931 Apr 6: Webster H. Pearce (Rep), elected; Marvin S. Pittman (Dem), defeated; Arthur Rubenstein (Socialist), defeated.
  • 1933 Apr 3: Paul F. Voelker (Dem), elected; Webster H. Pearce (Rep), defeated; Walter G. Bergman (Socialist), defeated; Grover C. Brenneman (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1935 Apr 1: Maurice R. Keyworth (Rep), elected, but died before taking office; Paul F. Voelker (Dem), defeated; Arthur E. Larsen (Socialist), defeated; Karl W. Guenther (Farmer-Labor), defeated.
  • 1935 Jul 1: Eugene B. Elliott, appointed.
  • 1937: Eugene B. Elliott (Rep), elected.
  • 1939 Apr 3: Eugene B. Elliott (Rep), elected; T. Thomas Thatcher (Dem), defeated; Walter H. Allmendinger (Socialist), defeated; LeRoy M. Lowell (Commonwealth), defeated.
  • 1941 Apr 7: Eugene B. Elliott (Rep), elected; Edward W. McFarland (Dem), defeated; LeRoy M. Lowell (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1943 Apr 5: Eugene B. Elliott (Rep), elected; Edward W. McFarland (Dem), defeated; Oscar C. Griswold (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1945: Eugene B. Elliott (Rep), elected.
  • 1947 Apr 7: Eugene B. Elliott (Rep), elected; George F. Montgomery (Dem), defeated; H. E. Edwards (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1948 Jul 1: Eugene B. Elliott, resigned.
  • 1949 Apr 4: Lee M. Thurston (Rep), elected; E. Burr Sherwood (Dem), defeated; Walter H. Allmendinger (Progressive), defeated; E. Harold Munn (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1951 Apr 2: Lee M. Thurston (Rep), elected; Edgar W. Waugh (Dem), defeated; Marvin J. Folkert (Prohibition), defeated; Verne Piazza (Progressive), defeated; Ralph W. Muncy (Socialist Labor), defeated; Genora Dollinger (Socialist Workers), defeated.
  • 1953 Apr 6: Clair L. Taylor (Rep), elected; Mack P. Monroe (Dem), defeated; Marvin J. Folkert (Prohibition), defeated; James C. Horvath (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1955: Lynn M. Bartlett (Dem), defeated.
  • 1957 Apr 1: Lynn M. Bartlett (Dem), elected; Edgar L. Harden (Rep), defeated; Oscar C. Griswold (Prohibition), defeated.
  • 1959 Apr 6: Lynn M. Bartlett (Dem), elected; Hugh H. Holloway (Rep), defeated; W. Clifford Bentley (Socialist Labor), defeated; E. Harold Munn (Prohibition), defeated; Robert Himmel, Jr. (Socialist Workers), defeated.
  • 1961 Apr 3: Lynn M. Bartlett (Dem), elected; Hugh H. Holloway (Rep), defeated; E. Harold Munn (Prohibition), defeated; W. Clifford Bentley (Socialist Labor), defeated; Glenn H. Green (Independent American), defeated; Robert Himmel, Jr. (Socialist Workers), defeated.
  • 1963: Raymond N. Hatch (Rep), defeated.
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