| Territorial Governors
|
| In Office |
Name |
Party |
Tidbits |
Interred |
| - |
John Addison
Gurley
(1813-1863) |
R |
Appointed Governor by
Abraham Lincoln, but died before taking office.
U.S. Representative from Ohio 2nd District, 1859-63. |
Spring Grove Cemetery,
Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 1863-1866 |
John Noble
Goodwin
(1824-1887) |
R |
Appointed as Chief Justice
of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court by Abraham Lincoln, but
succeeded to governorship when original appointee died.
Lawyer.
Member of Maine State Senate, 1854.
U.S. Representative from Maine 1st District, 1861-63
Justice of Arizona Territorial Supreme Court, 1863.
Delegate to U.S. Congress from Arizona Territory, 1865-67.
Left the territory upon end of his term. |
Forest Grave Cemetery,
Augusta Maine |
| 1866-1869 |
Richard
Cunningham
McCormick
(1832-1901) |
R |
First governor to bring
his wife to the territory.
Reporter, Newspaperman.
Established first two newspapers in the territory: Arizona Miner
in Prescott, Arizona Citizen in Tucson.
War correspondent in the Crimean and the Civil Wars.
Secretary of Arizona Territory, 1863-66.
Delegate to U.S. Congress from Arizona Territory, 1869-75,
Alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from Arizona
Territory, 1880,
U.S. Representative from New York 1st District, 1895-97. |
Grace Churchyard, Jamaica,
New York |
| 1869-1877 |
Anson Peacely
Killen Safford
(1830-1891) |
R |
Known as the "Little
Governor" because of his short stature; also known as the
Governor who granted himself a divorce.
Lawyer.
Member of California State Assembly 17th District, 1857-59.
County Commissioner, Humboldt County, Nevada, 1882. |
Cycadia Cemetery, Tarpon
Springs, Florida |
| 1877-1878 |
John Philo
Hoyt
(1841-1926) |
- |
Teacher, Lawyer.
Served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Member of Michigan State House of Representatives, 1873-76.
Secretary of Arizona Territory, 1876.
Justice of Washington Territorial Supreme Court, 1879-87.
Delegate to Washington State Constitutional Convention, 1889.
Justice of Washington State Supreme Court, 1890-97. |
Washelli Cemetery,
Seattle, Washington |
| 1878-1882 |
John Charles
Fremont
(1813-1890) |
R |
Engineer/topographer.
Governor of California in 1847.
Senator from California, 1850-51.
Candidate for President of the United States against James Buchanan,
1856.
General in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Did not come to Arizona until 5 months after appointed Governor.
Departed to the East from 1879, returning to Arizona only to resign
in 1881.
Legalized gambling in the territory and started a lottery to pay for
schools and public buildings which collapsed leaving Michel
Goldwater (grandfather of Barry Goldwater) to provide refunds for
ticket holders.
Episcopalian.
Died of peritonitis. |
Original interred at
Trinity Church Cemetery, New York, N.Y.
Reinterred at Rockland Cemetery, Nyack, N.Y. in 1891 |
| 1882-1885 |
Frederick
Augustus Tritle
(1833-1906) |
|
First Governor to be
living in territory at the time of appointment.
First Governor to be buried in Arizona.
Lawyer.
Administration remembered for the "Thieving Thirteenth"
Legislature which overpaid themselves for fictitious services, and
which created the Territorial Normal School in Tempe (Arizona State
University), the University of Arizona in Tucson, the Insane Asylum
in Phoenix.
Member of Nevada State Senate, 1866.
Delegate to Arizona State Constitutional Convention, 1891.
Yavapai County Recorder, 1895-1897.
Supervisor of the Arizona Census, 1900.
Episcopalian. |
Greenwood
Memorial Park, Phoenix [Plot: Section 7, Block 10, Lot 1] |
| 1885-1889 |
Conrad Meyer
Zulick
(1839-1926) |
D |
Held in a Mexican jail at
the time of his appointment; released when his New Jersey and Sonora
Copper Mines paid debts owed to the Mexican Government.
Previous administrative appointments refused to leave office when
Zulick was appointed because of his shady reputation.
Lawyer.
Signed the order that moving the capital from Prescott to Phoenix,
1889.
Colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Member 16th Arizona Territorial Legislature, 1890. |
Easton Cemetery, Easton
Pennsylvania. |
| 1889-1890 |
Lewis Wolfley
(1839-1910) |
R |
Only bachelor to serve as
territorial governor.
Studied law.
Colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Established the Arizona Republican newspaper (later
became the Arizona Republic ) to further his political ends.
Withheld pay from certain judges to replace them with "Good
Republicans."
In office when a forger attempted to seize a 18,750 square-miles in
Central Arizona in the Peralta Grant scandal, and when the Gila
River Dam washed out causing $750,000 of damages.
Died after being run down by a street car in California. |
Odd
Fellows Cemetery, Prescott |
| 1890-1892 |
John Nichol
Irwin
(1847-1905) |
- |
Lawyer.
Served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Member of Iowa State House of Representatives, 1875.
Mayor of Keokuk, Iowa, 1876, 1887.
Governor of Idaho Territory, 1883.
U.S. Minister to Portugal, 1899-1900. |
Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk,
Iowa |
| 1892-1893 |
Nathan Oakes
Murphy
(1849-1908) |
R |
Opened a Normal School in
Flagstaff (to become Northern Arizona University),1899.
Teacher, lawyer.
Delegate to U.S. Congress from Arizona Territory, 1895-97.
Married E. Josephine Brawley, whom Governor called the "Mother
of Arizona, " and was a member of the Women's Suffrage
Movement, friend of Susan B. Anthony, and a prime mover in the
establishment of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Arizona.
Secretary of Arizona Territory, 1889.
Appointed governor twice 1892-3 & 1898-1902.
Delegate to U.S. Congress from Arizona Territory, 1895-97. |
Originally interred
Masonic Cemetery, San Diego, California
Reinterred Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. |
| 1893-1896 |
Louis Cameron
Hughes
(1842-1915) |
- |
Immigrant from Wales, was
an indentured servant to a Calvinist farmer until he was 16.
Invited by Theodore Roosevelt to the christening of the USS Arizona,
but refused because champagne was used in the ceremony.
Machinist, Lawyer, Newspaperman.
Served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Arizona Territory Attorney General, 1873-74.
On the board of managers for the Chicago World's Fair, 1891. |
Evergreen
Cemetery, Tucson [Plot: Block 16 Section D Lot 50 Grave 1; Lat:
32º15'50" Long: 110º58'44"] |
| 1896-1897 |
Benjamin
Joseph Franklin
(1839-1898) |
D |
Claimed ancestry to the
Benjamin Franklin.
Lawyer.
Member of Kansas state senate, 1860.
Served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1875-79.
Episcopalian.
Died of heart disease. |
Rosedale
Cemetery, Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, Phoenix |
| 1897-1898 |
Myron H.
McCord
(1840-1908) |
R |
Lawyer.
Member of Wisconsin State Senate, 1873-74.
Member of Wisconsin State Assembly, 1880-82.
U.S. Representative from Wisconsin 9th District, 1889-91.
Colonel in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War.
Presbyterian.
Died of Bright's disease (nephritis-kidney inflammation). |
Merrill Cemetery, Merrill,
Wisconsin |
| 1898-1902 |
Nathan Oakes
Murphy
(1849-1908) |
R |
See above. |
See above. |
| 1902-1905 |
Alexander
Oswald Brodie
(1849-1918) |
R |
Soldier, lawyer.
Colonel in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War.
Delegate to Republican National Convention from Arizona Territory,
1904. |
Arlington National
Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia |
| 1905-1909 |
Joseph H.
Kibbey
(1853-1924) |
R |
Lawyer.
Justice of Arizona Territorial Supreme Court, 1889.
Member Arizona Territorial Council, 1902.
Arizona Territory Attorney General, 1904.
Arizona Territory delegate to Republican National Convention, 1904, |
Greenwood
Memorial Park, Phoenix |
| 1909-1912 |
Richard E.
Sloan
(1857-1933) |
R |
Lawyer.
Member Arizona Territorial Council, 1888-89.
Justice of Arizona Territorial Supreme Court, 1889-93, 1897-1909.
Arizona Territory delegate to Republican National Convention, 1908.
Judge of U.S. District Court, 1912-13.
Presbyterian. |
Greenwood
Memorial Park, Phoenix [Plot: Section 11 Block 10 Lot 4 Space 1
GPS (lat/lon): 33.2721, -112.06597] |
| State
Governors |
| 1911-1917 |
George Wylie
Paul Hunt
(1859-1934) |
D |
Member of Arizona
Territorial Legislature, 1892-1900, 1904-10.
Delegate to Arizona State Constitutional Convention, 1910.
Governor of Arizona, 1912-17, 1917-19, 1923-29, 1931-33.
U.S. Minister to Siam, 1920-21. |
Papago
Park, Phoenix |
| 1917 |
Thomas Edward
Campbell
(1878-1944) |
R |
First native-born
governor, first Republican governor.
Was apparent winner in 1916 gubernatorial election, but an Arizona
Supreme Court decision several months later awarded the disputed
election to Hunt.
Soldier.
Governor of Arizona, 1917, 1919-23.
Member of Republican National Committee from Arizona, 1924.
Died from a cerebral hemorrhage on the State Capitol grounds. |
Unknown |
| 1917-1919 |
George Wylie
Paul Hunt
(1859-1934) |
D |
See above. |
|
| 1919-1923 |
Thomas Edward
Campbell
(1878-1944) |
R |
See above. |
|
| 1923-1929 |
George Wylie
Paul Hunt
(1859-1934) |
D |
See above. |
|
| 1929-1931 |
John C.
Phillips
(1870-1943) |
R |
Lawyer, Construction
Worker--worked on capitol building which he later occupied as
governor.
Called himself "the ugliest man in Arizona."
Refused to push for a raise for judges, explaining "if we raise
the salary, some really competent lawyer may run and beat me out of
a job!"
Died after suffering a heart attack while fishing. |
Unknown |
| 1931-1933 |
George Wylie
Paul Hunt
(1859-1934) |
D |
See above. |
|
| 1933-1937 |
Benjamin Baker
Moeur
(1869-1937) |
D |
Mobilized the Arizona
National Guard to prevent construction of Parker Dam, which was to
divert Colorado River water to Los Angeles, 1934.
Physician--delivered most of Tempe's babies for 36 years.
Secretary of the Board of Education for Arizona State Teachers
College at Tempe.
Died 71 days after leaving office. |
Double
Butte Cemetery, Tempe |
| 1937-1939 |
Rawghlie
Clement
Stanford
(1879-1963) |
D |
Lawyer.
Justice of Arizona State Supreme Court, 1943-55.
Chief Justice of Arizona Supreme Court, 1945-49, 1953-54. |
Unknown |
| 1939-1941 |
Robert Taylor
Jones
(1884-1958) |
D |
Civil Engineer--worked on
Panama Canal, owned drugstores in Tucson & Phoenix, the Jones
Western Store in Phoenix, and a cattle ranch near Chandler. |
Greenwood
Memorial Park, Phoenix |
| 1941-1948 |
Sidney Preston
Osborn
(1884-1948) |
D |
Only governor ever elected
to four consecutive terms.
In his sixth grade school books, he wrote "Sidney P. Osborn,
Governor of Arizona."
Career Politician.
Died in office from Lou Gehrig's Disease. |
Unknown |
| 1948-1951 |
Dan E. Garvey
(1886-1974) |
D |
Secretary of State of
Arizona under Osborn, succeeding to governorship on his death.
Accountant, public servant. |
Unknown |
| 1951-1955 |
John Howard
Pyle
(1906-1987) |
R |
Broadcaster, owner of KFAD
radio (now KTAR), war correspondent in WWII reporting Japanese
surrender from the USS Missouri. |
Double
Butte Cemetery, Tempe. |
| 1955-1959 |
Ernest W.
McFarland
(1894-1984) |
D |
Only person to serve in
highest position in all three branches of Arizona government: U.S.
Senator, governor, and Arizona Supreme Court Justice.
Lawyer.
Superior Court Judge, 1935-41.
U.S. Senator from Arizona & father of GI Bill, 1941-53; defeated
by Barry Goldwater in 1952.
Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Arizona, 1964.
Justice of Arizona State Supreme Court, 1965-70.
Methodist. |
Greenwood
Garden Mausoleum, Greenwood Memory Lawn, Phoenix |
| 1959-1965 |
Paul Jones
Fannin
(1907-2002) |
R |
Entrepreneur--established
Fannin Gas & Supply.
Delegate to Republican National Convention from Arizona, 1964.
U.S. Senator from Arizona, 1965-77.
Methodist.
Died of a stroke at 94. |
Serenity
Mausoleum, Greenwood Memory Lawn, Phoenix |
| 1965-1967 |
Samuel Pearson
Goddard, Jr.
(1919- ) |
D |
Lawyer.
Arizona Democratic state chair, 1960-62.
Unitarian. |
|
| 1967-1975 |
Jack Williams
(1909-1998) |
R |
Radio announcer &
writer.
First Arizona governor to serve a 4 year term, notwithstanding an
unsuccessful recall attempt.
Called "One Eyed Jack" by detractors because his right eye
had been removed to get to a cancerous tumor when he was 5. In an
experimental treatment to stop the spreading cancer, doctors placed
a radium pellet on loan from Madame Curie in the socket overnight.
Glasses with one frosted lens became his trademark. |
Cremated. Ashes were to be
scattered in several special places across the state, according to
son. |
| 1975-1977 |
Raul H. Castro
(1916- ) |
D |
Lawyer.
Superior Court Judge, 1959-60.
U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, 1964.
U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, 1968-69.
U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, 1977-80.
Catholic. |
|
| 1977-1978 |
Wesley H.
Bolin
(1908-1978) |
D |
Succeeded to governorship
when Raul Castro resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to Argentina.
Secretary of State of Arizona, 1955-77.
Protestant.
Died in office. |
Unknown |
| 1978-1987 |
Bruce Edward
Babbitt
(1938- )
 |
D |
First governor elected to
a 4 year term.
Attorney General at time of Bolin's death, succeeded to governorship
because Secretary of State (Rose Mofford) had been appointed, not
elected.
Lawyer.
Arizona State Attorney General, 1975-78.
Candidate for Democratic nomination for President, 1988.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior, 1993-
Member, Council on Foreign Relations; Trilateral Commission.
Catholic. |
|
| 1987-1988 |
Evan Mecham
(1924-2008)
|
R |
Known for incredibly
insensitive and inopportune public remarks including "I'm not a
racist...I employ them [blacks] because they are the best people who
applied for the cotton-picking job."
Car dealer.
Army Air Force Pilot during World War II receiving Air Medal and
Purple Heart.
Opened Mecham Pontiac and Rambler in Ajo, 1950, relocating to
Glendale in 1954.
Candidate for U.S. Senator from Arizona, 1962, 1992.
Candidate for governor five times, 1964, 1974, 1982, 1986, and 1989.
Indicted on six felony counts of perjury and filing a false campaign
report, 1988; later found not guilty.
Impeached, convicted, removed from office 1988.
Recall election scheduled but canceled because of impeachment, 1988.
Mormon. |
|
| 1988-1991 |
Rose Mofford
(1922- ) |
D |
Public Servant.
Secretary of State of Arizona, 1977-88.
Presidential Elector for Arizona, 1996.
First female governor.
Catholic. |
|
| 1991-1997 |
John Fife
Symington III
(1945- ) |
R |
Developer.
Captain in USAF, receiving Bronze Star for service in Vietnam.
Convicted on seven counts of fraud relating to loans in development
of The Mercado, 1997.
Sentenced (suspended during appeal) to 30 months in a federal prison
camp, 5 years probation, 1998.
Conviction overturned on appeal because trial judge wrongfully
excluded a juror, 1999.
Before retrial, pardoned by President Clinton, along with 175 other
clemency grants the day before Clinton left office, 2001.
Episcopalian. |
|
| 1997-2003 |
Jane Hull
(1935- ) |
R |
Succeeded to office upon
Symington's resignation upon conviction for fraud.
Teacher.
Represented District 18 in Arizona House of Representatives,
1978-93.
Arizona Secretary of State, 1994-97. |
|
| 2003-2009 |
Janet
Napolitano
(1958- )
|
D |
Succeeded a male incumbent
as Attorney General in 1998 making Arizona the only state to have an
all female line of succession with women holding the offices of
Governor (Jane Hull), Secretary of State (Betsey Bayless), Attorney
General (Janet Napolitano), Treasurer (Carol Springer) and
Superintendent of Public Instruction (Lisa Graham Keegan).
Napolitano was the only Democrat.
Born in New York City, raised in Pittsburgh and New Mexico,
Napolitano moved to Phoenix in 1983 to be a law clerk. She was
named U.S. attorney for Arizona in 1993 by President Clinton, and
won the state attorney general's post in 1998. She is single
and has no children.
A cancer survivor, Napolitano had her right breast removed in a
mastectomy in 2000.
Napolitano announced her support for Barock Obama early in his
primary campaign for President. Upon his election she was
appointed to his cabinet as Secretary of Homeland Security. To
the chagrin of state Democrats, she resigned from the office of
governor as soon as her appointment was confirmed. |
|
| 2009- |
Jan Brewer
(1944- )
|
R |
As Secretary of State,
Brewer succeeded the resigning Napolitano. She was so
confident Napolitano will be confirmed as Secretary of Homeland
Security she scheduled her inauguration before Napolitano had
resigned.
She was elected Secretary of State in 2002, following Maricopa
County Board of Supervisors and 14 years in the Arizona State
Legislature in the House (1983-1986) and Senate (1987 to 1996).
She is married to Dr. John Brewer and is mother of three sons, one
of whom died in 2007. She is a member of Life in Christ Lutheran
Church in Peoria. and has lived in Arizona since 1970. |
|
| Pictures
of all state governors may be viewed at Arizona's
Governors on the Governor's web site. |
