Governor Hodges
A solar eclipse, said to have caused the William Hodges family to settle in Olathe in 1869, also led a path to the Kansas Governor’s mansion. William Hodges and his family were en route from Wisconsin to a new location when the eclipse took place. His wife, Lydia, considered it a sign that they should settle right where they were: Olathe.
Their son George took his first job as a bookkeeper in 1886 in a lumberyard. Three years later he borrowed money to buy the company, launching a lumber firm that grew to fourteen lumberyards, and became a household name in the area. George’s older brother Frank gave up his Kansas City real estate career to become his partner.
In the 1890s the Hodges brothers became involved in banking, and by 1930 they owned controlling interest in First National Bank. As a forum for their political views, they founded The Johnson County Democrat, forerunner of the Olathe Daily News.
Soon, politics made the Hodges name more widely known. In 1904 George was elected to the Kansas Senate, where he served eight years. As a senator, he sponsored legislation to create the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical School in Kansas City, and worked to improve rural roads.
In November 1912 Hodges was elected governor, only the second Democrat to win in a staunchly Republican state. Two factors helped: the respect of legislature colleagues, and a divided Republican Party. Theodore Roosevelt supporters, opposed to William Taft’s re-nomination, formed the National Progressive or “Bull Moose” Party. Democrat Hodges took the statehouse and Woodrow Wilson took the White House.
As governor, Hodges pushed for better schools, more business regulations, tax reforms, and prison improvements. He also increased the number of women in responsible state positions from one to twenty three! The governor headed a Belgian Relief drive in 1915, providing 50,000 barrels of food within three months. He received the Golden Cross from the King of Belgium for his humanitarianism.
In 1915 Hodges was caught in a six-way race for governor, and lost to Republican Arthur Capper, who had lost the 1912 race to Hodges by only twenty nine votes. Governor Hodges returned to civic and business pursuits, including development of over 280 acres in Northeast Johnson County. He served with the Red Cross in World War I, was a member of the State Textbook Committee, and sat on the first state board of regents.
George Hodges passed away in 1947 at age 81, and is buried in Olathe Cemetery.
--ALBUM vol. 10, no. 4 (fall 1997)