Earliest serving United States governor

This page contains the individuals, who, at the time of their deaths, were the earliest serving governor of any U.S. state who was still living. The current earliest serving U.S. governor is George M. Leader.
America's fascination with the last surving governor from a certain era has probably most recently highlighted by the death of Governor/Senator Strom Thurmond who was remembered as the last of 10 South Carolina governors from Edgefield, South Carolina who were Segregationists [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960611/ai_n14041692 bNet: The oldest mover in town] ] . Thurmond's death was seen as the final closing of an era.

1754–1838 — Isaac Tichenor — Vermont

1838–1844 — Morgan Lewis — New York

1844–1853 — William H. Cabell — Virginia

1853–1853 — Mahlon Dickerson — New Jersey

1853–1854 — Nehemiah R. Knight — Rhode Island

1854–1863 — John Branch — North Carolina

1863–1865 — Thomas Bennett, Jr. — South Carolina

1865–1871 — William C. Gibbs — Rhode Island

1871–1874 — Enos T. Throop — New York

1874–1888 — Wyndham Robertson — Virginia

1888–1894 — David Dunn — Maine

1894–1896 — Alpheus Felch — Michigan

1896–1898 — Peter H. Bell — Texas

1898–1905 — George S. Boutwell — Massachusetts

1905–1915 — William Sprague IV — Rhode Island

1915–1933 — Adelbert Ames — Mississippi

1933–1938 — Joseph W. Fifer — Illinois

1938–1939 — Roswell K. Colcord — Nevada

1939–1943 — John E. Osborne — Wyoming

1943–1944 — Frederick B. Fancher — North Dakota

1944–1946 — John L. Bates — Massachusetts

1946–1958 — Fenimore Chatterton — Wyoming

1958–1960 — George L. Sheldon — Nebraska

1960–1964 — John G. Townsend, Jr. — Delaware

1964–1968 — William H. McMaster — South Dakota

1968–1984 — George Alexander Parks — Alaska

1984–1987 — Alf Landon — Kansas

1987–1991 — A. B. "Happy" Chandler I — Kentucky

1991–2001 — Harold E. Stassen — Minnesota

2001–2002 — Charles Poletti — New York

2002–2003 — J. Strom Thurmond — South Carolina

2003–2003 — Sid McMath — Arkansas — 1st served January 11, 1949

2003–2005 — Elbert N. Carvel — Delaware — 1st served January 18, 1949

2005–present — George M. Leader — Pennsylvania

Current Living Earliest Serving U.S. Governors

1. George M. Leader — Pennsylvania — January 18, 1955

2. (tie). Albert Rosellini — Washington — January 14, 1957

2. (tie). Cecil H. Underwood — West Virginia — January 14, 1957

4. Michael Anthony Stepovich — Alaska — June 8, 1957

5. John David Merwin — Virgin Islands — September 25, 1958

6. Mark Hatfield — Oregon — January 12, 1959

7. John Malcolm Patterson — Alabama — January 19, 1959

8. Ernest Hollings — South Carolina — January 20, 1959

9. John H. Reed — Maine — December 30, 1959

10. David P. Buckson — Delaware — December 30, 1960

11. William L. Guy — North Dakota — January 4, 1961

12. F. Ray Keyser, Jr. — Vermont — January 5, 1961

13. John Anderson, Jr. — Kansas — January 9, 1961

14. Tim M. Babcock — Montana — January 26, 1962

15. George Nigh — Oklahoma — January 6, 1963

16. Clifford Hansen — Wyoming — January 7, 1963

17. Philip Hoff — Vermont — January 10, 1963

18. Henry Bellmon — Oklahoma — January 14, 1963

19 (tie). Carl Sanders — Georgia — January 15, 1963

19 (tie). William Scranton — Pennsylvania — January 15, 1963

ee also

Oldest living United States governor

References