An act to amend section 8, article 2, of chapter 31 of the general statues of 1901
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: 1907
The Kansas Legislature passed House Bill 66 by January 18 and Governor Edward W. Hoch signed the bill into law on January 30, 1907. The law abolished capital punishment in Kansas by prescribing life imprisonment, instead of the death penalty, as punishment for persons convicted of first degree murder. While executions by state authority were legal in Kansas from 1861-1907, the legislature imposed tighter regulations in 1872 that required the time of execution to be ordered by the governor. Kansas governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders, as required by law, effectively banning state authorized executions during that period. Governor Hoch was a strong opponent of capital punishment.

C. M. Moates to Governor Edward Hoch
Creator: Moates, C. M.
Date: February 21, 1905
C. M. Moates, M.D. of Leavenworth (Leavenworth County) writes Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka (Shawnee County) concerning the segregation of Kansas City (Kans.) High School. Moates requests the Governor veto a bill recently passed by the Kansas Legislature which would segregate the school by building a separate building for black children. The letter reminds the Governor of the Republican Party's traditional stand for Negro rights, cites the dominance of the Republican Party in Kansas, and charges the Kansas Republican Party as behaving like Democrats. The letter notes that the Democratic dominated legislature in Arkansas was considering similar legislation. The letter also cites the efforts of John Brown and Daniel Reed Anthony to make Kansas a free state. Moates claims at some point the Republic Party will need Negro votes and that this law will drive Negroes from the party. He also claims high school segregation will incite trouble between the races. Governor Hoch signed the bill on February 22, 1905. See K. L. Browne to Governor Edward Hoch, February 18, 1905.

Edward Wallis Hoch
Date: Between 1905 and 1909
This cabinet card shows the seventeenth governor of Kansas, Edward Wallis Hoch. Prior to being electing to office, Hoch was an editor from Marion, Kansas.

Edward Wallis Hoch
Creator: U.S. Post Card Company, Wilmington, Del
Date: 1905
This postcard shows the official state seal of Kansas with the Hon Edward W. Hoch, the seventeenth governor of Kansas.

Governor Edward W. Hoch to Governor Fletcher D. Procter
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1905-1909: Hoch)
Date: October 31, 1906
Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka responds to a request by Vermont Governor Fletcher D. Procter of Montpelier for information on Kansas laws concerning capital punishment. Hoch states that Kansas laws allow for the death penalty but requires an order from the Governor. Hoch states his opposition to capital punishment and his belief that no Kansas Governor has ever issued an execution order [under this law], and that no Governor ever will. While executions by state authority were legal in Kansas from 1861-1907, the State Legislature imposed tighter regulations on death sentences with Senate Bill 18 (1872). The act provided the time of execution to be ordered by the Governor. Kansas Governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders, as required by law, effectively banning state authorized executions during that period. See Governor Procter to Governor Hoch, October 22, 1906.

Governor Edward W. Hoch to Rev. A. B. Wolfe
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1905-1909: Hoch)
Date: December 19, 1907
Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka responds to a request by Rev. A. B. Wolfe of Kiester, Minnesota, for information on the death penalty in Kansas. Hoch describes the 1872 state law requiring a governor's order for state executions. He notes that this law effectively abolished the death penalty in Kansas since governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders. Hoch claims his strong opposition to capital punishment played a key role in the 1907 state law repealing the death penalty in Kansas. Kansas did not reinstate capital punishment until 1935, and the U. S. Supreme Court declared that law unconstitutional in 1972.

Governor Fletcher D. Procter to Governor Edward W. Hoch
Creator: Procter, Fletcher D.
Date: October 22, 1906
Vermont Governor Fletcher D. Procter of Montpelier writes Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka concerning capital punishment. Procter wants to know if Kansas laws have effectively abolished capital punishment, and if so, what effect this has had on crime in the state. While executions by state authority were legal in Kansas from 1861-1907, the Legislature imposed tighter regulations on death sentences with Senate Bill 18 (1872). The act provided the time of execution to be ordered by the governor. Kansas governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders, as required by law, effectively banning state authorized executions during that period. See Governor Hoch to Governor Procter, October 31, 1906.

Isabella Barnes to Governor Edward Hoch
Creator: Barnes, Isabella
Date: March 17, 1906
Mrs. Isabella Barnes of Liberal, Kansas, writes Governor Edward Hoch of Topeka concerning her wish to wear men's clothing. Mrs. Barnes states that she would like to wear men's clothing to help her obtain suitable employment and avoid unwanted insults from men. She has contacted the U. S. Attorney General at Washington D. C. concerning this issue and asks Governor Hoch if she would be liable to arrest and if there was not some way for a woman to receive permission to wear men's clothes. Isabella's concerns illustrate many women's efforts to transcend narrowly defined social and sexual roles in the early twentieth century.

John Quin to Governor Edward W. Hoch
Creator: Kansas. District Court (4th Judicial District)
Date: August 06, 1908
John Quin, Clerk of the District Court, Franklin County, sends Governor Edward W. Hoch, of Topeka, certified copies of the death warrant and journal entries for convicted murderer Mollie Stewart. A jury convicted Ms. Stewart of first degree murder, a crime punishable by death by hanging. According to state law (Laws of Kansas, 1872, Ch 166, Secs 2-3), the court must submit copies of the death warrant to the governor and await his execution order. While state executions were legal in Kansas from 1861-1907, the governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders, effectively banning state authorized executions during that period. Governor Hoch was a principal supporter of the 1907 law repealing executions in favor of life imprisonment. While Kansas has never executed a woman, several women have been sentenced to death in the state.

Kansas Adjutant General U.S. War Department correspondence
Date: July 1904 - December 1906
Correspondence sent and received by the Kansas Adjutant General's Office and the U.S. War Department between July 1904 - December 1906. Letters were also sent to Governor Willis J. Bailey and Governor Edward W. Hoch. Kansas Adjutant Generals during this period were Samuel H. Kelsey and James W.F. Hughes. Correspondents include Brigadier General William Crozier at the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, Quartermaster General Charles F. Humphrey, and James W. Cheney, librarian of the War Department. Frequent record-keeping information is solicited on behalf of the Secretary of War, the Office of the Commissary General, and the Surgeon General's Office. Topics discussed include general orders, army appropriation bills, payment of expenses, and annual reports.

Kansas Legislature, 1905
Creator: Colville, L.P.
Date: 1905
This sepia colored legislative panel shows members of the Kansas Senate and the Kansas House of Representatives. Inlayed in the center panel is the portraits of Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch and Lieutenant Governor David J. Hanna.

K. L. Browne to Governor Edward Hoch
Creator: Browne, K. L.
Date: February 18, 1905
K. L. Browne of Kansas City, Kansas, writes Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka concerning the segregation of Kansas City (Kans.) High School. Browne requests the Governor sign a bill recently passed by the legislature that would segregate the school by building a separate building for black children. The letter claims most white citizens favor passage of the bill. Mr. Browne argues that the mixed high schools in Kansas City, Kansas have driven many Kansans to move to Kansas City, Missouri where high schools were segregated, particularly those families moving from the country to the city. The letter claims that Kansas is losing both good citizens and revenue to Missouri due to mixed race schooling. He also claims that elementary schools in Kansas were segregated for thirty years without difficulty. Governor Hoch signed the bill February 22, 1905. See C. M. Moates to Governor Edward Hoch, February 21, 1905.

Launching of the Battleship Kansas by Governor Hoch
Date: Unknown
United States Navy-Launching of the battleship kanss with Gov. Hoch

Program for Governor Edward Wallis Hoch's inauguration day ceremonies
Date: January 09, 1905
This is a program for Kansas Governor Edward Wallis Hoch's inauguration day ceremonies in Topeka, Kansas. State officers and Governor Hoch were sworn in at Representative Hall in the capitol. Later, a reception was held in the capitol rotunda. Governor Hoch was elected governor in 1905 and reelected in 1907.

Teachers' salaries
Creator: The Club Member
Date: December 1906
In this article, Elizabeth J. Hauser describes how the disparity between male and female teachers' salaries is due in large part to the fact that women do not have the right to vote. According to the author, in the states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho--where women did have full suffrage--teachers' salaries were higher overall and women received salaries equal to those of their male counterparts.