Best Nicknames

Wyoming became the 44th U.S. state on July 10, 1890. It has been governed by 31 men since then and one woman. In fact, Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first female governor in the entire USA even though Texas also elected a woman governor at the same time. Nellie took office 16 days before Ma Ferguson.

DeForest, Fenimore and Milward are the most unique given names of Wyoming’s governors. Frank and John came in at 3 each. With a middle name like Aloysius, you might almost want to bet Governor Barrett’s given name was really Francis, but we could not find any proof of that — only that he named his son Francis Aloysius.

Frank: 3 WY Governors
Frank Aloysius Barrett (1892-1962) Term: 1951-1953
Frank Collins Emerson (1882-1931) Term: 1927-1931*
Frank Lee Houx (1854-1941) Term: 1917-1919

John: 3 WY Governors
John Benjamin Kendrick (1857-1933) Term: 1915-17
John Eugene Osborne (1858-1943) Term: 1893-95
John Joseph Hickey (1911-70) Term: 1959-61

Clifford: 2 WY Governors
Clifford Joy “Doc” Rogers (1897-1962) Term: 1953-55
Clifford Peter Hansen (1912-2009) Term: 1963-67

William: 2 WY Governors
William Alford Richards (1849-1912) Term: 1895-99
William Bradford Ross 1873-1924) Term: 1923-24*

Only one governor named:
Alonzo Monroe Clark (1868-1952) Term: 1931-33
Amos Walker Barber (1861-1915) Term: 1890-93
Arthur Griswold Crane (1877-1955) Term: 1949-51
Bryant Butler Brooks (1861-1944) Term: 1905-11
David Duane “Dave” Freudenthal (b. 1950) Term: 2003-11
DeForest Richards (1846-1903) Term: 1899-1903*
Edward Jacob “Gov. Ed” Herschler (1918-90) Term: 1975-87
Fenimore Chatterton (1860-1958) Term: 1903-05
Francis Emroy Warren (1844-1929) Term: 1890
Franklin Earl Lucas (1876-1948) Term: 1924-25
Jack Robert Gage (1899-1970) Term: 1961-63
James Edward “Jim” Geringer (b. 1944) Term: 1995-2003
Joseph Maull Carey (1845-1924) Term: 1911-15
Leslie Andrew Miller (1886-1970) Term: 1933-39
Lester Calloway Hunt (1892-1954) Term: 1943-49
Matthew Hansen “Matt” Mead (b. 11, 1962) Term: 2011-present
Michael John “Mike” Sullivan (b. 1939) Term: 1987-95
Milward Lee Simpson (1897-1993) Term: 1955-59
Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) Term: 1925-27
Nels Hansen Smith (1884-1976) Term: 1939-43
Robert Davis Carey (1878-37) Term: 1919-23
Stanley Knapp Hathaway (1924-2005) Term: 1967-75