George T. Anthony

Who was George T. Anthony?

George Tobey Anthony was seventh Governor of Kansas, and was a second cousin of famous suffragette Susan B. Anthony.

Anthony was born to Quakers on a farm outside the town of Mayfield, New York. His father died when he was five, and Anthony had to work to support himself, his mother, and his siblings. Anthony ran a hardware store, was married to Rosa Lyon, and served as a county loan commissioner before serving in the American Civil War as a captain of the 17th New York Independent Battery.

Anthony organized the Seventeenth Independent Battery of Light Artillery; and was commissioned captain when it was mustered into the U. S. Army on August 26, 1862. Attached to the 18th Corps, he was with the 24th Corps in the Appomattox Campaign which ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered.

Anthony was brevetted a Major by the time he was discharged in June 1865. He moved to Leavenworth, Kansas where he became the editor of several newspapers. He then held a few positions in internal revenue and was placed on the state board of agriculture.

Anthony was elected governor of Kansas in 1876.