William Henry Avery served as the 37th Governor of Kansas from 1965 until 1967.

Time in Office: January 11, 1965 - January 9, 1967

Born: August 11, 1911, Wakefield, Kansas.

Died: November 4, 2009, Wakefield, KS.

Republican stockman from Wakefield.

Avery was a member of the Wakefield School Board, and served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1951 to 1955, and in the Congress for the Republican Party from 1955 to 1965.

While governor, he sanctioned the executions of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the murderers of the Clutter family.

He also dedicated a memorial in Delphos, Kansas for Abraham Lincoln and Grace Bedell, the eleven-year-old girl who suggested to presidential candidate Lincoln to grow his famous beard.

Websites about this Governor

• Biography on Wikipedia 
• Biography on the National Governor's Association website 
• Governor's messages on the Kansas State Library website.