Wallace Crossley (October 4, 1874 – December 13, 1943) was the 29th

Lieutenant Governor of Missouri The lieutenant governor of Missouri is the first person in the order of succession of the U.S. state of Missouri's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, ...

, serving with Governor Frederick D. Gardner, and publisher of '' The Daily Star-Journal'' in

Warrensburg, Missouri Warrensburg is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Missouri, United States. Its population was 20,313 at the 2020 census. The Warrensburg micropolitan statistical area consists of Johnson County. The city is a college town, as it is ...

Biography

Crossley was born in

Bellair, Missouri Bellair is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Cooper County, Missouri, United States. The community is on Missouri Route 5, approximately ten miles south-southwest of Boonville, Missouri, Boonville. History Bellair w ...

Cooper County, Missouri Cooper County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,103. Its county seat is Boonville. The county was organized December 17, 1818, and named for Sarshell Co ...

. He was raised in

Boone County, Missouri Boone County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Centrally located the state's Mid-Missouri region, its county seat is in Columbia, which is Missouri's fourth-largest city and location of the University of Missouri. As of the 2020 U.S ...

and grew up in

Mexico, Missouri Mexico, formerly known as New Mexico, is a city in and the county seat of Audrain County, Missouri, United States. It is home to the Missouri Military Academy and annually hosts the Miss Missouri Pageant. The city's population was 11,469 at the ...

where he attended high school. He attended

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri ...

and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. After college he returned to Mexico to teach English and then taught at Warrensburg Normal School (now

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, incl ...

). In 1907 he acquired ''The Daily Star-Journal'' and continued to own it until his death. He was a member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

from 1905 to 1911 and

Missouri State Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

from 1913 to 1917 and then lieutenant governor from 1917 to 1921.

References

1874 births 1943 deaths People from Cooper County, Missouri William Jewell College alumni University of Missouri alumni University of Central Missouri faculty American newspaper publishers (people) Lieutenant governors of Missouri Members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri state senators People from Mexico, Missouri 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly {{Missouri-MOSenate-stub