Oran Faville

Term

Oran Faville was born in Mannheim, New York, on October 13, 1817. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1844, and, after teaching in New York and Vermont, he became a professor of ancient languages at McKendree College in Illinois in 1852. He was also president of Ohio Wesleyan Female College, Delaware, Ohio, from 1853 to 1855. In the 1850s, he moved to Mitchell County, Iowa, and entered politics. Faville served as the first Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 1858 to 1860 under Governor Ralph P. Lowe. He was also later an Iowa Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1864 to 1867. He was the last Secretary of the State Board of Education before the title of the office was changed to “Superintendent of Public Instruction,” and then was the first person to serve in the office under its new moniker. He was also the first County Judge of Mitchell County, Iowa, in 1851. He died on November 2, 1872.