Biography of William Alexander Calderhead Excerpted from "Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1911-1912", Edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary. Vol XII., State Printing Office, Topeka, Kansas 1912. submitted by Teresa Lindquist (merope@radix.net); (copyright) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WILLIAM ALEXANDER CALDERHEAD, of Marysville, was born in Perry county, Ohio, September 26, 1844; received his education in the common schools and from his father, the Rev. R. B. Calderhead, a minister of the United Presbyterian church; spent the winter of 1861-'62 in the preparatory department of Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio; enlisted in August, 1862, as a private in company H, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio infantry; was transferred to company D, Ninth Veteran Reserves for disability incurred in the service, and discharged June 27, 1865; spent two years recovering health, then one session at school; came to Kansas in the fall of 1868 and engaged in farming; in 1872 settled on a homestead near Newton, Harvey county; taught school one year in Newton; read law in the office of Hon. J. W. Ady, and was admitted before Hon. S. R. Peters in 1875; went to Atchison during that year and spent four years there; reading law and teaching country schools during the winters; settled in Marysville in November, 1879, and engaged in general practice of law; was elected county attorney in the fall of 1888, and served two years; was for several years clerk of the board of education of the city. In 1894 he was elected to Congress from the fifth district over John Davis, and re-elected until 1910, when insurgency beat him, thus serving sixteen years in Congress. He was for many years a prominent member of the ways and means committee. Jay E. House, the noted newspaper correspondent, said of Calderhead: "The fact is, no matter whether one agrees with Congressman Calderhead in his present attitude on the tariff and other vital issues or not, he has got to admire the man. Calderhead not only has courage, but he does all his own thinking. He may he old-fashioned politically, but he never dodged an issue in his life, and his knowledge regarding the location of the gallery is confined to hearsay. Due to the fact that he lives in a country district, and is not overfree in conversation, Calderhead has never had the advantage of much press- agenting, The newspapers have probably printed less about Calderhead than any other Kansas statesman, It seems to me that after sixteen years in Congress the old man should have due credit for the homely virtues that are his." (Included with the article "The Service of the Army in Civil Life After The War", page 14-15)