The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-07-20
THE PASSING OF FUNSTON,
The Last of the "DId Crowd" Downed
After Twenty-One Years OF
Publicity.

K. c. Star
With the passing of Edward ID.
Funston, the last of the Mohicans goes
from the battle field. There are one
or two others i'm the fight but they
have most of them-with one except
ion-changed sides or withdrawn to
receive rejuvenation. But Funston Is
the only one of the original "old
crowd" that is really old-who is &C.
tually in the harness, although some
of the war horses are still champing
their bits and scenting the battle from
afar.
Funston came to Kansas from Ohio
in 1867. He had been in the war
in fact he went with the 10th Ohio in
1861 and stayed in until the end-and
he had received fair common school
and academic education. He had a
hankering to make history and al
most before he had got well settled
on his farm on the banks of Deer
Creek in Allen county he was figuring
on how the thing stood in his town.
ship. He went to the county conven-
ton about as soon as he got his house
hold goods unloaded and in five years
he was sent to the legislature which
convened in 1873. 1t may be inter-
esting to know that among his dis
tinguished associates that year was L.
S. Kalloch, who has since made fame
in California-George w. Veale of To-
peka and William J. Buchan a gen.
tleman whose name is not altogether
unfamiliar to the readers of the legis-
lative history of Kansas. In the state
Senate at that time were "Bill" Mar
tindale, of Emporia, E. n. Morrill,, of
Hiawatha and Marshall Marcellus
Murdoch, of Wichita. George Find
lay was on the earth then and drew a
modest stipend-but still stipend
as sergeant-of-arms of the Senate. In
1874 Funston went again to the legis-
lature and found, among his fellow
workers in the lower House Albert
H. Horton. now chief Justice of Kan
sas; Colonel d. r. Anthony, Thomas
Fenlon, Henry Booth and Harry l..
Pestana, the gentleman who was tenn
porarily revived two years ago to feed
the wheels of William Bakers Jug
gernant car. Henry Booth and "Bill"
Hackney were also members of that
legislature. On the Senate roll were
such distinguished names as w. A.
PETER, Samuel r. Peters, James +.
Legate, L. d. Thacher, p. p. Elder,
ID. c. Haskell, S. b. Bradford, A. w.
Smith and Judge John Martin of To-
peka. So it appears that PETER and
Martin were in the Senate together
before they went to Washington. AT
a special session of that legislature
Fenlon defeated Funston for speaker of
the house, but before Fenlon got. much
glory out of it along came the regular
session and Funston was elected
speaker. He was elected to the lower
house again in 1875. In 1880 Funston
was again elected to the State Senate,
and was man of parts and conse-
quence in Topeka. He wasn't afraid
of the clerk at the old Teft house, and
it took a card in bell boys hand to
reach him. Among his senatorial as
sociates were "Dick" Blue, Eugene
Ware, A. p. Riddle, A. r. Green.
Harrison Kelley, Case Broderick and
George Case.
About that time Dudley c. Haskell
was going ahead of his associates in
the procession and was sent to Con-
gress. He made a valued member
from the first and was given a place
at the right hand of "Pig Iron" KEEL
ley on the ways and means committee.
He was the coming man" in Kansas
but died in 1888 from overwOrk. Early
in 1884 a convention was called at
Parsons to nominate his successor.
The candidates before that conven-
ton were "Dick" Blue, BILLY" Bu-
chan, Lyman U. Humphrey, Eugene
Ware and L. II. Funston. Funston
was nominated on the first ballot,
Ware being the second and Buchan
third. S. A. Riggs, of Lawrence was
put up by the Democrats against him,
only to be covered with 600 majority.
In the following fall Funston receiv-
ed the nomination by reclamation and
was reelected by an increased major
ity. In 1856 he was renominated
again without much opposition, and
defeated Ex-Governor Robinson. In
1855 he was nominated again and de-
feated Judge Burris now of Olathe. In
1890 his chief opponent was a. F. AL
len, a Farmers Alliance organizer
from Vinland, Douglas county.
Though it was the Alliance year
which moved down Hallowell and
Harrison Kelley, and Perkins, and
w. a. Phillips and Webb McNall-
Allen went down as the grass, before
the Deer Creek statesman. Funston |