Edward Campbell Little
Politician. Republican. Born: December 14, 1858, Newark, Ohio. Died: June 27, 1924, Washington, D.C. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District: March 4, 1917, to June 27, 1924.
Edward Little, who moved to Olathe, Kansas, in 1866 with his parents, was born in Newark, Licking County, Ohio, on December 14, 1858, and attended the public schools of Abilene, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1883 and subsequently worked for several years for the Santa Fe Railroad. Little studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1886, and started a practice in Lawrence. Chairman of the Republican State Convention in 1888, Little served as city attorney of Ness City in 1889, prosecuting attorney of Dickinson County from 1891-1893, delegate at large to the Republican National Convention in 1892, U.S. diplomatic agent and consul general to Egypt in 1892 and 1893, and private secretary to Gov. John W. Leedy in 1896 and 1897. During the Spanish-American War and subsequent Philippine Insurrection, 1898-1899, Little served as lieutenant colonel of the "Fighting" Twentieth Kansas Volunteer Regiment and received Congressional Medal of Honor as well as the Spanish War and Philippine Campaign Medals for services in the Philippines. By 1908, Little, who first sought election to the U.S. Congress in 1897 (unsuccessful candidate senate candidate) had settled in Kansas City, Kansas, and in less than a decade had been elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fifth Congresses; reelected three times, Little served from March 4, 1917, until is death in Washington, D.C., June 27, 1924.
Entry: Little, Edward Campbell
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: June 2011
Date Modified: May 2012
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