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Edwin Reed Ridgely

Politician. Democrat/Populist. Born: May 9, 1844, Wabash County, Illinois. Died:  April 23, 1927, Girard, Kansas. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 3rd District: March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1901.

Edwin R. Ridgely was born May 9, 1844, in Wabash County, Illinois. He served as a volunteer in 115th Illinois Infantry regiment during the Civil War (1862-1865), and moved with his brother to Girard, Kansas, in 1869, where he engaged in the general merchandising business (Ridgely Bros.) and agriculture. Ridgely abandoned the GOP in 1876 because of the party's financial policy. He lived in Ogden, Utah, 1889-93, and then moved back to Kansas. Elected to Congress as a Fusion candidate, he was reelected in 1898, but declined renomination for a third term in 1900. Thereafter, he returned to his business in Girard, where he died on April 23, 1927.

Entry: Ridgely, Edwin Reed

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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