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Richard Ely Bird

Politician. Republican. Died: January 10, 1955, Long Beach, California. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 8th District: March 4, 1921, to March 3, 1923.

Richard Ely BirdOn November 4, 1878, Richard Ely Bird, who would serve one term in the U.S. Congress representing the 8th District, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved with his parents in 1887 to Wichita, Kansas. There he attended the public schools, graduating from Wichita High School in 1898. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1901, and commenced practice in Wichita. Bird served as judge of the district court of the eighteenth judicial district of Kansas (1916-1921) and was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress in November 1920 (served, March 4, 1921-March 3, 1923) but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922. He subsequently resumed the practice of law and served as the United States referee in bankruptcy in Wichita from 1925-1927. Bird retired to Long Beach, California, in 1937 where he died January 10, 1955.

Entry: Bird, Richard Ely

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: July 2012

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.