William Alexander Calderhead
Politician. Republican. Born: September 26, 1844, New Lexington, Ohio. Died: December 18, 1928, Oklahoma. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District: March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1897.
Born on a farm near New Lexington, Perry County, Ohio, on September 26, 1844, William A. Calderhead received a private and public school education and attended Franklin College in New Athens, Ohio, for one year. He then enlisted as a private in Company H, 126th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in August 1862, later transferred to Company D, Ninth Veteran Reserves, and was discharged June 27, 1865. He removed first to Bates County, Missouri, in 1868, and then to a farm near Newton in Harvey County, Kansas, before moving to Newton in 1872 to teach school and study law. Calderhead was admitted to the bar in 1875, moved to Atchison, and eventually settled in Marysville, Marshall County, in 1879 where he set up a private practice and served as county attorney (1889-1891). He was first elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress in 1894 (served, March 4, 1895-March 3, 1897), but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1896; two years later, however, he was more fortunate and was elected to the Fifty-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1911). Congressman Calderhead failed to capture the nomination in 1910, however, and returned to his Marysville law practice until his retirement in 1920, when he moved to Enid, Oklahoma, where he died on December 18, 1928-interment was in the Marysville Cemetery.
Entry: Calderhead, William Alexander
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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