Edwin Reed Ridgely (May 9, 1844 – April 23, 1927) was an American businessman, Civil War veteran and politician who served two terms as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

from 1897 to 1901.

Biography

Born near

Lancaster, Illinois Lancaster is an unincorporated community in Wabash County, Illinois, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal repu ...

, Ridgely attended district school in the winter months.

Civil War

During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in Company C, One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in 1862. He was promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

and served until the end of the war.

Career

He moved to

Girard, Kansas Girard is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,496. History Girard was founded in the spring o ...

, in 1869 and engaged in general merchandising and in agricultural pursuits. He left the Republican Party in 1876 because of its financial policy. He lived in

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, from 1889 to 1893 and then returned to Kansas.

Congress

Ridgely was elected as a Populist to the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1901). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1900.

Later career and death

He resumed agricultural pursuits in Mulberry, Kansas. He died in

on April 23, 1927. He was interred in Girard Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgely, Edwin Reed 1844 births 1927 deaths People from Wabash County, Illinois Kansas Populists Kansas Republicans People's Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas Union army soldiers People of Illinois in the American Civil War People from Girard, Illinois Members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives