Daniel R. Anthony, Jr.
Daniel R. Anthony, Jr. was a journalist and member of Congress from the First Kansas District.
Anthony was born in Leavenworth, Kansas on August 22, 1870, a son of Daniel R and Annie Osborn Anthony. He was educated in public schools in Leavenworth and graduated in the class of 1887 at the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, Michigan. In 1891 he received a law degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. However, Anthony didn’t practice law extensively, instead, he focused on newspaper work, and after his father died in 1904, he took over the Leavenworth Times, which his father conducted for nearly 40 years.
On June 21, 1897, he married Elizabeth Havens of Leavenworth. From 1898 to 1902 he was postmaster of Leavenworth, and in 1903 was elected mayor of the city for a term of two years. On March 29, 1907, he was elected without opposition to fill the unexpired term of Charles Curtis in the National House of Representatives, after Mr. Curtis resigned his seat to enter the United States Senate. At the election in November 1908, he was re-elected for a full term of two years.
Anthony was the originator of the project to build a military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley, and on December 16, 1909, he introduced a bill in Congress for that purpose. His plan was to utilize the labor of the convicts in the Federal prison at Fort Leavenworth. In addition to his editorial and Congressional duties, Anthony was a director of the Leavenworth National Bank. Anthony continued to serve as a congressman until March 3, 1929, after which he resumed his former business pursuits. He died in Leavenworth, Kansas on August 4, 1931, and was buried in the Mount Muncie Cemetery.
Leavenworth, the First City in Kansas
The Leavenworth Times newspaper still exists to this day.
Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser/Legends of Kansas, updated May 2020.
Also See: