Peter Percival Elder.
Peter Percival Elder was a politician, Indian Agent, and businessman who was intimately connected with Kansas affairs for many years.
He was born in Somerset County, Maine, on September 20, 1823, and educated in his native state. In 1857, he came to Kansas, settling in Franklin County, which he helped to organize. In 1859, he was a delegate to the Osawatomie Convention, which organized the Republican Party in Kansas, and in 1860-61, he was a member of the Territorial Legislative Council. President Abraham Lincoln appointed him Indian Agent of the Osage and Seneca tribes at Fort Scott, Kansas. While serving in that capacity, he recruited a regiment of Osage men for service in the Union army in the Civil War. After four years as an Indian Agent, Elder resigned and, in 1865, engaged in the banking business in Ottawa.
In 1870, he was elected Lieutenant-Governor on the Republican ticket. Subsequently, he served several terms in the state legislature, serving as Speaker of the House in 1878 and again in 1891. He was still living in Ottawa in the early 20th century, but by then, he was retired. He died in 1914.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated June 2025.
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