This obscure individual is Spurzheim Derby, a farmer who served one term in the Kansas State House of Representatives. Nicknamed "Spud", Derby was born in Decatur County, Indiana on December 24, 1856, a son of phrenologist Daniel Griswold and Mary Ann Whitford Derby. As the son of a phrenologist, Derby received his unusual first name in honor of prominent physician Johann Spurzheim (1776-1832), one of the main movers behind a peculiar pseudoscience called phrenology, the study of cranial bumps and brain mental faculties.
Little could be found on "Spud" Derby's early life, except for his living in Moniteau County, Missouri during the 186os and 70s. It was here he married Mary Catherine "Mollie" Erickson (1861-1930) and they later migrated to Haskell County, Kansas, where he engaged in farming for the majority of his life. Spurzheim and Mary were the parents of several children, including George Combe (1881-1958), Nellie Ellen (1883-1919), Lillie (1887-1963), Daniel Charles (1889-1975), Mary Ann (1885-1959), Phoebe Olive (1888-1954), Fannie Sophronia (1891-1980), Jean H. (1893-1992) and Doris Mae (1906-1987).
In the years following his removal to Kansas Derby occupied several different public posts in his new home state, including that of a schoolteacher, town marshal, and postmaster of the town of Jean, occupying the latter office in the early 1900s.
Derby's inclusion on the Strangest Names In American Political History is due to his short tenure in the Kansas State House of Representatives in 1915. He served one term in the legislature and in 1930 lost his life in a tragic accident. As the Dodge City Journal related in its August 14, 1930 edition, Derby and his wife were passengers in a vehicle being driven by their grandson when the wheels of the car locked in the soft gravel of route U.S. 54. This caused their vehicle to overturn three times. Derby never regained consciousness following the accident and died a short while later at a hospital in Dodge City. While she survived the initial crash, Mary Derby succumbed to her injuries several days later at St. Anthony's Hospital in Dodge City.
From the Dodge City Journal, August 14, 1930.
I found a book published by Kansas State Library Cultural Heritage and Arts Center,1974 pp. 25-29 that gives a description of "Spud" and Molly Derby's settling in W. Kansas.
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