Farrand Kayley Shuttleworth (1863-1929)

From the Madison Capital Times, November 16, 1929.

   An attorney based in Madison, Wisconsin for over three decades, Farrand Kayley Shuttleworth earns a place here on the site due to his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives and Governor of Wisconsin, running as an independent candidate in the latter election in 1924. A lifelong Wisconsin resident, Shuttleworth was born near Fennimore, Wisconsin on April 17, 1863, one of several children born to Craven and Nancy Shuttleworth. His early life saw him grow up in a log cabin and he was a student in the common schools of Grant County. Shuttleworth graduated from the Platteville High School and later taught school in the mining community of New Diggins, and during his residency there he and his father took an interest in developing a railroad line between Fennimore and Woodman, Wisconsin. 

   Farrand K. Shuttleworth turned his attention to law studies in the late 1880s and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, graduating with his degree in 1892. He established his practice in Madison with E.W. Keyes and on June 9, 1893, married Elizabeth Dames (1866-1930), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have two children, Farrand Dames (1894-1973) and Saadi Sappho (1899-1970). 

  Remarked as a "good conversationalist", and a "literary man", Shuttleworth practiced law in Madison for thirty-five years and both he and his son Farrand Dames were retained as attorneys for the appellants in the case of Lacher vs, Venus, a decision noted by the Madison Capital Times as having "set aside the adoption laws of Wisconsin". 

   Shuttleworth entered the political life of Madison in 1914 when he announced his candidacy for Mayor. Despite being unsuccessful in his attempt, Shuttleworth's campaign was notable as he declared that if elected he would "not receive one penny from the city on account of the salary attached to the office." Prior to his campaign for Governor in 1924, Shuttleworth had made two unsuccessful runs for the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 3rd district. In the September 1920 Republican primary, he placed third in a field of three candidates (garnering 4, 848 votes) and in the 1922 primary received 6,877 votes, well behind incumbent Republican John M. Nelson's winning total of 25, 549. 

From the Madison Capital Times, 1924.

   In 1924 Farrand Shuttleworth entered the race for Wisconsin Governor as the Independent Progressive Republican candidate. As one of seven candidates vying to wrest the governorship from two-term incumbent John J. Blaine, Shuttleworth faced an uphill battle. Despite the odds, he issued a campaign platform in the Madison Capital Times, where he advocated the:

"Quadrennial elections for all state officers, assessment of a gasoline tax, and reduction of the number of state employees."

   On election day 1924 Shuttleworth placed sixth out of seven candidates, polling 4,079 votes, trailing behind the Democratic, Socialist, Prohibition, and Worker's Party candidates. Governor John Blaine coasted to an easy victory with over 400,000 votes. 
   Returning to his law practice following his candidacy, Shuttleworth held memberships in the Masonic order, as well as the Elks and Odd Fellows lodges. In late 1929 his health began to suffer and for several weeks prior to his death had been confined to a hospital in Madison, where he died on November 15, 1929, at age 66. Shuttleworth was survived by his children and his wife Elizabeth, who followed him in death almost a year to the day later. Both were interred at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.

Shuttleworth's obituary from the Madison Capital Times, November 16, 1929.