Joel Funk ASPER, Congress, MO (1822-1872)

ASPER Joel Funk , a Representative from Missouri; born in Adams County, Pa., April 20, 1822; moved to Ohio with his parents, who settled in Trumbull County in 1827; attended the public schools and the local college in Warren, Ohio; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1844 and commenced practice in Warren, Ohio; justice of the peace in 1846; prosecuting attorney of Geauga County in 1847; delegate to the Buffalo Free-Soil Convention in 1848; editor of the Western Reserve Chronicle in 1849; moved to Iowa in 1850 and published the Chardon Democrat; raised a company for the Civil War in 1861 and served as its captain; was wounded in the Battle of Winchester; promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1862; mustered out of the service in 1863 because of wounds received in action; moved to Chillicothe, Livingston County, Mo., in 1864 and resumed the practice of law; founded the Spectator in 1866; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1868; elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1871); was not a candidate for renomination in 1870; practiced law until his death; died in Chillicothe, Mo., October 1, 1872; interment in Edgewood Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present