Representative Chauncey Bundy Little

Chauncey Bundy Little (February 10, 1877 – September 29, 1952) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Kansas who served one term in the United States Congress from 1925 to 1927. He was born in Olathe, Johnson County, Kansas, where he spent his early years and received his primary and secondary education in the local grade and high schools. Growing up in a developing Midwestern community at the close of the nineteenth century, Little’s formative years were shaped by the agricultural and small-town environment of eastern Kansas, which would later inform his legal and political career.

After completing his early schooling in Olathe, Little pursued higher education at Kansas State College in Manhattan, Kansas. He subsequently enrolled in the law department of the University of Kansas at Lawrence, from which he graduated in 1898. That same year he was admitted to the bar, marking the formal beginning of his legal career. Immediately upon admission, he commenced the practice of law in his hometown of Olathe, establishing himself as a local attorney at the turn of the century.

Little quickly moved into public legal service. From 1901 to 1906 he served as city attorney of Olathe, providing legal counsel to the municipal government and gaining experience in local governance and public administration. Building on this role, he was elected county attorney of Johnson County, Kansas, serving from 1909 to 1913. In that capacity he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases and representing the county’s interests, further elevating his profile in regional legal and political circles.

A member of the Democratic Party in a state that was often dominated by Republicans, Little advanced to national office in the 1920s. He was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-ninth Congress and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1925, to March 3, 1927. During this single term in Congress, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history marked by post–World War I economic growth and evolving national policy debates. As a member of the House of Representatives, he represented the interests of his Kansas constituents and took part in the broader democratic process of federal lawmaking.

Little sought to continue his congressional service but was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1926 to the Seventieth Congress. After leaving office in March 1927, he returned to Olathe and resumed the practice of law, maintaining his longstanding professional ties to his home community. His political ambitions, however, extended beyond Congress. In 1928 he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Kansas, but he was unsuccessful in that statewide campaign, reflecting both the competitive nature of Kansas politics and the challenges faced by Democrats in the state during that era.

In his later years, Little remained identified with the legal profession and public affairs in Kansas, continuing to live in Olathe, where his career had begun. He died in Olathe, Kansas, on September 29, 1952. Chauncey Bundy Little was interred in Olathe Cemetery, closing a life closely tied to the community in which he was born, educated, practiced law, and from which he rose to serve in the United States Congress.