Daniel Mulford Valentine

He was born June 18, 1830, in Shelby County, Ohio, where he remained until he moved to Iowa in 1854. While young although raised a Christian he was also interested in spiritualism and wrote Spiritual Rapping in 1852 proposing a reconciliation of Christianity and spiritualism. The other sons were J. W. Valentine in the lumber business, Harry E. Valentine, who worked with his father, and Ralph E. Valentine, who worked in real estate and finance. Their daughters were Mrs. A. A. Godard, Mrs J. F. Merrick, Martha Valentine and Lillian Valentine. Valentine and his wife visited Kansas in 1858 travelling through the east of the state in a one-horse rig visiting Leavenworth, Topeka and Lawrence amongst others, then after returning to Iowa for a while they moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, in July 1859. About a year later in 1860 they moved to Peoria, the current Franklin County seat at the time, followed just two years with a move to Ohio City, which no longer exists, and then again following the county seat they moved to Ottawa, Kansas, in 1864. They lived in Ottawa for around ten years raising their family until 1875, when they did one final move to Topeka, Kansas, and lived at 625 Polk Street, which was his home until his death. == Career ==

His career started outside of law as a county surveyor from 1855 until 1857 in Adair County, Iowa, a position he held whilst continuing to study law. and in 1962 was elected to the Kansas State Senate and served in 1863 and 1864. When the term of justice Lawrence Dudley Bailey came to an end Valentine stood for election on the Republican ticket for the Supreme Court position, winning the nomination against Bailey and four others. He was duly elected and started the first of his twenty-four years of service to the court the following January. but was beaten by Stephen Haley Allen, running as a Populist, by 162,338 to 158,191. He served out the remainder of his term, expiring January 9, 1893, and planned to resume his practice in his home town of Topeka, and did so holding a leading position at the bar. When he retired from the supreme court he returned to private practice in Topeka as the senior member of Valentine, Harkness & Godard for a year, and then again the senior member of Valentine, Harkness & Valentine the practice he stayed in until his death. == Death ==

He died August 5, 1907, at his home in Topeka, Kansas, with a general breakdown from old age given as the reason. His health had been failing over the previous five to six months but had become serious a week before his death. He had spent much of the week slipping in and out of consciousness, and had been unconscious for several hours before dying. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the state supreme court, and had served longer than any previous justice. He was buried in Topeka cemetery and was survived by his wife and all nine children with all by two, Mrs. J. F. Merrick and Miss Lillian Valentine, attending his funeral. ==References==