Edward Alexander Enright, a lawyer of exceptional ability and prominence at the Kansas City (Kan.) bar, was born to the professions, a son and grandson of a minister, and is of mingled German, Irish and Scotch descent. Mr. Enright was born in West Burke, Vt., Sept. 17, 1858. His father, Rev. Joseph Enright, a Methodist minister, born in Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland, Dec. 3, 1809, came to America in 1836, and after spending two years in Canada, crossed the line to Vermont where he was engaged in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church for nearly fifty years. He died in Vermont in 1896. Originally the Enright family was German, that branch from which Edward A. is descended having removed from Germany to Ireland in the time of William and Mary, the latter part of the Seventeenth century. The mother of Mr. Enright was Catherine Weir, born in the province of Quebec, Canada, in 1824, and died March 5, 1867. She was a daughter of Rev. Archibald Weir, who also was a Methodist minister, born in Scotland, and who died in the one hundredth year of his age. The Weir family is a very prominent one in the province of Quebec, Canada, to which the Rev. Archibald Weir immigrated.

Edward Alexander Enright was reared and educated in Vermont and was the only one of his family to come to Kansas. He was a student in Thetford Academy in his youth and at the age of nineteen graduated at the Windsor (Vt.) High School. In 1882 he graduated in the University of Vermont, at Burlington, taking the highest honors of his class, which honors won for him membership in the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. During his university course he was captain of its football team two years and was quite an athlete. While at the university he also assisted his sister, who was a teacher in an evening school. After his graduation he engaged in the profession of teaching several years. He taught one term in Cavendish, Vt., and in April, 1883, came to Smithland, Iowa, where he taught one year. The year following he was engaged as principal of the public schools of Albion, Boone county, Nebraska, where his excellent work as an educator and his administrative ability resulted in his election to the office of county superintendent of schools. He was first elected to that office in 1885 and served four years, being reëlected in 1887. He had decided upon the profession of law as his life work, however, and while engaged in educational work had used all of his spare time in studying and in preparing for his admission to the bar, which occurred in 1888. He began the practice of his profession in Albion, Neb., but within a short time removed to Kansas City, Kan., and has there been in the active practice of law since 1891. Unfaltering application, intuitive wisdom and a determination thoroughly to utilize the means at hand, are the concomitants which have brought to Mr. Enright success and prestige in his profession. He is a Republican in politics and served as chairman of the Republican County Central Committee during 1897 and 1898. In the fall of 1898 he was elected county attorney of Wyandotte county and was reëlected in 1900, thus serving four years from Jan. 1, 1899, to Jan. 1, 1903. In 1902 he was a formidable candidate before the Republican state convention for the nomination for governor, but was defeated by W. J. Bailey. However, in the fall of 1902 he was elected to the lower branch of the state legislature and served two terms, being reëlected in 1904. He served through two regular and two special sessions and took a very prominent and influential part in the enactment of the important legislation of those sessions. Mr. Enright is a felicitous and at the same time forcible public speaker and is frequently called upon to deliver addresses. His integrity and worth as a man have won for him the respect of the people of his city, and his polite and companionable manners make him an appreciated member of the numerous fraternal organizations to which he belongs. He is a member of the Royal Neighbors of America, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Maccabees of the World, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. He is also a member of the Fraternal Aid Society, the Knights of Pythias and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the law committee of the Modern Woodmen, the beneficiary committee of the Royal Neighbors, and the supreme committee of the Tribe of Ben Hur, and he is attorney for the Maccabees and ex-president of the Triple Tie Fraternal Society. He keeps in touch with those of his profession by membership in the Wyandotte County Bar Association. He is secretary of the Rock Springs Ice & Stone Company.

Mr. Enright was married July 27, 1888, to Miss Myra Belle Brewer, of Red Cloud, Neb., but a native of Mauston, Wis. Mrs. Enright takes a very prominent part in the religious, social and fraternal affairs of her home city and state. She is chairman of the board of managers of the Royal Neighbors of America, a fraternal insurance society. She is of the same Brewer family to which the late Associate Judge David J. Brewer of the United States supreme court belonged. Mr. and Mrs. Enright have an only daughter, Myra Alice, born Feb. 13, 1898.