Hugh M. Funson, son of Thomas Funson and Margaret McCoy, was born June 24, 1851 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. About 1854 the Irish immigrant parents with their three children moved to Ohio where they remained only two years, eventually settling in Bureau County, Illinois.
As a child, Mr. Funson obtained his early education in a log schoolhouse after which he attended high school in Princeton, Illinois. He put himself through college by selling histories of the Civil War. He graduated from the law department of Iowa State University in Iowa City in 1877 and was admitted to the bar. In the fall of that year he and J. F. Martin, with whom he had graduated law school, settled at Nevada and began practice together. This partnership lasted a short time when Mr. Funson struck out on his own. He gained notoriety as a criminal defense lawyer in two Story County murder trials: State vs. Porter and State vs. Grindem.
Hugh Funson married Ella Shugart, daughter of Zachariah Shugart and Elizabeth H. Downing, on December 18, 1879 in Story County, Iowa.
About 1882, Mr. Funson formed a partnership with E. W. Gifford, Funson & Gifford. He was was active in public service serving as mayor of Nevada in 1883, being nominated for the state senate from Boone and Story Counties in 1886, Nevada city attorney and served several years on the Nevada board of library trustees. He continued his law practice in Nevada until 1902 when he and Mr. Gifford moved their practice to Minneapolis, Minnesota. His partnership with Mr. Gifford continued there for nine more years when he removed to Ottawa, Kansas. His practice continued his there until shortly before his death on February 15, 1941 in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas. He was survived by his wife and one son, Harry S. Funson.