John Burke (politician) : biography

John Burke (February 25, 1859 – May 14, 1937) was an American lawyer, jurist, and political leader from North Dakota. He was the tenth Governor of North Dakota.

Biography

Burke was born in Keokuk County, Iowa, of Irish ancestry, to John Burke and Mary Ryan Burke. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a law degree in 1886. He married Mary E. Kane, a teacher, on August 22, 1891, and they had a son, Thomas, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Marian.

Career

Burke’s legal career was established in Iowa and Minnesota before he moved to the Dakota Territory. After North Dakota was admitted to the union, he served in the state’s House of Representatives in 1891 and in its Senate from 1893 to 1896. He served three terms (1907–1913) as the tenth Governor of North Dakota.

Death and legacy

He later served as a justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court from 1924 until his death on May 14, 1937. Burke County, North Dakota is named in his honor. His remains are interred in Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota.

The State of North Dakota donated a statue of Burke to the United States Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection in 1963.