Theodore Elijah Burton (December 20, 1851October 28, 1929) was an American attorney and Republican politician from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

, and the

Cleveland City Council Cleveland City Council is the legislature, legislative branch of Local government in the United States, government for the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. Its chambers are located at Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue, across the str ...

Early years

Burton was born in

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer) * Jefferson (singer) or Geoff Turton (born 1944), British s ...

Ashtabula County Ashtabula County ( ) is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,574. The county seat is Jefferson, while its largest city is Ashtabula. The county was created in 1808 and later organ ...

, Ohio, the son of Elizabeth (Grant) and The Rev. William Burton. He attended the public schools, Grand River Institute, Austinburg, Ohio, and Iowa College,

Grinnell, Iowa Grinnell ( ) is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,564 at the time of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is best known for being the home of Grinnell College, as well as being the location of the ...

. He graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in 1872. He studied law in Chicago with

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who represented the state of Illinois in the United States Senate from 1855 to 1873. Trumbull was a leading abolitionist attorney and key polit ...

, friend of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, and Senator of the United States for eighteen years. He commenced the practice of law in 1875, becoming a prominent attorney in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. His first public office was member of

, serving from 1886 through 1888, after which time he was elected to the

Career

He was elected to the House of Representatives for the

Fifty-first United States Congress The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Rep ...

in 1888 from the Ohio 21st District in Cleveland but was defeated for re-election in 1890 by his Democratic Party opponent,

Tom L. Johnson Tom Loftin Johnson (July 18, 1854 – April 10, 1911) was an American industrialist, Georgist politician, and important figure of the Progressive Era and a pioneer in urban political and social reform. He was a U.S. Representative from 1891 to ...

. He was not the Republican nominee in 1892, but was nominated again in 1894 and won election to the

Fifty-fourth United States Congress The 54th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1895 ...

, this time defeating his erstwhile opponent and still incumbent, Tom L. Johnson. He was re-elected seven times, serving in the House until 1908. He was noted for his work in preserving

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

and for opposing wasteful waterways projects. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

appointed him chairman of the Inland Waterways Commission in 1907 and the National Waterways Commission in 1909. He also sponsored the legislation authorizing the construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

. He opposed wasteful spending in general, and despite his background as a corporate lawyer, he resisted the influence of big business. In his first term he co-sponsored the

Sherman Anti-Trust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair Monopoly, monopolies. It was passed by United States Cong ...

. After his re-election in 1908, he was elected to the Senate, and resigned his House seat. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. He did not seek a second Senate term. Instead, he moved to New York City, and worked in banking for several years. In 1916, he was considered a possible candidate for president, and received 77½ votes on the first ballot (out of 987) at the Republican national convention. 2101 Conn Ave

In 1920, he returned to

and was again elected to the House, this time from the 22nd District (borders having changed in 1912). He was re-elected to the House in 1922, 1924, and 1926. During his later House service, he was appointed by President Harding to the World War Debt Funding Commission in 1922; and was chairman of the United States delegation to the conference for the control of international traffic in arms at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, in 1925. As president of the

American Peace Society The American Peace Society was a pacifist group founded upon the initiative of William Ladd, in New York City, May 8, 1828. It was formed by the merging of many state and local societies, from New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, ...

, Burton hosted the First World Conference on International Justice in Cleveland in 1928, attended by 13,000, including world leaders. In 1928, he did not seek re-election to the House. Instead he won a special election to the Senate for the unfinished term of Frank B. Willis, who had died on March 30. He served in the Senate from December 15, 1928 until his death on October 28, 1929. Black Tuesday (the Wall Street crash of 1929) was on the following day, October 29, 1929.

Personal life

From 1900 to 1912, Burton owned a country residence in Dover (now Westlake), Ohio, which had been built in 1838 by Thomas and Jane Hurst. The house was recorded in the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1936, and commemorated by an Ohio Historical Marker in 2002.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Theodore E. 1851 births 1929 deaths Cleveland City Council members Grinnell College alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Oberlin College alumni People from Jefferson, Ohio Republican Party United States senators from Ohio Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election American anti-war activists Grand River Academy alumni New York (state) Republicans 20th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early years

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links