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

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician from

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. He served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, the

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, and the Cleveland City Council.

Early years

Burton was born in Jefferson, Ashtabula County,

, 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 2020 census. It is best known for being the home of Grinnell College. History Grinnell was founded by settlers from New England who we ...

. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1872. He studied law in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

with

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

, friend of

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

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. His first public office was member of Cleveland City Council, 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. He was not the Republican nominee in 1892, but was nominated again in 1894 and won election to the Fifty-fourth United States Congress, 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 border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

and for opposing wasteful waterways projects. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

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 ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

. 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. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. Th ...

. 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

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, 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 , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland, in 1925. As president of the

American Peace Society The American Peace Society is 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, of ...

, 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 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...

) 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 Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Theodore E. 1851 births 1929 deaths 20th-century American politicians 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

Early years

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links