Burr W. Jones (March 9, 1846January 7, 1935) was an American lawyer, politician, jurist, and law professor. He was a member of 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 ...

in the 48th Congress, and a justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

Biography

Born in the Town of Union, in Rock County,

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

. His father and mother had migrated to the Wisconsin Territory from Western Pennsylvania and Western New York, respectively. His father, William Jones, died in 1855, and his mother then married Levi Leonard, a pioneer of Rock County. Jones was raised on a farm and attended the Evansville Seminary, in

Evansville, Wisconsin Evansville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,703 at the 2020 census. Evansville is a part of the Janesville- Beloit Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Madison-Janesville-Beloit CSA. History Evansvil ...

. He then taught at the school for three years to pay for his university education. He graduated from the literary department of the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1870, and then from the law department in 1871. After leaving the university, he studied law in the office of William Freeman Vilas and was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin that year. Near the end of 1871, he began practicing law in

Portage, Wisconsin Portage is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Columbia County. It is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Portage was named for ...

, but within a year moved to Madison. While in Madison, he went through a series of partnerships, with Alden Sprague Sanborn, A. C. Parkinson, F. J. Lamb, and E. Ray Stevens. In November 1872, Jones was elected

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

Dane County, Wisconsin Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County. Dane County is the fastest growing county in Wisconsin. ...

. He was then re-elected in 1874. In 1882, he was elected to the 48th Congress (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885) on the Democratic Party ticket in

Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district covers most of the Driftless Area in southwestern and western Wisconsin. The district includes the cities of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Wisconsin, La Crosse, and Stevens Point, Wisconsin, ...

. He was defeated seeking re-election in 1884. In Congress, he served on the House Committee on War Claims, and served as acting Chairman when the chairman was unavailable with a long illness. Jones returned to Madison and became a professor of law at the

for the next thirty years of his life. He remained involved in local affairs and government, serving as City Attorney in 1891, and as chairman of the first Wisconsin Tax Commission in 1897 and 1898. In 1894 he served as attorney for University of Wisconsin professor Richard T. Ely during the effort to remove Ely for discussing

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and allegedly holding unpopular views, the controversy which led to the sifting and winnowing statement. He also remained active with the Wisconsin Democratic Party. He was chairman of the Democratic State convention in 1892, and represented Wisconsin as a delegate to the

1896 Democratic National Convention The 1896 Democratic National Convention, held at the Chicago Coliseum from July 7 to July 11, was the scene of William Jennings Bryan's nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate for the 1896 U.S. presidential election. At age 36 ...

at Indianapolis, where he was chosen to nominate Edward S. Bragg for president. In 1920, he was appointed to the

by Governor Emanuel L. Philipp, to fill the vacancy created by the death of justice John B. Winslow. In April 1922, Jones was elected to fill the remainder of Winslow's term, which expired in 1926. He did not seek re-election in 1925, and in January 1926 he was replaced by his former law partner E. Ray Stevens. Jones returned to the practice of law.

Personal life and family

Jones married Olive L. Hoyt in December 1873. They had one daughter together. After the death of his first wife in 1906, he married Katharine McDonald, who survived him. After thirty years as a professor at the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Public university, public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1868, the school is guided by a ...

, he was conferred a

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 1916. He was chairman of the Dane County Bar Association and, in 1908, was President of the State Bar Association. In 1896, he published a treatise on the law of evidence in civil cases, followed by two subsequent volumes. Jones died in a hospital in Madison, on January 7, 1935. He was interred at Madison's Forest Hill Cemetery.

Legacy

One of the Kronshage dormitories at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

is named after him, as well as a Madison city park on the Yahara River, and Burr Jones Road in the historic Leonard Leota Park in Evansville, WI. The television series ''Profiles in Courage'' did an episode in 1964 titled "Richard T. Ely" about the "sifting and winnowing" incident. Jones was played by

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...

.''Profiles in Courage'' (tv series): "Richard T. Ely"
Full Cast & Crew

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Electoral history

U.S. House (1882, 1884)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1882 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 1884

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1922)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 4, 1922