Burr W. Jones

The Honorable
Burr W. Jones
The Honorable Burr W. Jones
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
	In office; September 6, 1920 – January 1, 1926
Appointed by	Emanuel L. Philipp
Preceded by	John B. Winslow
Succeeded by	E. Ray Stevens
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Wisconsin's 3rd district
	In office; March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885
Preceded by	George Cochrane Hazelton
Succeeded by	Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
District Attorney of Dane County
	In office; January 1, 1873 – January 1, 1877
Preceded by	J. C. McKinney
Succeeded by	W. H. Rogers
Personal details
Born	March 9, 1846; Union, Wisconsin Territory
Died	January 7, 1935 (aged 88); Madison, Wisconsin
Resting place	Forest Hill Cemetery; Madison, Wisconsin
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Olive L. Hoyt; (m. 1873; died 1906); Katharine McDonald; (died 1956);
Children	Marion Burr (Smith); (b. 1883; died 1967);
Parents	William Jones (father); Sarah M. (Prentice) Jones (mother);
Signature

Burr W. Jones (March 9, 1846 – January 7, 1935) was an American lawyer, politician, jurist, and law professor. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives in the 48th Congress, and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Biography

Born in the Town of Union, in Rock County, Wisconsin Territory.^[1] 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.^[2]

Jones was raised on a farm and attended the Evansville Seminary, in Evansville, Wisconsin. 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 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, 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.^[2]

In November 1872, Jones was elected district attorney for Dane County, 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. 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.^[2]

Jones returned to Madison and became a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin 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.^[1]^[2]

In 1894 he served as attorney for University of Wisconsin professor Richard T. Ely during the effort to remove Ely for discussing socialism 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 at Indianapolis, where he was chosen to nominate Edward S. Bragg for president.^[2]

In 1920, he was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court 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.^[2] 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, he was conferred a LL.D. 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.^[1]

Jones died in a hospital in Madison, on January 7, 1935. He was interred at Madison's Forest Hill Cemetery.^[3]

Legacy

One of the Kronshage dormitories at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is named after him, as well as a Madison city park on the Yahara River.

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.^[4]

Electoral history

U.S. House (1882, 1884)

Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District Election, 1882^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 7, 1882
	Democratic	Burr W. Jones	13,035	45.98%	+1.70%
	Republican	George C. Hazelton (incumbent)	7,924	27.95%	−27.77%
	Republican	Elisha W. Keyes	3,791	13.37%
	Prohibition	Samuel D. Hastings	3,152	11.12%
	Greenback	Peter W. Matts	444	1.57%
		Scattering	2	0.01%
Total votes			28,348	100.0%	-3.01%

Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District Election, 1884^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 4, 1884
	Republican	Robert M. La Follette	17,433	48.06%	+20.11%
	Democratic	Burr W. Jones (incumbent)	16,942	46.71%	+0.73%
	Prohibition	John M. Olin	1,885	5.20%	−5.92%
		Scattering	11	0.03%
Total votes			36,271	100.0%	+27.95%

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1922)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1922^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
General Election, April 4, 1922
	Nonpartisan	Burr W. Jones (incumbent)	268,084	61.27%
	Nonpartisan	John C. Kleist	168,541	38.52%
		Scattering	928	0.21%
Total votes			437,553	100.0%

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Holmes, Fred L., ed. (1925). "Biographical". The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1925 (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 643. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Berryman, John R., ed. (1898). History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Vol. 2. Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. pp. 362-365. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
^ "Burr Jones, Beloved Justice, Dies as He Nears Milestone 89". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison. January 7, 1935. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved September 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Profiles in Courage (tv series): "Richard T. Ely": Full Cast & Crew IMDb.com
^ Heg, J. E., ed. (1883). "Elections statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 313. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
^ Heg, James E., ed. (1885). "Elections statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 252. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
^ "Elections statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1923 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1923. p. 582. Retrieved January 28, 2020.