Biography

09/25/1862 - 11/07/1925

William Joseph Burke (R42) Allegheny (Part) County 1915-1918

Early Life:

William Joseph Burke, born September 25, 1862, London, City of London, Greater London, England; immigrated, United States, with his parents, settled, in Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, 1866; Reynoldsville public school education; employed, Pennsylvania coal mines at the age of twelve; engaged, railroad service, with residence, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1878; engaged, production of oil near Callery, Butler County, 1904; identified with organized labor for a period of twenty-seven years;; Grand Trustee, Order of Railway Conductors, North American Continent, 1902-1906; General Chairman, committee of adjustment, Order of Railroad Conductors, of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad system member, Allegheny Common Council, four years; member, greater city council of Pittsburgh, 1906-1910 until its merger with Allegheny City; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1914-1918, resigned; member, Pittsburgh City Council, 1918-1919, resigned; elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses, 1919-1923; did not seek renomination; unsuccessful candidate, election, United States Senator, 1922; resumed activities with organized labor; chairman, general committee, Brotherhood of Railroad Conductors; engaged, agricultural pursuits, production of oil; married, Ellen Rockett Burke, William T. Burke, Helen Burke Waters; died, November 7, 1925, at his summer home, Callery Junction, Butler County, Pennsylvania; interment, Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Chairman, Federated Board of the Order of Railway Conductors; Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen; Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, Baltimore and Ohio System; Chairman, Eastern Association of General Committees of Adjustment, representing the membership of fifty-three systems of railroad in Eastern territory.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Member, Allegheny Common Council, four years; member, greater city council of Pittsburgh, 1906-1910 until its merger with Allegheny City.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 42nd district, Allegheny (Part) County, 1914-1918, committee assignments, Appropriations, Corporations, Insurance, Judicial Apportionment, Pensions and Gratuities (Chairman), Public Grounds and Buildings, Railroads. Resigned, January 1, 1918. 

Member, Pittsburgh City Council, 1918-1919, resigned. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics: 

Elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses, 1919-1923; did not seek renomination.

Unsuccessful candidate, election, United States Senator, 1922.

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members B". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

The Pennsylvania Manual, (1918). Miller, H.P., (Compiler). Baker, W.H., (Assistant Compiler). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1085, 1095, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1060.

William Joseph Burke (1862-1925) - Find a Grave Memorial