Biography

07/28/1782 - 03/25/1851

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Judge Thomas Burnside, Sr. (Democratic-Republican10) Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, McKean, Potter and Tioga Counties 1811-1815 (D13) Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, McKean and Potter Counties 1823-1826

Early Life:

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Judge Thomas Burnside, Sr., born July 28, 1782, Newton Stewart, County Tyrone, Ireland, immigrated, United States with family, settled, Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1793; studied law; admitted,  bar, 1804, commenced practice, Bellefonte Pennsylvania; married, Mary Fleming, 1807, (d.1813) children, James Burnside, Jane Burnside Mann, remarried, Eleanor Winter, 1814, children, Lucy W. Burnside, Frances A. Burnside Boal, Thomas Burnside, Jr.; appointed, deputy attorney general, 1809; Pennsylvania State Senate, 1811-1814; elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, 1815-1816, resigned; appointed, president judge, Luzerne district courts, 1816, resigned, 1819; Pennsylvania State Senate, 1823-1826; Speaker, Pennsylvania Senate 1825; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Senator, United States, 1825; president judge, fourth judicial district, 1826-1841 president judge, seventh judicial district, 1841-1845; appointed, associate justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1845-1851; died, March 25, 1851, Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interment, Union Cemetery, Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania.

Early Life:

Studied law while convalescing from a broken leg due to a horse-fall, borrowing books for several months to acquire legal knowledge. Understudy, Honorable Robert Porter, Philadelphia, who sponsored him before the bar, admitted, 1804. Porter immediately accepted him as a law partner. Moved, Bellefonte, Centre County, opened a private practice. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Appointed, deputy attorney general, 1809. 

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 10th district, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, McKean, Potter and Tioga Counties 1811-1815.

Appointed, president judge, Luzerne district courts, 1816, resigned, 1819. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 13th district, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, McKean and Potter Counties, 1823-1826; Speaker, Pennsylvania Senate 1825. 

President judge, fourth judicial district, 1826-1841, president judge, seventh judicial district, 1841-1845. 

Appointed, associate justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1845-1851. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, Fourteenth Congress, vacancy, death, David Bard, 1815- resigned, 1816. 

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Senator of the United States, 1825; defeated by, Brigadier General William Marks, Esquire, Speaker of Senate of Pennsylvania, elected, 32nd ballot.

Legacy:

Son, Thomas, Jr., married, Rachel Cameron, daughter of Simon and Margaret Cameron.

Cited:

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

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

Thomas Burnside (1782-1851) - Find a Grave Memorial