Charles Henry BURKE, Congress, SD (1861-1944)

BURKE Charles Henry , a Representative from South Dakota; born on a farm near Batavia, Genesee County, N.Y., April 1, 1861; attended the public schools of Batavia, N.Y.; moved to the Territory of Dakota in 1882 and settled on a homestead in Beadle County; moved to Hughes County in 1883; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1886; engaged in the real estate investment business in Pierre, S.Dak.; member of the State house of representatives in 1895 and 1897; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1907); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1906 to the Sixtieth Congress; elected to the Sixty-first, Sixty-second, and Sixty-third Congresses (March 4, 1909-March 3, 1915); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Sixty-first Congress); minority whip (Sixty-third Congress); did not seek renomination in 1914 having received the Republican nomination for United States Senator, but was unsuccessful for election; resumed the investment business; appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C., on April 1, 1921, and served until his resignation on June 30, 1929; engaged in the real estate and loan business in Pierre S. Dak., and also worked in the interest of Indians in Washington, D.C.; died in Washington, D.C., April 7, 1944; interment in Riverside Cemetery, Pierre, S.Dak.

Bibliography

Schlup, Leonard. "Charles Henry Burke and the Department of Indian Affairs in the Harding and Coolidge Administrations," International Review of History and Political Science 17 (1980): 1-14.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present