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, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in the 48th Congress, and a justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

Biography

Born in the Town of

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, in Rock County,

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized 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. Belmont was ...

. 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. History Evansville was first settled in the 1830s by New Englanders who were attracted to the area by its pristine wooded landscape an ...

. 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 higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in 1870, and then from the law department in 1871. After leaving the university, he studied law in the office of

William Freeman Vilas William Freeman Vilas (July 9, 1840August 27, 1908) was an American lawyer, politician, and United States Senator. In the U.S. Senate, he represented the state of Wisconsin for one term, from 1891 to 1897. As a prominent Bourbon Democrat, he wa ...

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 and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census making it the largest city in Columbia County. The city is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Po ...

, but within a year moved to

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. 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 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 Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

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, La Crosse, and Stevens Point, as well as many Wisconsin-based exurbs of the Minne ...

. 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. Burr W

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 Richard Theodore Ely (April 13, 1854 – October 4, 1943) was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especial ...

during the effort to remove Ely for discussing

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

and allegedly holding unpopular views, the controversy which led to the sifting and winnowing statement. He also remained active with the

Wisconsin Democratic Party The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is currently headed by chair Ben Wikler. Important issues for the state party include support for workers and unions, strong public educ ...

. 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, B ...

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 Emanuel Lorenz Philipp (March 25, 1861 – June 15, 1925) was an American railroad executive and politician from Wisconsin, who served as the 23rd governor of Wisconsin from 1915 to 1921. Early life Philipp was born in Honey Creek, Sauk Coun ...

, 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 professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

, he was conferred a

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

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. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

is named after him, as well as a Madison city park on the

Yahara River The Yahara River is a tributary of the Rock River in southern Wisconsin. It is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 (including the distance across inte ...

. 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, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

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

IMDb.com IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

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