Thomas Burke (December 22, 1849 – December 4, 1925) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer, railroad builder, and judge who made his career in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Washington Territory

Washington Territory

The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....

 from 1888 to 1889. He was the main representative of railroad magnate James J. Hill

James J. Hill

James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...

 in Seattle. The Burke-Gilman Trail

Burke-Gilman Trail

The Burke-Gilman Sammamish Trail is a rail trail in King County, Washington. The multi-use recreational trail is part of the King County Regional Trail System and occupies an abandoned Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway corridor....

 and the Burke Museum

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has been a Washington state museum since 1899. It is located at the University of Washington campus at the intersection of N.E. 45th Street and 17th Avenue N.E. in Seattle, Washington, USA, in the University District. It is the only major natural...

 are named in his honor.

Burke frequently organized subscription drives to raise money for Seattle projects, to the point that he often described himself as a "professional beggar." His would often be the first name on the petition, pledging the first dollar—or, later, the first thousand dollars.

Early career

Burke arrived in Seattle in 1875 and formed a law partnership with John J. McGilvra

John J. McGilvra

John J. McGilvra was a prominent lawyer and judge in late 19th century Seattle, Washington. Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D. in An Illustrated History of the State of Washington described him as "the oldest member of the legal profession in Seattle, Washington, both in years and practice" and "the father of...

; he soon married McGilvra's daughter Caroline. He soon established himself as a civic activist: one of his first projects was to raise funds for a planked walkway from roughly the corner of First and Pike (now site of Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers,...

) through Belltown

Belltown, Seattle, Washington

Belltown is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States, in the 98121 Zip Code, located on the city's downtown waterfront, on land that was artificially flattened as part of a regrading project...

 to Lake Union

Lake Union

Lake Union is a freshwater lake entirely within the Seattle, Washington city limits.-Origins:A glacial lake, its basin was dug 12,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington and Seattle's Green, Bitter, and Haller Lakes.-Name:...

.

He served as probate judge 1876-1880 and as chief justice of the Washington Territorial Supreme Court in 1888.

"Irish as a clay pipe," and well liked by early Seattle's largely Irish working class, as a lawyer Burke was well-known for collecting large fees from his wealthy clients and providing free legal services for the poor. Therefore, many were surprised when he opposed the working-class anti-Chinese agitation in 1885–86, allying instead with George Kinnear

George Kinnear

George Kinnear was an early Seattle, Washington real estate developer, responsible for some of the early residential development of Queen Anne Hill. He also had a brief military career....

 and his Home Guard in providing armed defense for the Chinese against vigilantism. In this, he was a defender not so much of the Chinese themselves as of the rule of law. When one of the anti-Chinese rioters died of a gunshot incurred during the violence of February 7, 1886, Burke was among those charged with shooting with intent to kill; none were ever actually brought to trial.

Railwayman

Two years before Burke's arrival in Seattle, the Northern Pacific Railway

Northern Pacific Railway

The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

 had chosen nearby Tacoma

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

 as its western terminus. Many thought that this would condemn Seattle to, at best, a secondary role on Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

. Burke would rise to prominence as a leader in Seattle's effort to avoid that fate.

Seattle's first attempt to build its way into the national rail network—the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad

Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad

The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad was the first railroad in Seattle, Washington...

—never got out of King County

King County, Washington

King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....

, although it did make a decent profit for its investors when Henry Villard

Henry Villard

Henry Villard was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway....

 bought it out in 1883 during his brief tenure at the head of Northern Pacific. However, Villard's successors operate the line intermittently at best, leaving the city little benefit from its support for the venture.

Burke raised money to send Daniel Hunt Gilman

Daniel Hunt Gilman

Daniel Hunt Gilman was an American attorney and railroad builder who made his career in Seattle.-Early life:Gilman was born in Levant, Maine, the son of Maine legislator Henry Gilman and his wife Mary Gilman...

 back east to seek investment for another railroad, the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway

Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway

The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway was a railroad founded in Seattle, Washington, on April 28, 1885, with three tiers of purposes: Build and run the initial line to the town of Ballard, bring immediate results and returns to investors; exploit resources east in the valleys, foothills,...

 (SLS&E). (Others involved in the founding of the railroad included David Denny

David Denny

David Thomas Denny was a member of the Denny Party, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington, USA. Though he ultimately underwent bankruptcy, he was a significant contributor to the shape of the city...

, Thomas T. Minor

Thomas T. Minor

Thomas T. Minor, was a physician, businessman, civic and political leader and the only person to have been elected as mayor of Seattle, Washington and Port Townsend, Washington and founder of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway....

, and George Kinnear

George Kinnear

George Kinnear was an early Seattle, Washington real estate developer, responsible for some of the early residential development of Queen Anne Hill. He also had a brief military career....

.) In the event, Burke ended up accompanying Gilman on the trip. It became clear that any eastern investment would be dependent upon at least 10% of the investment coming from Seattle-area locals. The investment was found, and Burke became a railway attorney.

The building of the SLS&E was a combination of hard-headed business and frontier disregard for law. On at least one occasion, Burke convinced the Snohomish County

Snohomish County, Washington

Snohomish County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is named after the Snohomish tribe. Since 2000, the county's population has grown from 606,024 to 713,335 residents , making it one of the fastest-growing in the state, ranking third in overall population after King and...

 sheriff to head off to the wilderness with all of his deputies to prevent a representative of a rival railway scheme from serving a writ that would have prevented the construction of a bridge across the Snohomish River

Snohomish River

The Snohomish River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington, formed by the confluence of the Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers near Monroe. It flows northwest entering Port Gardner Bay, part of Puget Sound, between Everett and Marysville. The Pilchuck River is its main tributary and joins the...

. Exploits like this helped to bring him to the attention of James J. Hill

James J. Hill

James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...

 of the Great Northern Railway.

Along with Judge Cornelius H. Hanford

Cornelius H. Hanford

Cornelius Holgate Hanford was an American judge and the first United States Judge for the District of Washington. He was the younger brother of the newspaper editor Thaddeus Hanford. The former agricultural community of Hanford, Washington was named for him.-Early life:Hanford was born in...

, Burke convinced the Seattle City Council

Seattle City Council

The Seattle City Council is committed to ensuring that Seattle, Washington, is safe, livable and sustainable. Nine Councilmembers are elected to four-year terms in nonpartisan elections and represent the entire city, elected by all Seattle voters....

 to establish the 120 feet (36.6 m) Railroad Avenue (now Alaskan Way

Alaskan Way

Alaskan Way, originally Railroad Avenue, is a street in Seattle, Washington, that runs along the Elliott Bay waterfront from just north of S. Holgate Street in the Industrial District—south of which it becomes East Marginal Way S.— to Broad Street in Belltown—north of which is Myrtle Edwards Park...

) along the downtown waterfront. The SLS&E got first choice of a right-of-way.

The Northern Pacific eventually gained control of SLS&E by purchasing a majority of its stock. By this time, Seattle had established itself well enough as a city that Northern Pacific chose actually to operate the line (though the city did not get a major passenger terminal until 1905).

Burke was a partner with Bostonian Frank Osgood and Seattle pioneer David Denny

David Denny

David Thomas Denny was a member of the Denny Party, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington, USA. Though he ultimately underwent bankruptcy, he was a significant contributor to the shape of the city...

 in the city's first horse-drawn streetcars (1884); only five years later, the three built one of the country's first electric streetcar lines.

James J. Hill hired Burke in 1890 as the local counsel for the Great Northern, virtually guaranteeing Seattle's role as that line's western terminus. However, city engineer R. H. Thomson

R. H. Thomson

Robert Holmes "R. H." Thomson, is a Canadian television, film and stage actor.Thomson was born in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He studied at the University of Toronto, and the National Theatre School. His own play The Lost Boys was staged at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in March 2000 and at...

 opposed adding yet another railroad to the crowded waterfront. When the Great Northern ran its first train to Seattle June 20, 1893, the end of the line was at Smith Cove

Smith Cove (Washington)

Smith Cove is a body of water, the northern part of Seattle, Washington's Elliott Bay, immediately south of the area that has been known since 1894 as Interbay...

 in Interbay

Interbay, Seattle, Washington

Interbay is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington in the United States consisting of the valley between Queen Anne Hill on the east and Magnolia on the west, plus filled-in areas of Smith Cove and Salmon Bay...

, a bit north of downtown. Eventually, Hill, Burke, and the city engineer's office reached a mutually satisfactory solution to the problem: the Great Northern Tunnel

Great Northern Tunnel

The Great Northern Tunnel is a double tracked railway tunnel under downtown Seattle, Washington, completed by the Great Northern Railway in 1905, and now owned by the BNSF Railway and is on its Scenic Subdivision. At the time it was built, the tunnel was the highest and widest in the United States...

, a railway tunnel under downtown Seattle, built 1903–1906.

Burke died on December 4, 1925. He is buried at the Burke family monument at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park

Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park

Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park originated in 1885. It is located on both sides of Aurora Avenue in Seattle, Washington, and occupies roughly . It is the largest cemetery in Seattle.-History:...

.

External links

• Clinton A. Snowden, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State Chapter LVII: The Anti-Chinese Movement contains a discussion of Burke's role facing down the anti-Chinese rioters in 1885–1886.