Burke, William Joseph

Burke, William Joseph, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born near London, England, September 25, 1862; immigrated to the United States in 1866 with his parents, who settled in Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, Pa., attended the public schools employed in the coal mines at the age of twelve; entered the railroad service in 1878 as a brakeman and was later promoted to passenger conductor with residence in Pittsburgh, Pa.; was a member of the Allegheny Common Council for four years, and from 1906 to 1910 was a member of the greater city council of Pittsburgh; became extensively interested in the production of oil near Callery, Butler County, in 1904; identified with organized labor as chairman of the general committee of adjustment, Order of Railroad Conductors, of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad system; elected a member of the State senate in 1914 and served until January 1, 1918, when he resigned to become a member of the Pittsburgh City Council, serving until January 1919, when he resigned, having been elected to Congress; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1919-March 3, 1923); did not seek renomination, but became a candidate for the Republican nomination as United States Senator; unsuccessful candidate for election as United States Senator in 1922; resumed activities with organized labor and served as chairman of the general committee of the Brotherhood of Railroad Conductors; also engaged in agricultural pursuits and in the production of oil; died at his summer home in Callery Junction, Butler County, near Pittsburgh, Pa., November 7, 1925; interment in Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.