Benjamin Franklin Burch
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Franklin Burch (May 2, 1825 – March 24, 1893) was an American
farmer, soldier, and politician in what became the state of Oregon
. A native of Missouri
, he moved to the Oregon Country
in 1845 and served in the Cayuse
and Yakima
wars. A Democrat, he represented Polk County
at the Oregon Constitutional Convention
, in the Oregon House of Representatives
, and in the Oregon State Senate
including one session as President of the Senate.
, on May 2, 1825, to Samuel Burch and Eleanor (née
Lock) Burch. In 1845, he crossed the Great Plains on the Oregon Trail
bound for the Oregon Country
. He settled in what became Polk County
in the Willamette Valley
of Oregon. At the time it was under the authority of the Provisional Government of Oregon
, and in 1848 became the Oregon Territory
. In 1846, he helped Jesse Applegate
and Levi Scott
build the Applegate Trail
, a route to the valley through Southern Oregon
.
Burch then returned to his home where had tutored Applegate’s children before becoming a teacher at the first school in the county. After the breakout of the Cayuse War
in 1847, he volunteered for the militia and served as an adjutant
. Following the war, on September 6, 1848, he married Kentucky
native Eliza A. Davidson who had immigrated to Oregon from Illinois
the year before. They had seven children, including Benjamin, Jr. During the Yakima War
in 1856 Burch served as a captain of a company of militia.
held in Oregon
in August and September. At the convention he was part of a special committee with James K. Kelly
and La Fayette Grover
that designed the Oregon State Seal. Burch was also a member of the Military Affairs Committee. In 1858, he was elected to the first session of the state legislature as a Democrat representing Polk County in the Oregon House of Representatives
. Oregon was still waiting to be admitted to the Union, and the legislature did not officially convene until 1859.
Burch remained out of politics until 1868 when he was elected to the Oregon State Senate
. He represented Polk County as a Democrat during a four-year term. During the 1868 legislature he served as President of the Senate.
in Salem by appointment of Governor Stephen F. Chadwick
, serving two terms. He was appointed as the receiver at the Oregon City Land Office in 1887 by President Grover Cleveland
. Benjamin Franklin Burch died on March 24, 1893, at the age of 67 at his farm near Independence
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
farmer, soldier, and politician in what became the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. A native of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, he moved to the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
in 1845 and served in the Cayuse
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
and Yakima
Yakima War
The Yakima War was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people on the Northwest Plateau, then Washington Territory and now the southern interior of Eastern Washington, from 1855 to 1858.- Naming :...
wars. A Democrat, he represented Polk County
Polk County, Oregon
Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States. In 2010, its population was 75,403. The seat of the county is Dallas....
at the Oregon Constitutional Convention
Oregon Constitutional Convention
The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon's law. The proposal passed with a vote of 35 for...
, in the Oregon House of Representatives
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....
, and in the Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...
including one session as President of the Senate.
Early life
Benjamin Burch was born in Chariton County, MissouriChariton County, Missouri
Chariton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population was 8,438. Its county seat is Keytesville. The county was organized in 1820 from part of Howard County and was named from the Chariton River.-History:...
, on May 2, 1825, to Samuel Burch and Eleanor (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Lock) Burch. In 1845, he crossed the Great Plains on the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
bound for the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
. He settled in what became Polk County
Polk County, Oregon
Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States. In 2010, its population was 75,403. The seat of the county is Dallas....
in the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
of Oregon. At the time it was under the authority of the Provisional Government of Oregon
Provisional Government of Oregon
The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent government...
, and in 1848 became the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
. In 1846, he helped Jesse Applegate
Jesse Applegate
Jesse Applegate was an American pioneer who led a large group of settlers along the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country. He took part in the early government of Oregon, and helped establish the Applegate Trail as an alternative route to the Oregon Trail.-Early life:Jesse Applegate was born in Henry...
and Levi Scott
Levi Scott (pioneer)
Levi C. Scott was a politician in the Oregon Territory of the United States in the 1850s. A native of Illinois, he was a captain during the Cayuse War, helped lay the Applegate Trail, served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature, and in 1857 was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention...
build the Applegate Trail
Applegate Trail
The Applegate Trail was a wilderness trail through today's U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon, and was originally intended as a less dangerous route to the Oregon Territory.-Background:...
, a route to the valley through Southern Oregon
Southern Oregon
Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area, which consists of the...
.
Burch then returned to his home where had tutored Applegate’s children before becoming a teacher at the first school in the county. After the breakout of the Cayuse War
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
in 1847, he volunteered for the militia and served as an adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
. Following the war, on September 6, 1848, he married Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
native Eliza A. Davidson who had immigrated to Oregon from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
the year before. They had seven children, including Benjamin, Jr. During the Yakima War
Yakima War
The Yakima War was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people on the Northwest Plateau, then Washington Territory and now the southern interior of Eastern Washington, from 1855 to 1858.- Naming :...
in 1856 Burch served as a captain of a company of militia.
Political career
In 1857, he was elected to represent Polk County in the Oregon Constitutional ConventionOregon Constitutional Convention
The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon's law. The proposal passed with a vote of 35 for...
held in Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
in August and September. At the convention he was part of a special committee with James K. Kelly
James K. Kelly
James Kerr Kelly was an American politician born in Pennsylvania. He was a United States Senator for Oregon from 1871 to 1877, and later Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court...
and La Fayette Grover
La Fayette Grover
La Fayette Grover was a Democratic politician and lawyer from the US state of Oregon. He was the fourth Governor of Oregon, serving from 1870 to 1877...
that designed the Oregon State Seal. Burch was also a member of the Military Affairs Committee. In 1858, he was elected to the first session of the state legislature as a Democrat representing Polk County in the Oregon House of Representatives
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....
. Oregon was still waiting to be admitted to the Union, and the legislature did not officially convene until 1859.
Burch remained out of politics until 1868 when he was elected to the Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...
. He represented Polk County as a Democrat during a four-year term. During the 1868 legislature he served as President of the Senate.
Later years
In 1877, he became the Superintendent of the Oregon State PenitentiaryOregon State Penitentiary
Oregon State Penitentiary , the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging in height...
in Salem by appointment of Governor Stephen F. Chadwick
Stephen F. Chadwick
Stephen Fowler Chadwick was an American Democratic politician who served as the fifth Governor of Oregon from 1877 to 1878. Governor Chadwick was the first person to obtain the governorship by way of the state's Line of Succession.- Occupational background :Chadwick was a lawyer, admitted to the...
, serving two terms. He was appointed as the receiver at the Oregon City Land Office in 1887 by President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
. Benjamin Franklin Burch died on March 24, 1893, at the age of 67 at his farm near Independence
Independence, Oregon
Independence is a city in Polk County, Oregon, United States, on the west bank of the Willamette River along Oregon Route 51, and east of nearby Monmouth. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area...
.