Background
James Burrill was born on April 25, 1772 in Providence, the son of James and Elizabeth (Rawson) Burrill.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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James Burrill was born on April 25, 1772 in Providence, the son of James and Elizabeth (Rawson) Burrill.
James prepared for college in the school of William Wilkinson, at that time a celebrated classical and mathematical teacher in Providence. After graduating from Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in 1788, he began the study of law in the office of Theodore Foster, a Providence lawyer of extensive practise.
In 1790, after his law practise was relinquished, Burrill went into the office of David Howell, a prominent Rhode Island politician, where he remained until he was admitted to the bar in September 1791.
He then began the practise of law in Providence. In the summer of 1795 he served as secretary of protest against a new apportionment of state taxes that had been ordered by the General Assembly, and in August 1797 served on the committee of three that welcomed President John Adams to the town of Providence.
Although little more than a youth Burrill now became attorney-general of Rhode Island, which post he held from October 1797 to May 1813. During the next seven years he served as trustee of Brown University.
On June 7, 1813, he was elected to the General Assembly, and in May 1814, was chosen speaker of the House, which office he held until he resigned from the House in October 1816. At the May session of the latter year he was elected chief justice of the supreme judicial court of Rhode Island. A contemporary, writing in after years, speaks of Burrill at this time as the acknowledged head of the Rhode Island bar.
On June 21, 1816, the General Assembly, in grand committee, unanimously elected Burrill to the Senate. He declined to serve, on the ground that there was some doubt as to the constitutionality of his election. The General Assembly, however, unanimously confirmed his election February 19, 1817, and Burrill represented his state in the Senate from December 1817 until his death, during which time he came to be recognized as one of the leading orators in that body. The Annals of Congress and the Senate Journal testify to his activity. He served on the committees on commerce and manufactures and on the judiciary.
His first important effort was on November 26, 1818, when he unsuccessfully attempted to obtain an increase in the salaries of the chief justice and the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. The most important questions before the Senate were those of the admission of Maine and Missouri to the Union.
Although a member of the committee that reported the resolution, Burrill vigorously opposed the bill in two important speeches. In the first, January 13, 1820, he opposed binding the two questions together and urged that each be considered separately on its merits. The second speech, delivered December 7, 1820, was an attempt to prevent the passage of the resolution. He urged that Section 26, Article 3, of the Missouri constitution, which made it the duty of the Missouri legislature to prevent free negroes and mulattoes from settling in Missouri, was "entirely repugnant to the Constitution of the United States" on the ground that it distinguished between classes of citizens. The resolution passed the Senate December 12, 1820.
Burrill died in Washington and was given a memorable funeral in the Senate chamber.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
In politics he was a Federalist.
Burill was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.
On October 8, 1797 James Burrill married Sally Arnold.