Edward Calohill Burks

Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in., circa 1873-1900, by Poindexter Page Carter
Location: Hearing Room A

Born May 20, 1821 in Bedford County, Virginia.
Died July 4, 1897 in Bedford County, Virginia.

Elected by the General Assembly on December 15, 1876 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Wood Bouldin and began his service on January 9, 1877. Service terminated by the election of Drury Hinton.

Education:
Washington College, 1841
University of Virginia, LL.B., 1842

Professional career:
Private practice of law in Bedford County and Lynchburg, Virginia, 1842-1877, 1883-1897.
Virginia state delegate, 1860-1863.
Founder and editor, Virginia Law Register, 1895-1897.

Further reading/Research collections

Sources:
Elected, 94 Va., vi; birth, education, career, and death, Peter Wallenstein, “Burks, Edward Calohill (1821-1897),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography (1998); defeated in 1882 election, 91 Va., xx; portrait, The Richmond News, October 6, 1898, page 6, image 6. Burks filed suit against Drury Hinton, the judge elected to succeed him, arguing he was entitled to serve a full 12-year term when he was elected in 1876 fill the vacancy caused by the death of Wood Bouldin. He lost the case in the Supreme Court of Appeals, with Judge Lunsford Lewis dissenting. The University of Virginia Law School began giving the LL.B. law degree in 1842, and continued until it was replaced with the JD in 1970. Burks’ portrait was acquired from his son, Martin T. Burks, on April 12, 1898 (Order Book 31, p. 610).