William O. Burgin Explained

Image Name:William O Burgin NC.png
State:North Carolina
District:8th
Party:Democratic
Term Start:January 3, 1939
Term End:April 11, 1946
Preceded:Walter Lambeth
Succeeded:Eliza Pratt
Office2:Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
Term2:1931-1933
Office3:Member of the North Carolina Senate
Term3:1933-1935
Birth Name:William Olin Burgin
Birth Date:28 July 1877
Birth Place:McDowell County, North Carolina
Death Place:Washington, D.C.
Occupation:lawyer, traveling salesman and merchant
Alma Mater:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

William Olin Burgin (July 28, 1877 – April 11, 1946) was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina.

Born on a farm near Marion, McDowell County, North Carolina, Burgin moved with his parents to Rutherfordton, North Carolina, where he attended the public schools and Rutherfordton Military Institute.He also attended the Law School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.He engaged as a clerk in a general store in Rutherfordton in 1893 and later as a traveling salesman and merchant.He moved to Thomasville and engaged in the mercantile business.He was admitted to the bar.He served as mayor of Thomasville, North Carolina, from 1906 to 1910.He moved to Lexington, North Carolina, and continued the practice of law.He served as president and attorney of the Industrial Bank of Lexington.He served as director in a number of business enterprises in Lexington.He served in the State house of representatives in 1931.He served as member of the State senate in 1933.

Burgin was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1939, until his death in Washington, D.C., on April 11, 1946.He was interred in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, North Carolina.

A confidential 1943 analysis of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Isaiah Berlin for the British Foreign Office described Burgin as "a meek, mild, homely figure who seldom makes his presence felt, but who has voted regularly for the President's foreign policy measures. A typical southern Democrat."[1]

See also

Notes and References

  1. American Profiles on Capitol Hill: A Confidential Study for the British Foreign Office in 1943 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131021185357/http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/published_works/singles/bib139a/bib139a.pdf . 2013-10-21 . Hachey, Thomas E. . Wisconsin Magazine of History . Winter 1973–1974 . 57 . 2 . 141–153 . 4634869.