Aedanus BURKE, Congress, SC (1743-1802)
BURKE, Aedanus, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Galway, Ireland, June 16, 1743; attended the theological college at St. Omer, France; visited the West Indies; immigrated to the American Colonies and settled in Charles Town (now Charleston), S.C.; served in the militia forces of South Carolina during the Revolutionary War; appointed a judge of the State circuit court in 1778 and served until the enemy overran the State; member of the South Carolina house of representatives 1779-1788; again served in the Revolutionary Army 1780-1782; when the courts were reestablished resumed his seat on the bench, and in 1785 was appointed one of three commissioners to prepare a digest of the State laws; member of the convention in 1788 called to consider ratification of the Constitution of the United States, which he opposed; elected as an Anti-Administration candidate to the First Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791); declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1790 to the Second Congress, the legislature having passed a law prohibiting a State judge from leaving the State; elected a chancellor of the courts of equity in 1799 and served until his death in Charleston, S.C., March 30, 1802; interment in the cemetery of the Chapel of Ease of St. Bartholomewâs Parish, near Jacksonboro, Colleton County, S.C.
Bibliography
Meleney, John C. The Public Life of Aedanus Burke: Revolutionary Republican in Post-Revolutionary South Carolina. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1989.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
