John Lawson BURNETT, Congress, AL (1854-1919)

BURNETT, John Lawson, a Representative from Alabama; born in Cedar Bluff, Cherokee County, Ala., January 20, 1854; attended the common schools of the county, Wesleyan Institute, Cave Spring, Ga., and the local high school at Gaylesville, Ala.; studied law and was graduated from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.; was admitted to the bar in Cherokee County, Ala., in 1876 and commenced practice in Gadsden; served in the State house of representatives in 1884; member of the State senate in 1886; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth and to the ten succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1899, until his death; chairman, Committee on Immigration and Naturalization (Sixty-second through Sixty-fifth Congresses); member of the United States Immigration Commission 1907-1910; died in Gadsden, Etowah County, Ala., May 13, 1919; interment in Forest Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present