BURKE, Edmund, lawyer, born in Westminster, Vermont, 23 January, 1809; died in Newport, New Hampshire, 25 January, 1882. He was educated by private tutors, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1829, beginning practice in Newport, New Hampshire, in 1833. He established the "New Hampshire Argus" in 1835, and edited it for many years. He was adjutant in the state militia in 1837, and brigade inspector in 1838; was elected to congress as a democrat, and served three successive terms, from 2 December, 1839, till 3 March, 1845. President Polk appointed him commissioner of patents in 1846, and he retained the office till 1850, after which he resumed practice in Newport, New Hampshire, having also an office in Boston. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia union convention of 1866. He published a pamphlet entitled '" The Protective System Considered" (1846).