BECK, James Burnie, United States senator, born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 13 February 1822. He received an academic education in his native country, and, coming to the United States with his parents, settled in Lexington, Kentucky, and was graduated at the law school of Transylvania University in that place in 1846. He then practiced law in Lexington, and in 1866 was elected to congress, serving four successive terms, from 1867 till 1875. In May 1876, he was appointed a member of the commission to define the Virginia and Maryland boundary, and in the same year was elected to the United States senate. He took his seat on 4 March 1877, and was re-elected in 1882 for the term that will expire in March 1889. During his congressional career Mr. Beck has served on important committees, and has often been prominent in important debates. He has been especially interested in questions relating to the tariff and the currency.