Hutchins Gordon Burton

Hutchins Gordon Burton

Hutchins Gordon Burton (* between 1774 and 1782 in Virginia , † April 21, 1836 in Iredell County , North Carolina ) was an American politician ( Democratic Republican Party ) and the 22nd  governor of the state of North Carolina.

Early years and political advancement

The exact date of birth of Hutchins Burton is unknown. There are even different details about the year of birth; the sources vary between the years 1774 and 1782. After elementary school he attended the University of North Carolina . After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1806, whereupon he embarked on a legal career.

In 1809 he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives. Between 1810 and 1816 he was Attorney General of the state. In 1817 he moved to Halifax . In the same year he was re-elected to parliament. Between 1819 and 1824 he represented his home state in the US House of Representatives in Washington .

North Carolina Governor

In 1824 he was elected governor of North Carolina by the state parliament. In the following two years he was confirmed in this office. He took office on December 7, 1824 and held it until December 8, 1827. As governor, he campaigned for the improvement of the country's infrastructure and supported a reform of the judiciary. In 1825 he received the French General Lafayette , who was on a visit to the USA in North Carolina.

Further career

After the end of his term of office, he was appointed governor of the Arkansas Territory by US President John Quincy Adams . Since this appointment was not confirmed by the US Senate , Burton could not hold this office. Arkansas was not a state in the United States at the time and was administered directly as a territory by the federal government. Burton's rejection in the Senate was due to the political tensions in Washington at the time when the newly founded Democratic Party under Andrew Jackson opposed President Adams and his supporters and temporarily blocked presidential decisions with its majority. Burton now withdrew from politics. He died in Iredell County in 1836 while on a family visit. He was married to Sara Wales Jones. The couple had several children.

Web links

• Hutchins Gordon Burton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Hutchins Burton in the National Governors Association (English)