Chilo Webb Burnham (1879-1960)

From the University of Minnesota Gopher yearbook, 1905.

  The North Dakota State Blue Book of 1929 recently yielded the name C.W. Burnham, and hiding behind those initials is the interestingly named Chilo Webb Burnham. A distinguished attorney residing in Foster County for over seventy years, Burnham served over two decades as state's attorney for Foster County and had earlier served six years as county auditor. A native of Vermont, Chilo Webb Burnham was born "near Johnstown" on August 19, 1879,  one of three children born to Franklin H. (1851-1930) and Emma (Rohrbaugh) Burnham (1852-1929).

  In 1883 the Burnham family removed to the Dakota territory and established a farm near what would become Carrington, North Dakota. His early education was obtained in schools local to that area and attended high school in Minneapolis. He continued study at the Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1905. He married in January 1907 to Jemima Buchanan (1882-1971), a native of Scotland. The couple were wed for over fifty years and had three children, Jeanette (1918-2011), Chilo Webb Jr. (1920-1992), and Lucille Margaret (1925-1991).

  Following his marriage, Burnham and his wife resided in Carrington, and in 1908 he made his first move into politics, being a successful candidate for auditor of Foster County. He served six years (1909-15) in that capacity and in 1913 was admitted to practice law by the North Dakota bar. He continued his political rise in 1914 with his election as State's Attorney for Foster County, serving three consecutive terms (1915-21).

  Burnham returned to private practice after leaving office and was aided by his wife, who served as his secretary. He was again elected state's attorney in 1925 and this time served a decade in that post. He left office in 1936, and during his years away from that office was active in the local Kiwanis Club chapter. A charter member of the Carrington Kiwanis Club, Burnham served a term as president of the Minnesota-Dakota district from 1939-40. 

  In 1940 Burnham won another term as state's attorney and served consecutive terms from 1941-48. He returned to private practice after leaving office and was joined by his son Chilo Jr. for a short period. A member of the Federated Church of Carrington and a member of the Carrington school board, Burnham was also a longtime member of the North Dakota State Barr Association, and from 1935-36 served on that organization's legislative committee.

  Chilo Webb Burnham died at a Jamestown, North Dakota hospital on August 13, 1960, a few days shy of his 81st birthday. Jemima Buchanan Burnham survived her husband by over a decade, and following her death in 1971 was interred alongside him at the Carrington Cemetery.

From the Bottineau Courant and County Herald, August 24, 1960.

Myon Edison Bristow (1879-1955)

Portrait from the Virginia House of Delegates composite, 1916.

  Spanish-American war veteran and lawyer Myon Edison Bristow occupied several political posts in Virginia state government, including stints as Commonwealth's Attorney, member of the state house of delegates, chief examiner of banks, and State Commissioner of Insurance and Banking. This author recently discovered Bristow's name via Volume 3 of 1937's Virginia Democracy, and, taking note of his unusual first name, was under the assumption it was a misspelling of the more familiar name "Myron". As it turns out, "Myon" is indeed the spelling of Bristow's first name, as it is listed several times on the U.S. Census, Veteran's Index, WWI and II Draft Registration cards, and Bristow's own death certificate. Unfortunately, no source available mentions this name's origin or why it was bestowed on Bristow. The son of Dr. Lewis Shuck Bristow and the former Nellie Blanche Games, Myon Edison Bristow was born in Saluda, Virginia on November 2, 1879.

  Bristow attended schools local to Saluda and at the age of eighteen signed on for service in the Spanish American War. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Bristow was assigned to the U.S.S. Wilmington, where he served until his discharge in May 1899. After his return to Virginia, Bristow decided to pursue a law degree, enrolling at the University of Virginia. After graduating in 1901 he elected not to open a practice and instead took a position with the Bank of Gloucester, Virginia. 

  Following a stint as deputy clerk for Gloucester County, Virginia, Myon Bristow entered into his first substantial political office when he was appointed as Commonwealth's Attorney for Gloucester County, succeeding William C. Jones, who had died in office. Just 25 years old at the time of his appointment, Bristow's youth proved to be a non-factor when he entered into office, being remarked as "unusually bright and thoroughly capable of filling the office with credit to himself and honor to the county." Bristow married during his term in 1905 to Baltimore native Emerald Alvin Christian (1882-1949), to whom he was wed until divorcing in the early 1940s. This curiously named couple would have a total of five children, those being Emerald, Frances, Alice (born 1908), John Christian (born 1911), and Blanche.

From the Southside Sentinel, January 29, 1904.

  Bristow's time as commonwealth attorney extended until at least 1907, and during his last year in office became a founding organizer of the Gloucester Point Bank, of which he would serve as cashier from 1907-14. Following his resignation, he operated a law practice in Norfolk with Thomas W. Shelton and in 1915 returned to politics, winning election to the Virginia House of Delegates. Bristow's one term began in 1916 and during this session served on the committees on the Chesapeake and Its Tributaries; Enrolled Bills; House Expenses; and Insurance and Banking.

 After leaving the legislature Bristow took on an accounting position at Cape Charles, Virginia business, and in 1917 re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy to aid in the ongoing war effort. He would become an ensign in the supply corps and served until his discharge in 1919. In that same year, Bristow resumed his banking career, joining the state banking department as an assistant examiner. He quickly rose through the ranks of that department and for a time was also engaged with the Farmers and Merchants Trust Bank at Cape Charles. In August 1923 Bristow assumed the post of Chief Examiner of Banks for Virginia, serving until 1927. From 1927-30 he was chief deputy to the Commissioner of Insurance and Banking, and in 1930 succeeded to that post himself, serving until 1938. Bristow's time with the state banking department also saw him elected to the presidency of the National Association of Supervisors of State Banks, serving from 1929-30.

  With the separation of insurance and banking into separate departments in 1938, Myon Bristow served as State Commissioner of Banking until stepping down in January 1939. After separating from his wife Emerald, Bristow later remarried to Rebecca Thornton in 1942. She survived him upon his death on November 11, 1955, and both were later interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

From the Southside Sentinel, November 24, 1955.

Leoma Ord Curtis (1879-1946)

From the Charleston Daily Telegram, February 11, 1937.

   The Mountain State yields another strange name political figure in Leoma Ord Curtis, a one-term member of the West Virginia Senate from Roane County. Listed by many sources under the initials "L.O. Curtis", a fair amount of digging had to be done to discover Curtis' full name! Thankfully, his 1942 draft registration card revealed his full name of "Leoma Ord", putting to rest the mystery!

   Born on September 7, 1879 in Roane County, Leoma Ord "L.O." Curtis was the son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Lucas) Curtis. Little information exists in regards to Curtis' education or early life, except notice of his marriage on August 21, 1905, to Sarah Virginia Ingram (1885-1969), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have three children, Helen Virginia (1909-1986),  Hal Lorimer (1906-1951), and Elizabeth Anne (1918-1922).  

   L.O. Curtis first entered into government service in the late 1900s, being named as a clerk for the West Virginia House of Delegates Committee on Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies. He later succeeded to the post of clerk with the Roane County Circuit Court, serving in that capacity until 1921, when he began a twelve-year tenure as chief clerk in the office of the West Virginia State Auditor. 

   In April 1934 Curtis announced that he'd be seeking the Republican nomination for state senator from West Virginia's 4th district. Hoping to succeed Senator Charles Weissenburger, Curtis won the Senate election that November and took his seat at the start of the 1935-37 session. 

From the May 15, 1935 Charleston Gazette.

   Curtis' tenure in the Senate saw him sit on the following committees: the Judiciary, Temperance, Agriculture, Public Printing, Forestry and Conservation, and Labor and Federal Relations. In February 1937 Curtis launched an attack against then-President Franklin Roosevelt's court-packing plan, authoring a resolution taking the president to task for attempting to "circumvent legal and constitutional rights which have been guaranteed to the people for their safety and welfare." Curtis's resolution would further note that:

"It is a matter of common knowledge that the purpose of reorganization of the kind proposed is not to strengthen the court but rather to insure a favorable action upon a type of legislation which heretofore has been held unconstitutional."

From the February 15, 1935 Charleston Gazette.

   A year after the conclusion of his Senate term L.O. Curtis entered into the post of clerk with the geological department of the United Fuel Gas Company in Raleigh. He continued in their employ for eight years, and in the latter portion of his life was reported to have "been in bad health for some time." This state of ill health later led Curtis to take his own life via gunshot in the washroom of the Atlas building in Raleigh on March 14, 1946. In a Raleigh Register report on the incident, Curtis was: 

"Observed to remove his glasses shortly after 11 a.m and go to the washroom whence a shot rang out. The body, a pistol beside it, was found by a fellow employe who rushed to the scene."

  Curtis's spectacles, wallet, and other personal effects were subsequently found on his desk, as well as a note addressed to his wife. He was survived by his wife and children and following funeral arrangements was interred at the Sunset Memorial Park in South Charleston, West Virginia.

From the Raleigh Register, March 14, 1946

Flavian Alphonsus Seal (1879-1959)

From the Washington Davies County Democrat, October 22, 1910.

   If you've followed the Strangest Names In American Political History's Facebook page you'll know that today we begin a week-long stay in Indiana to highlight a few of the Hoosier State's unusually named political figures. Today's profile takes us to Daviess County and Flavian Alphonsus Seal, a prominent local attorney who was elected to two terms as Prosecuting Attorney of Indiana's 49th Judicial District. A practicing lawyer for over fifty years, Seal was born in Barr Township, Indiana on May 13, 1879, one of several children born to William Marshall Seal Jr.(1841-1928) and the former Minerva Jane Padgett (1839-1915).

   Flavian Seal began his education in the "common schools of Barr township" and later taught school for a short period. He continued his schooling at colleges in "Mitchell and Bloomington" and graduated from the University of Indiana at Indianapolis. He married in October 1903 to Mary Graves (1881-1969) and later had seven children: Mable Afra (1905-1978), Ralph Alphonsus (1907-1966), Mildred Mary (1908-1993), Charles Alvin (1910-1971), Cecilia Alice (1910-2005), Mary Estelle (1912-1990) and Margaret Ernestine (1912-1929). 

   Having earned his law degree in 1903 Seal would open a law practice in the town of Loogootee and from 1905-1910 served that community as city attorney. In 1910 he launched a candidacy for Prosecuting Attorney of the 49th Judicial Circuit of Indiana and in November defeated Republican nominee Lewis C. McFadden by a vote of 4,703 to 4,337. Seal would be reelected in 1912 and served until January 1, 1915, being succeeded by Charles Mears, who had earlier served as county attorney from 1898-1901.

  After leaving office Flavian A. Seal was the senior partner in the firm of Seal and Seal with his son Charles Alvin, operating out of Washington, Indiana. Flavian would also serve as a "special judge of the circuit court" for the counties of Martin and Daviess "many times" and was a member of both the Daviess County Bar Association and the Daviess County Hospital's Board of Governors.

   Seal continued to be active in the affairs of Daviess County until his death, which occurred at his home in Washington on March 2, 1959, two months short of his 80th birthday. His wife and six children survived him and following her death in 1969 Mary Graves Seal was interred alongside her husband at the St. Johns's Cemetery in Loogootee, Indiana.