Horatio C. Burchard

Horatio Chapin Burchard (September 22, 1825 – May 14, 1908) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois, 15th Director of the United States Mint, member of the International Statistical Institute, and father of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Horatio C. Burchard
15th Director of the United States Mint
In office
February 1879 – June 1885
PresidentRutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Preceded byHenry Linderman
Succeeded byJames P. Kimball
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879
Preceded byBradford N. Stevens
Succeeded byRobert M. A. Hawk
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 3rd district
In office
December 6, 1869 – March 3, 1873
Preceded byElihu B. Washburne
Succeeded byCharles B. Farwell
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office
1863-1866
Personal details
Born(1825-09-22)September 22, 1825
Marshall, New York
DiedMay 14, 1908(1908-05-14) (aged 82)
Freeport, Illinois
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Jane Lawver
​
​
(m. 1861; died 1892)​
Signature

Biography

Born in Marshall, New York, Burchard attended the public schools and private preparatory schools.[1] He was graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1850. He was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity at Hamilton. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in Freeport, Illinois.

He married Jane Lawver on May 15, 1861, and they had one son.[1]

He served as member of the Illinois House of Representatives 1863-1866. Burchard was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Elihu B. Washburne.[1] He was reelected to the Forty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from December 6, 1869 to March 3, 1879. During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, he was appointed a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee where he was made Chairman of the Subcommittee on Internal Revenue. Under his Chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Internal Revenue, the first legislation proposing a peacetime income tax was sponsored and debated. However, no income tax legislation was successful passed during his Chairmanship. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1878.

He served as director of the United States Mint 1879-1885. During his tenure as the Director of the U.S. Mint, he created the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measurement tool that has become ubiquitous in business and economics. He resumed the practice of law in Freeport. He served as member of the commission to revise the State revenue laws in 1885 and 1886. He was placed in charge of the jury of awards of the mining department of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.

Burchard's wife Jane died on November 17, 1892.[1] He died in Freeport on May 14, 1908, and was interred in Oakland Cemetery.[2]

References
  1. Raum, Green B. (1900). History of Illinois Republicanism. Chicago: Rollins Publishing Company. pp. 364–366. Retrieved April 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  2. "Horatio C. Burchard". New-York Tribune. Freeport, Illinois (published May 15, 1908). May 14, 1908. p. 7. Retrieved April 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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