James B. Beck

James Beck
Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office March 4, 1885 – May 3, 1890
Preceded by	George H. Pendleton
Succeeded by	Arthur Pue Gorman
United States Senator fromKentucky
In office March 4, 1877 – May 3, 1890
Preceded by	John W. Stevenson
Succeeded by	John G. Carlisle
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's7thdistrict
In office March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1875
Preceded by	George S. Shanklin
Succeeded by	Joseph Blackburn
Personal details
Born	James Burnie Beck (1822-02-13)February 13, 1822 Dumfriesshire,Scotland,UK
Died	May 3, 1890(1890-05-03)(aged 68) Washington, D.C.,U.S.
Resting place	Le xing ton Cemetery Le xing ton, Kentucky
Political party	Democratic
Education	Transylvania University(BA)
Signature

James Burnie Beck(February 13, 1822 – May 3, 1890) was a Scottish-American United States RepresentativeandSenatorfromKentucky.

Life

Born inDumfriesshire, Scotland,Beck migrated to the United States in 1838 and settled inWyoming County, New York.He moved toLe xing ton, Kentuckyin 1843 and graduated fromTransylvania Universityin 1846. Beck was admitted to thebarand commenced the practice of law in Le xing ton. Until shortly before theCivil War,he was a law partner ofJohn C. Breckinridge,theU.S. Vice Presidentwho became aConfederategeneral; during the Civil War, Beck was interrogated by a military commission about his knowledge of his former partner's activities.

After the war, Beck was elected as aDemocratto theUnited States House of RepresentativesservingKentucky's 7th congressional district.He was appointed to theSelect Committee on Reconstructionwhere it was expected that as a newcomer and an immigrant he would be no obstacle toRepublicanintentions, but he immediately became a tenacious advocate of the rights of the defeated states. AWhite supremacist,he opposedcivil rightsforAfrican Americans.He was reelected three times as a Representative, serving from March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1875.

In 1876, Beck was appointed a member of the commission to define the boundary line betweenMarylandandVirginia.He was then elected to theUnited States Senatein 1876, being reelected twice, serving from March 4, 1877, until his death inWashington, D.C.on May 3, 1890. Long-time Washington journalistBenjamin Perley Pooredescribed Beck during his time in the Senate as "a stalwart, farmer-like looking man, with that overcharged brain which made his tongue at times falter because he could not utter what his furious, fiery eloquence prompted."While in the Senate, Beck was theDemocratic Conference Chairmanfrom 1885 to 1890, and the chairman of theCommittee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard.He was prominent in the discussion of tariff and currency questions.

He is interred atLe xing ton Cemetery.His son,George T. Beck,was a noted politician and entrepreneur in the state of Wyoming.

See also

• List of United States senators born outside the United States
• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

References

• United States Congress."James B. Beck (id: B000289)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses for James Beck. 51st Cong., 2nd sess. from 1890 to 1891.Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office, 1891.
• Gilman, D. C.;Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905)."Beck, James Burnie".New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
• Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J.,eds. (1900)."Beck, James Burnie".Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.New York: D. Appleton.