James B. Beck

James Burnie Beck
United States Senator
from Kentucky
In office
March 4, 1877  May 3, 1890
Preceded by John W. Stevenson
Succeeded by John G. Carlisle
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1867  March 3, 1875
Preceded by George S. Shanklin
Succeeded by Joseph C. S. Blackburn
Personal details
Born (1822-02-13)February 13, 1822
Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Died May 3, 1890(1890-05-03) (aged 68)
Washington, D.C.
Political party Democratic

James Burnie Beck (February 13, 1822  May 3, 1890) was a United States Representative and Senator from Kentucky.

Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Beck immigrated to the United States in 1838 and settled in Wyoming County, New York. He moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1843 and graduated from Transylvania University in 1846. Beck was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Lexington. Until shortly before the Civil War, he was law partner of John C. Breckinridge, the U.S. Vice President who became a Confederate general; 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 a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives serving Kentucky's district 7. He was appointed to the Committee on Reconstruction where it was expected that as a newcomer and an immigrant he would be no obstacle to Republican intentions, but he immediately became a tenacious advocate of the rights of the defeated states. He was elected to the Fortieth and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving in all from March 4, 1867 to March 3, 1875.

In 1876, Beck was appointed a member of the commission to define the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia. He was then elected to the United States Senate in 1876, being reelected twice and serving in all from March 4, 1877, until his death in Washington, D.C., on May 3, 1890. While in the Senate, Beck was the Democratic Conference Chairman from 1885 to 1890, and the chairman of the Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard. He was prominent in the discussion of tariff and currency questions.

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

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    United States House of Representatives
    Preceded by
    George S. Shanklin
    Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
    from Kentucky's 1st congressional district

    1867–1875
    Succeeded by
    Joseph C. S. Blackburn
    United States Senate
    Preceded by
    John W. Stevenson
    U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky
    1877–1890
    Served alongside: Thomas C. McCreery, John S. Williams, Joseph C. S. Blackburn
    Succeeded by
    John G. Carlisle
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