Thomas Burke (Seattle)

Thomas Burke (December 22, 1849 – December 4, 1925) was an American lawyer, railroad builder, and judge who made his career in Seattle, Washington. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Washington Territory from 1888 to 1889. He was the main representative of railroad magnate James J. Hill in Seattle. Burke Avenue, The Burke-Gilman Trail and the Burke Museum are named in his honor.

Burke frequently organized subscription drives to raise money for Seattle projects, to the point that he often described himself as a "professional beggar." His would often be the first name on the petition, pledging the first dollar—or, later, the first thousand dollars.

Burke arrived in Seattle in 1875 and formed a law partnership with John J. McGilvra; he soon married McGilvra's daughter Caroline. He established himself as a civic activist: one of his first projects was to raise funds for a planked walkway from roughly the corner of First and Pike (now site of Pike Place Market) through Belltown to Lake Union.

He served as probate judge 1876-1880 and as chief justice of the Washington Territorial Supreme Court in 1888.

"Irish as a clay pipe," and well liked by early Seattle's largely Irish working class, as a lawyer Burke was well known for collecting large fees from his wealthy clients and providing free legal services for the poor. Therefore, many were surprised when he opposed the working-class anti-Chinese agitation in 1885–86, allying instead with George Kinnear and his Home Guard in providing armed defense for the Chinese against vigilantism. In this, he was a defender not so much of the Chinese themselves as of the rule of law. When one of the anti-Chinese rioters died of a gunshot incurred during the violence of February 7, 1886, Burke was among those charged with shooting with intent to kill; none were ever actually brought to trial.

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