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John Burke (c. 1830 – January 18, 1871) was a Confederate Adjutant General of Texas and spy. He was born in Pennsylvania. He was left an orphan by age 11 and eventually he made his way to Texas. There he studied law at night and was a cobbler (shoemaker) by day. He was eventually admitted to the bar and took rank as a criminal lawyer alongside his brother-in-law, Pendleton Murrah. He joined the Confederacy and was briefly a member of the famous Hood's Brigade until he became a scout. He served early in the war as a scout for P.G.T. Beauregard, Joseph E. Johnston, and J.E.B. Stuart during Jackson's Valley Campaign in 1862. He rode with J. E. B. Stuart around McClellan's army in 1862. Burke traveled behind Union lines as far as New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. He used disguises, frequently the uniform of a Union officer, and would change the color of his artificial eye. He was able to provide Lee with valuable information about Union forces and dispositions. Unfortunately, Captain John Burke never really kept a record of any field reconnaissance, but the information he gathered for the Confederacy was "said to have aided Beauregard and Johnston at Manassas." His most daring adventure came after he was apprehended in Philadelphia. He was placed under guard, in irons and handcuffs. As the train to Washington crossed a high trestle, he jumped into the river and made his way back to Lee. Fatigued by his exertions and now a colonel, Burke resigned and accepted appointment by Governor Murrah as adjutant general of Texas, effective November 1, 1864. General Lee wrote a letter thanking him for his services. Records of the adjutant general's office were lost in the Capitol fire of 1881, and little of Burke's service in that assignment is known. Wikipedia
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John Burke (February 25, 1859 – May 14, 1937) was an American lawyer, jurist, and political leader from North Dakota who served as the tenth governor of North Dakota from 1907 to 1913, and later served as the 24th treasurer of the United States under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1921. Following his term as treasurer, he subsequently served intermittently as Chief Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court first from 1929 to 1931, then from 1935 until his death in 1937. Wikipedia