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Horatio C. Burchard

American politician (1825–1908)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ4419897
Source-derived summary

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).

Biography

Born in Marshall, New York, Burchard attended the public schools and private preparatory schools. 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.

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. He was reelected to the Forty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from December 6, 1869 to March 3, 1879.

Editorial summary

“Horatio C. Burchard” enters the record as american politician (1825–1908). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Horatio, Burchard and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1825, 1908, 1850, 1854—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1825-09-22. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Horatio, Burchard and American.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Horatio C. Burchard” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Horatio, Burchard and American provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4419897. VIAF identifies the subject as 75497241. The Library of Congress control number is n91100642. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1825, 1908, 1850 and 1854.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Horatio C. Burchard”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Horatio C. Burchard primary sources, Horatio C. Burchard archive and Horatio research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Horatio C. Burchard”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Horatio C. Burchard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.