Rousseau Angelus Burch

A Kansas Portrait

Born in an Indiana log cabin in 1862, Rousseau Angelus Burch emigrated with his family to Saline County, Kansas in 1869 and rose to become an outstanding state appellate judges.

After graduating from Salina High School, Burch continued his education and was graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1885. Returning to Kansas, he practiced law successfully in Saline until 1902, when he was appointed to a vacant seat on the state supreme court. Thus began 35 years of service as justice and finally chief justice of the high court of Kansas.

Ever a scholar, Justice Burch rapidly developed a reputation for clear and concise analytical reasoning, expressed in a style so lucid and trenchant that it was said he had the "faculty of making himself understood, no matter how obtuse the subject nor how obtuse his audience." Among the over 1,900 formal opinions he authored were many which are regarded as classics in the law. In 1937, Burch left the court to become Dean of the Washburn Law School, where he had taught since 1909. Ill health cut short his service to Washburn after a scant two years and he passed away on Kansas Day 1944.