Joseph A. A. Burnquist (original) (raw)

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American politician (1879–1961)

Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist
19th Governor of Minnesota
In officeDecember 30, 1915 – January 5, 1921
Lieutenant	George H. SullivanThomas Frankson
Preceded by	Winfield Scott Hammond
Succeeded by	J. A. O. Preus
20th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
In officeJanuary 7, 1913 – December 30, 1915
Governor	Adolph Olson EberhartWinfield Scott Hammond
Preceded by	Samuel Y. Gordon
Succeeded by	George H. Sullivan
21st Attorney General of Minnesota
In officeJanuary 2, 1939 – January 3, 1955
Governor	Harold StassenEdward John ThyeLuther YoungdahlC. Elmer Anderson
Preceded by	William S. Ervin
Succeeded by	Miles Lord
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
In office1909–1912
Personal details
Born	(1879-07-21)July 21, 1879Dayton, Iowa, U.S.
Died	January 12, 1961(1961-01-12) (aged 81)Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Resting place	Lakewood Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Louise Cross ​(m. 1906)​
Alma mater	University of Minnesota Law School
Profession	Lawyer, politician

Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist (July 21, 1879 – January 12, 1961) was an American attorney and Republican politician in Minnesota. He served in the Minnesota State Legislature from 1909 to 1911, was elected the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota in 1912, and then served as the 19th Governor of Minnesota from December 30, 1915, to January 5, 1921. He became governor after the death of Governor Winfield Scott Hammond (1863–1915).

Elected in 1938, Burnquist returned to serve as Minnesota Attorney General from January 2, 1939, until January 3, 1955, establishing what is now the second-longest record of continuous service in that position.[1]

Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist was born in Dayton, Iowa, to parents of Swedish descent. He attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and earned his law degree in 1905 from the University of Minnesota Law School.[2]

After a brief time practicing law in Saint Paul, he was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1908, serving from 1909 to 1912.[3]

Governor of Minnesota

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1918 election poster

During his second term as lieutenant governor, Burnquist succeeded Governor Hammond to office on December 30, 1915, after Hammond died unexpectedly.

Social and political tensions increased during the next two years, as Americans became concerned about the war in Europe. At the same time, labor unions were organizing and workers went on strike for better wages and conditions. Turbulent times surrounded the United States' entrance into the Great War (World War I) in 1917. Having attracted waves of European immigrants in the previous decades, US officials were anxious about the loyalties of these new residents and their native-born citizen descendants. Many classes in foreign languages were dropped from American public schools.

In 1917, ten days after the US entered the war, Burnquist signed legislation to create the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety (MCPS) to monitor public sentiment toward the war. The seven-member commission, ostensibly nonpartisan, opposed groups and actions its members considered suspect, such as immigrants, labor unions, and the Non-Partisan League. Burnquist and the commission were granted near-dictatorial powers, which they used to advance their own business interests by suppressing labor unions. The MCPS also played into anti-German sentiment by targeting ethnic German Minnesotans. Governor Burnquist threatened German-American citizens in New Ulm, Minnesota, with deportation on suspicion of loyalty to Prussia.[4]

The Sedition Act of 1918 curtailed free speech during time of war, and the Immigration Act of 1919 allowed officials to deport any alien or naturalized citizen who advocated the overthrow of the government by force.

But Burnquist also worked in other areas. He initiated legislation to improve state highways, disaster assistance programs, labor relations, and, especially the welfare of children. He was elected to a full term in November 1918.[5]

Attorney General of Minnesota

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After leaving office, Burnquist practiced law for 17 years. During the 1920s, Burnquist wrote several works in the series "Minnesota and its People" at his home in Saint Paul.[6]

In 1939 he was elected as state Attorney General. Repeatedly re-elected, he served 16 years and 1 day, nearly establishing the record for the longest-serving attorney general of Minnesota. (Skip Humphrey served 16 years and 3 days by the end of his tenure in 1999, winning this ranking.)

President of Saint Paul NAACP Chapter

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Burnquist was president of the Saint Paul chapter of the NAACP from 1914 and ca. 1921. The Duluth lynchings occurred during his tenure in this position and also during his second term as governor;[7][8] however, his responses to the event were cautious and limited.[9][10][11][12]

Burnquist's home at 27 Crocus Place in Saint Paul

Burnquist was married on January 1, 1906, to Mary Louise Cross (1880–1966). Burnquist died in Minneapolis at the age of 81.[13] He was buried in Lakewood Cemetery.[14]

1. ^ "Joseph A. A. Burnquist". National Governors Association. January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
2. ^ Jessica Thompson, Minnesota's Legal Hall of Fame Archived December 10, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Law & Politics, Accessed November 28, 2010.
3. ^ Burnquist, Joseph Alfred Arner, Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
4. ^ Sabine Meyer, We Are What We Drink: The Temperance Battle in Minnesota, 2015.
5. ^ "Minnesota Commission of Public Safety". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
6. ^ Melo, Frederick (April 8, 2015). "St. Paul Crocus Hill home demolition gets court's OK". Pioneer Press. St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
7. ^ "J.A.A. Burnquist". MNOpedia (Minnesota Historical Society). Retrieved January 17, 2023.
8. ^ "Eleventh Annual Report of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for the Year 1920. A Summary of Work and an Accounting". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
9. ^ "Summary of Burnquist's role as governor during the lynchings". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
10. ^ "Governor Burnquist to Order Investigation. St. Cloud Daily Times, June 16, 1920, page 1". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
11. ^ "Letter from J. A. A. Burnquist to Walter F. White, August 12, 1920". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
12. ^ "Letter from J. A. A. Burnquist to R.D. McKercher, July 2, 1920". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
13. ^ "Mary Louise Cross Burnquist". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
14. ^ "J. A. A. Burnquist Called 'Symbol of Integrity, Great Statesman'". Minneapolis Morning Tribune. January 13, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved August 24, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

• Joseph A. A. Burnquist at Find a Grave
• Governors of Minnesota
• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present
• Algot E. Strand (1910) A History of the Swedish-Americans of Minnesota, Volume 3 (Lewis Publishing)
• Biographical information and his gubernatorial records are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.