Robert E. Burnside and Ethel Beacham

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Husband Robert E. Burnside ¹

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           Born: 20 Sep 1888 - New Wilmington, Lawrence Co, PA 2
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         Father: James R. Burnside (1865-1913) 2 3
         Mother: Mary Prudence Eckles (1867-Aft 1926) 2 3

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       Marriage: 22 Dec 1916 2

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Wife Ethel Beacham ²

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           Born: 3 Jul 1892 - Swissvale, Allegheny Co, PA 4
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         Father: Henry J. Beacham (      -      ) 4
         Mother: Letitia D. Bishoff (1860-      ) 4

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Robert E. Burnside

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He attended the public schools of Washington, Pennsylvania, supplemented this by a course in Westminster College at New Wilmington, where he carried on his studies with particular reference to the study of law, and then entered the Law School of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and in 1913 was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the following year Mr. Burnside began the practice of law in Washington and came to be recognized as one of the leaders of the local bar. Two or three years after his establishment in practice he married and thereafter had a valued helpmate in the exacting duties of his profession. Mrs. Burnside took up the study of law as a professional attainment and following her admission to the bar in 1924 became formally associated with her husband in practice, the two carrying on their practice under the firm name of Burnside & Burnside. Mr. Burnside was a republican, was a member of the Bassett Club, attended the United Presbyterian church and he and his wife were members of the Nemacolin Country Club.

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General Notes: Wife - Ethel Beacham

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She was graduated from the Swissvale, Pennsylvania, high school, in 1909, second in her class in point of scholarship, and then took a course in Bethany College, at Bethany, West Virginia, preparatory to entering Oberlin College (Ohio), and in 1913 was graduated from this latter institution with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. She then took a postgraduate course in the University of Pittsburgh, meanwhile teaching in the public schools of Washington, and in 1916 received from the university her Master degree. Following her marriage, Mrs. Burnside found much of interest in her husband's profession and gradually took up the serious study of law, completing her formal studies along this line in the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1924 received from that institution the degree of Bachelor of Laws, cum laude. On March 17th of that year she was admitted to the bar in Washington County, the first woman thus admitted to practice in the county, and then began practicing in association with her husband, with offices in the Washington Trust building. On April 21, 1924, Mrs. Burnside was admitted to practice in the superior court of Pennsylvania, and on October 6th of that year was admitted to the bar of the state supreme court. Mrs. Burnside was a Presbyterian, retaining membership in the First Presbyterian church of Braddock. She was for years a particularly active member of the college sorority Phi Delta Delta, Women's Legal fraternity, and became the secretary of the national organization of that association of women in the legal profession.

1 Editor, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926), Pg 97.

2 Editor, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926), Pg 98.

3 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 1213.

4 Editor, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926), Pg 99.