Frederick J. Burns of Houlton was born in Washington, D.C. in 1900, the first President of the Maine Senate to be born in this century.
Educated at the University of Maine and Georgetown University, Burns was a practicing lawyer and County Attorney for Aroostook County before being elected a member of the Maine Senate in 1935. Reelected to the Senate in 1937, he served as President of that body in his second term.