Born in Jefferson, Ohio, Theodore E. Burton graduated from Oberlin College, became a prominent Cleveland attorney, and was elected to Congress in 1888, serving from 1889-91, 1895-1909, and 1921-28; he was also elected U.S. Senator in 1908 and 1928 and was a leading contender for the U.S. presidency in 1916. Because of his work to save Niagara Falls from development and his opposition to wasteful waterways projects, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him chairman of the Inland Waterways Commission in 1907 and the National Waterways Commission in 1909. Burton is credited with pushing legislation through Congress authorizing construction of the Panama Canal and negotiating agreements to ensure its neutrality, and he lobbied against wasteful spending and the influence of big business while sponsoring the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. As president of the American Peace Society, he hosted the First World Conference on International Justice in Cleveland in 1928, attended by 13,000 people, including world leaders. Dover Farm was centered on a brick house erected in 1838 by Thomas Hurst (1806-1861), who settled in Dover Township after 1830, came from Northamptonshire as the township's first English settler, and built one of the county's largest farms through a successful sheep operation on 3,500 acres. The house, a classic example of Green Revival architecture, was probably built by the Leneghen brothers, who created nearby Stone Eagle Farm, and Thomas H. Hurst, son of the original owner, lived there until 1894. The house appeared in an 1874 atlas of Cuyahoga County, was recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, served as Theodore E. Burton's country residence from 1800-13, later functioned as a nursing home, was then abandoned, and was restored in 1998-2002.