GENERATION 1.

John¹ BURNS, born 13 March, maybe in either North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia.¹ John died Intestate at age 86 on 9 November 1841, in the area near Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee.² (John Burns Estate, Minute Book December 1841 session, 90, Marshall County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.)

It was not uncommon to have several spouses during the 18th and 19th centuries. I believe John had more than one wife, but I do not have any documentation on his wives, except for his last wife, Mary E. CUNNINGHAM. (John Hardiman Bruce, Marshall County, Tennessee, Civil War Biographical and Genealogical Questionnaires, 1914-1922; microfilm 975592, Family History Library [FHL], Salt Lake City, Utah.)

John BURNS' wife Mary Elizabeth E. Cunningham was born 30 May 1788 in either North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia, (1880 census search of John’s children) and she died on 30 August 1866 in the area near Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee, at age 78. (Personal visits to the Blackwell-Joyce Cemetery by Ms. Kellow.)  Mary is buried in the Blackwell-Joyce cemetery beside John BURNS. It is a fact that the couple had a habit of naming their children with surnames such as Anderson, Boyd, Connor, Cunningham, Hayes, Merrimon and Prear.

 If John married Mary when she was age 14, 15 or 16, not an uncommon practice, it is possible she could have given birth to her first child as early as 1802. It was, and is, physically possible for a female to give birth as early as 15, and maybe 14. If my hypothesis is true, then Mary could be the mother of most of the 14 or 15 children identified through Heirship documents created after John's death. That is, Mary could be the mother of the children born after 1802-03.  

The time of arrival of this couple in Bedford County appears to have been later than previously speculated due to the confusion of two men with the same name who are living in the county. This will be discussed at length later on in this project. Census records suggest John and Mary E. Cunningham Burns entered Bedford County after the birth of son William B. BURNS in 1823 and daughter Mary Catherine in 1825, and before the birth of their daughter Lucinda BURNS in 1828. (Wm. B. BURNS household, 1850 U.S. census, Marshall County, Tennessee, population schedule, 9th District, p. 043; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 890.) Deeds examined in South Carolina and in Tennessee support this finding. (These findings are discussed later.) 

John and Mary BURNS sold 250 acres of their land in Pendleton District, South Carolina in the late fall of 1826, before they arrived in Bedford County in the early spring of that year. (South Carolina Archives and History R: 517-518, South Carolina Archives and History, Columbia; Tennessee State Library and Archives 13: 715, Tennessee State Archives, Nashville.) That area of Bedford where they filed for land would become Marshall County ten years later. John came to the county in search of land with other family members and friends or neighbors, applied for it, and returned to bring his family to Tennessee. The men would have filed for their land in Shelbyville, the county seat of Bedford County. The estate settlement of most of those families would be handled in Lewisburg, the county seat of Marshall County.

John and Mary BURNS lived on the original 70-acre property they farmed in Bedford/Marshall County, Tennessee (Grant, Book 13: 715, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.) The BURNS land is in the upper north central part of the county of Marshall. This area of Marshall County was taken from Bedford County in 1836. To reach the property turn west off 31A-S at Blackwell Road. Proceed under the railroad underpass, across Caney Spring Creek. The cemetery and house are on the right or north side of the road.  

This original 70 acres of land was later mentioned as being Grant No. 112.51, made 14 February 1833 when it was being deeded to Andrew Patterson, from John Burns Junior who had inherited it at his father’s death. After Senior’s death John Junior moved to Texas and it was so noted on the Indenture dated 21 April 1851.

John’s profession was that of a gentleman farmer and livestock breeder, confirmed by the inventory of his sizeable estate. (John Burns Inventory, Marshall County probate file A-C: 286-290, 66, County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.) He may also have been a grocer while living in South Carolina. Besides handling the usual products that are so familiar to us today, grocers in early times also were dealers of rum and brandy and they would have purchased their goods from wholesale importers. (Andrew and Sandra Twining, Dictionary of Old Trades & Occupations, (Twinings Secretarial: Woodcroft, Australia: 1995), 43.)

John was literate and he had taught his children to read and write.

John died Intestate. (John Burns Estate. Marshall County Minute Book, December 1841 term, p. 90. County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.) The inventory of his estate indicates that John Burns was a gentleman farmer and livestock breeder. He was an educated man with a rather large collection of books noted in his inventory. His estate had all the accouterments to validate my statement. (John Burns Inventory, Marshall County probate file A-C: 286-290, 66, County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.) His wife, children, other Burnses, attorneys, neighbors, sureties, and witnesses made many purchases from his estate.  Mary alone bought 57 items that included a female slave and three children; animals for consumption, farming, profit, and riding; utensils for baking, canning, cooking; dairy equipment; brass kettles; grains of varying varieties; steel cards for making textiles; trunk with contents. Others purchasing from the estate were Mariman/Merriman Burns; John P. Burns; Mary Burns; Mr. B. Burns; and Hays Burns. Claims “coming to the estate of John Burns” deceased mentioned W. B. Burns and Samuel Burns.   

John’s estate included many slaves that I think is vital to mention. (John Burns Inventory, Marshall County probate file A-C: 286-290, 66, County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.) Their names and ages of those identified were: Isaac, 27; Tony, 25; Joseph, 21; Henry, 17; Christian, 19; John [called Jack], 6, Jane, 3; and Rebecca, 43. The document does not indicate parentage or surnames. Mary Burns bought Rebecca for $200 from John Burns’ Estate; Japheth Ezell bought Isaac for  $603; John P. Bruce bought Tony for $905, Joseph for $914, and Jane for $250; John B. Harris bought the lady Christian for $664; John Lellow (?) bought Henry for $866; Mr. B. Burns bought “Jack” [John] for $866; and Hays Burns bought Ann for $313. Mary Burns bought an unidentified woman and three children for $715. The sale of slaves constituted only a portion of his considerable estate. 

Their new owners later sold most of the slaves mentioned in John Burns’ estate to John Laws who lived in the county. Hays sold baby Ann for $313 (John Laws Deed of Trust, Book E: 142-3, Marshall County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.); Mary Burns sold Rebecca for $200 (John Laws Deed of Trust, Book E: 144-5, Marshall County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.); William Boyd Burns sold child John for $350 (John Laws Deed of Trust, Book E: 146-7, Marshall County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.); and John P. Bruce sold Tony, Joseph and Jane. (John Laws Deed of Trust, Book E: 147-8, Marshall County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.)

The administrators of John Burns’ estate provide for his wife Mary with one-year’s provisions and a fee simple life estate. (Minutes. Marshall County, Tennessee, January Term 1842, p. 98.)

The couple’s burial site is located on their property in what is today called the Blackwell-Joyce Cemetery located north of the town of Chapel Hill on Blackwell-Lunn Story Road. (Notice the thoroughfare at this point is called Blackwell-Lunn Story Road.) I have personally visited the cemetery several times to try and decipher the birth date on John BURNS’ tombstone, take pictures, and to leave flowers on their graves. The tombstones are old and worn, but John’s day and month of birth are clearly 13 March. His year of birth is indecipherable. Mary’s vital information reads “May 30, 1788. Died August the 30th, 1866.” John and Mary’s tombstone inscriptions are in the county’s cemetery book. (Marsh, Helen C. & Timothy R. Marsh, Ralph Whitesell, comps. Cemetery Records of Marshall County Tennessee. Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1996, p. 17.)

After John's death in 1841, Mary married eleven years later to Michael Robinson on 20 September 1852. (Marshall County Marriage Book 2:32, County Clerk’s Office, Lewisburg, Tennessee.) Mary's tombstone reads, “In Memory of Mary E. Robinson Who was bornd (sic) May the 30th, 1788, Died Aug the 30th, 1866." 

Known children of John BURNS (some of which are by Mary E. but not identifiable at this time) are:  

       2.    i.   Unknown (John¹) female BURNS, born before the 1790 census. No further information.

+     3.   ii.   Connor BURNS, born ca. 1791 in South Carolina; married Frances Watson; died before 12 February 1848 in DeKalb County, Alabama.

+     4.  iii.    Samuel BURNS, born circa 1793, died possibly in Calhoun County, Alabama.

+     5.  iv.    Anderson BURNS, born 1795 in South Carolina; married Leah Doyle; died 2 February 1845, South Carolina.

+     6.  v.     Hays BURNS, born 1797 in South Carolina; married Nancy; died 4 February 1882, DeKalb County, Alabama.

+     7   vi.    Cunningham H. BURNS, born circa 1800 in South Carolina.

+     8.  vii.   Merrimon BURNS, born ca. 1802 in South Carolina; died after 1850.

+     9.  viii.  Equilla BURNS, born circa 1804 in South Carolina; died before September 1857 in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas.

+     10.  ix.  Elizabeth Prear BURNS, born 26 May 1808 in South Carolina; married John Pennington Bruce; died 28 June 1873 in Marshall County, Tennessee.

+     11. x.   Leroy Burns, born circa 1812 in South Carolina; married Mary   -?-; died ca. 1850-60 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi.

+     12.  xi. John W. BURNS, born ca. 1814 in South Carolina; married Elvira Minerva Whitton; died 17 November 1872 in Texas.

+     13.  xii.  George W. BURNS, born 1819 in South Carolina; married Jane Billington; died after 1880 in Texas.

+     14.  xiii. William B. BURNS, born 21 February 1823 in South Carolina; married Mrs. Margaret (Squires) Patton; died 30 January 1907 in Fannin County, Texas.

+     15.  xv.   Mary Catherine BURNS, born 13 November 1825 in South Carolina; married (1) James C. Fulton, (2) Lawson H. Rickman, (3) Jackson Joice/Joyce, (4) William W. Vest; died 8 May 1900 in Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee.

+     16.  xvi.  Lucinda BURNS, born 22 December 1828 in Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee; married (1) Doctor F. Joyce/Joice, (2) John Stammer; died 3 March 1914 in Chapel Hill, Marshall County, Tennessee.

       17.  xvii. Robert BURNS, born 25 December 1833; died 26 November 1836. The three-year old Robert BURNS buried beside Mary BURNS ROBINSON is probably Mary and John’s last-born child. Mary would have been 45 when Robert was born on Christmas Day in 1833. After my personal visit to the Blackwell-Joyce Cemetery, I determined that Robert is buried on Mary’s left. Mary is buried on John’s left. I believe that when John died there was a deliberate space left for Mary between John’s grave and Robert’s grave. There are no close graves with stones near John, Mary or Robert, and no depressions in the ground. I believe the parents are buried with their baby son.

Updated 08 December 2001, © Brenda Kellow, BurnsProject@aol.com

Updated 26 February 2002, © Brenda Kellow, BurnsProject@aol.com

John Burns Family History Project <http://www.oocities.org/traceroots/index_home.htm>  

¹ The 1880 US federal census for John’s children give the three states as his birthplace. The same inconsistency is true of his wife Mary E. Leroy and Wm. B. give SC as parents’ p.o.b.; George W. gives birthplace of both parents as Virginia; Lucinda gives North Carolina for both; Mary gives Virginia for her father and South Carolina for her mother; and Hays gives Virginia as his father’s p.o.b., but no indication of his mother’s birthplace.

² John Burns tombstone, Blackwell-Joyce Cemetery, Marshall County, Tennessee (a couple of miles off 31A on Blackwell Road); photograph in possession of Brenda Kellow, author.