John Burns Family History Project

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John Burns'

GENERATION 3.

IDENTIFIED GRANDCHILDREN

18. Mariah¹⁸ J. BURNS (Connor², John^1,), born ca

19. Jeremiah A. BURNS

20. John B. BURNS

21.

21. Thomas²¹ C. BURNS (Conor²; John¹) was born 3 October 1818 and was killed on 16 August 1902 at age 83 years, 10 months and 13 days. (Susan M. Burns, Widow's Pension Application, first class pension roll, number 13711, private in Company G of the 49th Regiment, Alabama Volunteers, filed 24 July 1913, Military Records Division, Etowah County, Alabama.) He married Susan M. (probably Thompson) on 19 April 1846 in Alabama, probably DeKalb County. (Susan Burns’ Widow's Pension.) Thomas is buried in Kyuka Cemetery located two miles Northwest of Duck Springs in Sand Valley, Etowah County, Alabama. It was formerly called Scott Cemetery. Thomas' tombstone is distinctive because it is sandstone with several stones nestled around it holding a raised platform. The worn and barely readable inscription will not last another century. It is thought by relatives that Susan is also buried in the Kyuka Cemetery, but no tombstone has been found and her name is not in the cemetery’s index. Also buried in the cemetery are his son "Jerry" Burns and daughter Vancy. (Memorandum of the Deaths of the Scott Grave Yard, the Year of Our Lord 1905.)

The young couple lived in DeKalb County, Alabama in 1850 with their two-year-old son George W. Burns. Thomas was 22 and Susannah was 16. This indicates she was barely 13 or 14 when she married Thomas Burns. (Thomas C. Burns household, 1850 U.S. census, DeKalb County, Alabama, population schedule, Civil District No. 25, page 354, dwelling 377, family 377; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 5.)

When the Civil War began, Thomas C. Burns enlisted as a private from DeKalb County, now Etowah County. Company G, 49th Regiment, Alabama Infantry. (Susan Burns’ Widow's Pension.) No injury or capture was mentioned in the application, nor was any information given on her except for the marriage date of the couple.

Descendant Keith Burns of Sylvania, Alabama plans a Confederate Marker ceremony for 10 a.m. Saturday morning, May 4, 2002. More on this at a later date.

More on Thomas C. Burns in progress.

22. Mary BURNS

23. Mary²³ BURNS, born 1824

24. Sarah Ann BURNS, born 1828

25. Harriet BURNS, born 1830

26. Martha BURNS, born 1832

27. Elizabeth BURNS, born 1834

28. Thompson “Thomas” BURNS, born 1835

29. Nancy BURNS, born 1836

30. Robert M. BURNS, born 1838

31. Ester BURNS, born 1844

32. Maria B. BURNS, born 1845

33. Eliza Louise³³ BURNS, born 1842

34. Louisa BURNS, born 1845

35. Cordilia Delila BURNS, born 13 January 1849

36. Samuel D. BURNS, born 16 February 1852, died 26 December 1918.

37. Monroe BURNS, born 1854

38. Hays M. BURNS, born 21 January 1855, died 29 September 1927.

39. William³⁹ W. BURNS, born 19 February 1936 in Alabama. In Progress

40. Robert L. BURNS, born 1842.

41. Martha⁴¹ Jane BURNS (Equilla², John¹) , born 24 August 1843 in Alabama; died 7 July 1912 at 10 a.m. in Crowell, Foard County, Texas at age 69 years, 10 months, 13 days. (Martha Jane Hays, death certificate no. 85, page 41, (1912), Texas State Board of Health, Austin. [Death certificate provided by Martha Curry, Weatherford, Texas.]) Martha Jane married James Wesley Hays on 15 August 1861 in Trenton, Fannin County, Texas, as recorded in Marriage Book A. (Frances Ingmire, compiler, Fannin County Marriages 1838-1870, St. Louis: Ingmire, 1978, p.14.) James brought two children from an earlier marriage into their marriage; Mary E. Hays born 1854; and John F. Hays born 1858. John was born 23 October 1829 in Tennessee (supposedly in Murfreesboro, Rutherford County) and died on 1 April 1905 in Crowell. (Tombstone inscriptions.) Martha Jane and James W. Hays are buried in the Crowell Cemetery. (Tombstone inscriptions.)

When her father died, Martha Jane went to live in Orangeville with her uncle’s family, William B. and Martha Burns of Fannin County. (William B. Burns household, 1860 U.S. census, Fannin County, Texas, population schedule, beat number 3, Orangeville post office, page 205 B, dwelling 852, family 874; National Archives microfilm publication M653, roll 1293.) She lived there until she married James Wesley Hays.

During her married life, Martha Jane’s family moved from county to county but stayed within Texas. In 1870 and 1880 the couple were living in Gainesville, Cooke County where James was a retail grocer. (James W. Hays household, 1870 U.S. Census, Cooke County, Texas, population census, precinct 1, Gainesville post office; page 207B, dwelling 203, family 203; National Archives micropublication M593, roll 1580.) (James W. Hays household, 1880 U.S. census, Cooke County, Texas, population census, ward 2, Gainesville post office, enumeration district [ED] 111, supervisor’s district [SD] 3, sheet 199A, dwelling 116 [Dixon Street], family 120; National Archives micropublication T9, roll 1297.)

By 1910, James W. was dead and Martha Jane had moved to Crowell in Foard County to live with her son Henry E. Hays and his family. (Henry E. Hays household, 1910 U.S. census, Foard County, Texas, population schedule, town of Crowell, enumeration district 109, supervisor’s district 13, sheet 264A, dwelling 331, family 335; National Archives micropublication T624, roll 1551.) Two years later Martha Burns Hays died.

Martha and James W. Hays are the parents of eleven children but only five were living in 1910, (Hays household, 1910 census) and only five are known:

Martha and James W. Hays are the parents of eleven children but only five were living in 1910, (Henry E. Hays household, 1910 census) but only six are known:

i. Margaret L. Hays, born 1863.

ii. Henry E. Hays born 1864, died young

iii. James F. C. born 1864.

iv. Martin J. Hays born 1870.

v. Henry E. Hays born 1872.

vi. M. E. (son) born 1873.

42. George W. BURNS, born 1845 in Alabama.

43. Martha⁴³ BRUCE, born 1829 in Tennessee.

44. Lucy BRUCE, born 1831 in Tennessee.

45. Elizabeth BRUCE, born 1833 in Tennessee.

46. Arena BRUCE [female], born 1838 in Tennessee.

47. John Hardiman BRUCE, born 1841 in Tennessee. John H. Bruce filled out his Confederate questionnaire in his own handwriting, probably using a pencil. The wording and expressions reflected his educational background and southern roots. The questionnaire was extensive and filled with extraordinary information not available anywhere else. On the first page John listed the names of everyone he could remember who served with him and who enlisted with him from Chapel Hill, in Marshall County, Tennessee. (John H. Bruce Tennessee Confederate Questionnaire, State of Tennessee Historical Committee Department of Libraries, Archives and History, Company C., 17th Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee; micropublication no. MF484, roll 1.) Information from the Questionnaire appear in the following paragraphs.

On the second page John gave his full name including his middle name, the county in which he currently resided, and his age. I can easily calculate his month and year of birth because that page is stamped with a “date received” imprint. Other information gives his occupation; parents’ full name, place of birth; their parents’ full name; the value and amount of his real estate and personal holdings at the beginning of the war and that of his parents; and, the name of the female slave owned by his parents. He went on to write that his parents lived in a four room long cabin, certainly ample for that time period. He states that he plowed much of the time; worked with a hoe, cut grain with a scythe; mowed hay with a mowing blade and picked up the hay with a wood fork. The reasoning for the previous question appears in parenthesis: “Certain historians claim that white men would not do work of this sort before the war.” He went on to further disprove the theories of these “certain historians” on the following three pages.

The following pages explain his parents’ occupations and daily chores that had to be performed for the welfare and support of the family. John Bruce also indicated that honest toil in the fields was considered by the community to be “respectable and honorable,” regardless of race. He acknowledges the congenial and encouraging social environment existing between the rich and the poor. John says he went to a free public school located 1.5 miles away. He explained his military enlistment information and all battles fought, including the first one. John’s experiences while in a Union prison in Louisville, Kentucky were heart rendering, including the terrible disease and medical treatment as a prisoner of the opposition.