Gordon Burgess

John Burgess of Kirkcudbrightshire Co., Scotland

[Haplotype R1b1a2]

John Burgess Sr. was born about 1737 in Scotland. He married Jean Spalding about 1769 in Scotland. He died on 11 July 1815 at Dullarg of Parton, Kirkcudbrightshire Co., Scotland (being buried with his wife in the Kells Parish Church Cemetery, Midlaggan of Parton), having had four sons:

1. Thomas Burgess I (1778-1813) of Kirkcudbrightshire Co., Scotland
2. James Burgess I (1779-1856) of Denbighshire Co., Wales
*3. John Burgess Jr. (1784-1876) of Richview, Peel Co., Ontario, Canada
4. William Burgess I (1792-1822/23) of New York State, died childless

Third Branch: John Burgess Jr.

John Burgess Jr. was born in 1784 at Kells, Kirkcudbrightshire Co., Scotland. He married Jane (or Jean) McDougal (or McDowall) on 9 July 1808 in Kirkcudbrightshire Co., Scotland. He emigrated from Scotland with his family to Ontario, Canada, between 1825-27 (according to the list of his children?s births in the 1851 census). In 1846 he is recorded as receiving land concessions at Gore of Toronto and York, Ontario; he later settled in Peel and Grey Cos. He worked as a farmer. He is listed in the 1851-71 censuses for Peel Co., Ontario, Canada, and in the 1873/74 Directory of Peel Co. He died about 1876 at Richview, Peel Co., Ontario, having had six sons:

*1. William Burgess II (1809-1890) of Ontario, Canada
2. Gordon Burgess (1811-1895) of Bentinck, Grey Co., Ontario, Canada, died childless
3. John Burgess III (1816-1886) of Richview, Peel Co., Ontario, Canada
4. James Burgess II (1819-1875) of Gleneig Township, Grey Co., Ontario, Canada
5. Thomas Burgess II (1823-1847) of Toronto Township, Upper Canada, died childless
6. Robert Mackenzie Burgess I (1834-1876) of Richview, Peel Co., Ontario, Canada, died childless

First Son of John Jr.

William Burgess II was born on 23 May 1809 at Kirkcudbrightshire Co., Scotland. He immigrated to Canada with his parents. He married firstly Elizabeth Ann Watt on 29 March 1832 in Toronto Township, Upper Canada, and secondly Margaret Crookshank on 9 March 1876 in Oxford Co. (his marriage record lists his parents? names). He is listed in the 1851-81 censuses for Zorra East, Oxford Co., or Port Elgin, North Bruce District, Ontario, Canada; his widow appears there as head of the family in 1891, and on the 1878 Voters? List for East Zorra. He died on 2 (or 22) October 1890 at Port Elgin, East Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada, having had six sons, four by his first wife, and two by his second, all born in Canada:

1. John Burgess IV (1837-1889) of Canada
2. William Burgess III (1839-1926) of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
*3. David Watt Burgess (1853-1891?) of Chicago, Cook Co., IL
4. Thomas James Burgess (1857-1925) of Canada
5. Robert Burgess (1877-1882) of Ontario, Canada
6. Robert McKenzie (or Henry) Burgess II (1883-1911+) of Ontario, Canada

Third Son of William II

David Watt Burgess was born on 8 February 1853 in Ontario, Canada. He married Maggie Fisher Kay on 29 February 1876 at Woodstock, Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada (she was born on 13 January 1858 in Canada, and died on 20 February 1939 at Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois), according to the Ingersoll Chronicle newspaper. Their first child (Ellen [or Helen] Elizabeth) was born in Oxford Co. on 29 January 1877. David Burgess emigrated with his family from Canada to Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois, on 1 July 1881 (when they entered the county at Detroit, Michigan, according to his widow?s 24 June 1918 naturalization record). He is listed on the 1878 Voters? List for East Zorra, Ontario Co., Canada. He has not been found in the 1880 U.S. or 1881 Canadian censuses; his widow appears as head of the family in the 1900 census for Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois, and thereafter in Chicago through 1930. He is listed in the 1882-91 city directories for Chicago, Illinois; his widow (so indicated) appears as head of the family beginning with the 1892 Chicago City Directory. Maggie?s 1939 obituary in the Chicago Daily Tribune states that ?she was the wife of the late David, mother of Helen, David, William, John, Winifred, and the late [Maggie] Gertrude.? David Watt Burgess died in Chicago about 1891, having had three sons:

*1. David (F.?) Burgess Sr. (1877/1880-1942+) of Cook Co., Illinois
2. William Byron Burgess (1884-1942+) of Cook Co., Illinois
3. John Alexander Burgess (1885-1959) of Cook Co., Illinois

First Son of David Watt

David Burgess (or David F. Burgess Sr.) was born in May 1877 (or 20 September 1880), supposedly in Illinois, but probably in Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada. He married Fannie Bartlett at St. Matthew?s Lutheran Church on 26 March 1900 at Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois. He appears with her there in the 1900 census (born May 1877 in Illinois, both parents born in Illinois), but has not been found in 1910-20; she is listed as head of the family in the 1910 census for Chicago, with two daughters and one son, with her status noted as ?divorced?; she reportedly remarried a man named Donley after 1910. In 1897 David Burgess is listed in the 1897 Chicago City Directory, working as a teamster, with his address given as 208 Gladys Ave., the same address as that of Maggie Burgess (widow of David W.)?there is no other record connecting these two families, except for Maggie?s 1939 obituary (mentioned above). He appears sporadically in the Chicago City Directories through 1916, usually working as a teamster or chauffeur. The 1918 draft registration for Cook Co. records a David Burgess born on 20 September 1880; this appears to be the same man recorded in the 1942 ?old man? draft in Cook Co., working as a self-employed painter. In the 1930 census for Cook Co., a David F. Burgess is working as a chauffeur, age 49, first married at the age of 29, born in Illinois, both parents born in Canada, with wife Mary B. (age 42, first married at age 22), with two children born in Nebraska: Violet C. (age 17) and David F. [Jr.] (age 16)?if this is the same man, then he had two sons named David; David F. Sr. has not been found in the 1910-20 censuses. He died sometime after 1942, having had one or two sons:

1. David Charles Burgess, later David Charles Donley (1908/10-1986) of Whittier, Los Angeles Co., CA; he adopted his stepfather?s surname
2. David F. Burgess Jr. (1914-1991)?relationship unverified

David Charles Burgess is the ancestor of B. D. Donley and N. C. Donley.

Test results received from two representatives of this family match each other; they have a common male ancestor. They currently do not match the numbers of any other Burgess Project family.