JOHN BURGESS
(1767-1846)
OF PUTNAM COUNTY, INDIANA
John (I) [son of Garner (I)]. Bom about 1767 in Stafford or Fauquier Co., VA. Married Sarah "Sally" Williams on 13 Sept. 1792 in Fauquier Co., VA (bond date, John Williams gave his permission; the bond is signed by Hugh Kerrick, his nephew-in-law, and witnessed by John Burgess's brothers-in-law, Nathan Hitch and Matthew Neale; Sally was bom about 1772, daughter of John Williams, and was living in 1843). Listed with his mother in the Fauquier Co. tax lists from 1789 until her death in 1802; he mortgaged his personal property in Culpeper Co. on 20 Aug. 1803 (Deed Book #Y, p. 208), and moved to Bourbon Co., KY by 1804, appearing on the tax records there with the same number of horses as he had in Virginia. In 1809 he moved to the western part of Harrison Co., KY (the Rutland Precinct, on Raven's Creek), just over the county line from his first cousin, Edward Burgess, founder of the Scott Co. Burgess families. About 1810 he bought goods from the estate of Thomas Nayior in Harrison County (Will Book #1, p. 79), and is listed on the personal property tax lists there from 1809-1826, and in the censuses of 1810-20. In 1827 he moved to Putnam Co., IN with his son, William, and two sons-in-law, and is listed there in the 1830-40 censuses. A key piece of evidence linking the John Burgesses of Fauquier Co., VA and Harrison Co., KY is his signature on the marriage bond of 1792 (the original record survives in the Fauquier Co. Courthouse), and on a note attached to his son James's marriage license in the Harrison Co. Courthouse, giving James (who is underaged) permission to marry. They appear to be the same. The links between the John Burgess of Harrison Co. and the man of the same name in Putnam Co., IN are equally persuasive: John and three of his children disappear from Harrison Co. records virtually simultaneously and reappear almost immediately in Putnam Co. (John Burgess "Seignor" is deeded land in Putnam Co. on 17 Mar. 1827 by Samuel L. Rodgers [Deed Book #A, p. 165]). Others deeds mention John "and Sarah/Sally his wife," William and Nancy Burgess (Deed Book #B, p. 271), and (in Deed Book #B, p. 472, for the same exact plot as the preceding) John Burges Junior (the only record in which he is so referred) and Ellen his wife of the County of Harrison and State of Kentucky. Although John left no will or probate in Putnam or Harrison Cos., he made two settlement deeds to his younger sons (Putnam Co. Deed Book #L, p. 658 [both deeds], dated 8 Sept. 1843 [to Shelton; witnessed by Dawson] and 28 Oct. 1837 [to Dawson]; these were recorded together at the end of Dec. 1846 or the beginning of Jan. 1847 (no dates stated). This undoubtedly indicates that John Burgess Sr. died near the end of 1846, aged about 79 years.
