HENRY
COUNTY,
INDIANA
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DANIEL H.
BURRIS
The
first of the
Burris family to
come into Henry County, Indiana, was Daniel Burris, accompanied by his wife,
Mary (Horton) Burris. This
couple emigrated originally
from North Carolina to Highland County, Ohio,
where they settled, but the
length of their stay there cannot now be determined.
About the year 1830. they
moved from there to Indiana where they settled in the
southwestern part of Henry
County, near the present site of the village of Elizabeth City, about seven
miles
northwest of Knightstown. He was a member of
the Friends' Church and like
so many other members of that body hated with
a righteous fervor the
institution of slavery. He was an abolitionist and
in the days of slavery
assisted runaway negroes along the underground route to Canada. He was
born in North
Carolina on July 10, 1771. and his wife
was born in the same State on
March 25, 1778. They were married in North
Carolina about the year 1794.
They lived to be very old people and dying were both
buried in the cemetery at
Greensboro, Henry County, Indiana.
Daniel
Burris and
his wife evidently
belonged to that strenuous class,
so often approved by
President Theodore Roosevelt; they also plainly believed
the Bible injunction, "Multiply
and
replenish the earth," since they were the parents of
sixteen children, twelve boys
and four girls, namely: Rachel, born March 21,
1795: Stephen, born November
5, 1797; John H., born July 3, 1799; Jacob, born February 1, 1801,
Martha, born
April 13, 1803; Daniel and Mary, twins,
born April 21, 1805; Bowater,
born February 25, 1807; Abraham, born March
10. 1809: Moses, born
February 6, 1811; Horton, born March H, 1813; Miles,
born December 6, 1814;
Andrew, born April 10, 1816; Louis, born February 22, 1818; Elias, born June 1, 1819; and Rebecca,
born January 17, 1821.
Daniel
Burris. on coming to Indiana from Ohio," entered on April 23,
1831. the following described
piece of land, embracing one hundred and thirty
two acres, being the
northwest quarter (fractional), section one, township
sixteen north, range eight
east. This land adjoins the plat of Elizabeth City
on the northwest and is now
owned by Kinnan T. White.
This was then virgin land, covered with heavy timber
and almost
impenetrable undergrowth, but it was not
long before, like their
fellow pioneers, the family went to work building
their cabin, clearing the
land and in the then primitive way commencing to farm.
Looking over this land today
and over other lands, not only in that vicinity
but throughout the State of
Indiana, the beholder, however much he may know of pioneer
history, has but a dim and
inadequate conception of the hardihood and toil
required to transform the
wilderness into farms and gardens hardly surpassed for
beauty of scene and fertility
of soil.
DANIEL
H. BURRIS
John H. Burris. the third child and
second son of Daniel Burris. and
his wife. Elizabeth (Kinder")
Burris. a sister of George Kinder, of
Charlottesville, Hancock
County, Indiana, recently deceased, were the parents of Daniel H.
Burris, the subject of this
sketch, who was born April 27, 1846, and has resided at
Elizabeth City during his
whole life. John H. Burris, his father, was a farmer
and blacksmith, who carried
on his trade at Elizabeth City. He was twice
married and reared a large
family. Daniel H. was his son by the second wife.
John H. Burris was killed on
the railroad track near Raysville, Henry County,
in 1868. Having been across
the river to Knightstown, he was walking along the
track towards the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Cornelius Coon, whom he was
visiting. and being hard of
hearing, he was run down by a train and instantly
killed.
Daniel H. Burris was
married to Margaret Ogle, January 20. 1866. She has ever since been a true, loyal and
devoted helpmeet to her husband,
very economical, a great
money saver and withal an excellent housekeeper.
The Ogles were natives of
Illinois. Daniel H. Burris took up the trade of a
blacksmith at Elizabeth City
in 1871 and has followed that occupation jointly with farming down to
the present
time. He lived with his father on his
grandfather's farm, which is
now owned by Kinnan T. White, prior to the Civil War.
His first military service was in the
Union Guards of Knightstown.
Indiana Legion, which like
the Middletown Rifles of Middletown, the Needmore
Rangers of .Mechanicsburg.
the New Lisbon Indiana State Guards of New Lisbon,
and the New Castle Guards of
New Castle, constituted a part of the military
organization of the State of
Indiana and served to keep alive the military spirit at
home and to familiarize the
young men with military discipline, thus making them a
recruiting agency for the
regiments already at the front and for new regiments
when additional calls were
made. At the time of the Confederate raid through Indiana under General John H. Morgan, he served as
a private in Company A.
105th Indiana Infantry
(Morgan Raid). The service was brief and the danger
being over the regiment was
mustered out.
Company A was organized by Captain
John M. Hartley, of
Knightstown. where the company was mainly recruited.
Captain Hartley was
afterwards Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. A deplorable
incident connected with the
Morgan Raid occurred to the 105th regiment,
while it was in pursuit of
the Confederate raiders. The regiment had marched to
Lawrenceburg, there being a
rumor that the enemy was returning to capture that
place. To prevent such a
result, the regiment moved out to check the advance of
the raiders and while getting
into position, through some blunder, an
indiscriminate firing began
among the men which was not brought under control until eight
soldiers were killed and
twenty wounded. Apparently some of the regiment mistook their comrades for
Morgan's
men, who, it afterwards appeared, were many
miles beyond the scene of the
unfortunate conflict. His next service was as a
private in Company A. 139th
Indiana Infantry. He was mustered into the service of
the United States, June 5,
1864. and was mustered out with the regiment on
September 29, 1864. It was a
one hundred day regiment and was organized to serve in Kentucky. His last service was as a
private in the 22nd Indiana
Infantry into which he came
as a recruit. November 28. 1864. He was not assigned
to a company in the regiment
but continued in the service until May 8, 1865.
when he was mustered out.
Daniel
H. Burris,
since he was old
enough to vote, has been a steadfast Republican and
among his
cherished recollections are his faithful and
patriotic service in the
Civil War and the fact that he has voted twice each for
Presidents Ulysses S. Grant,
Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley, and once each
for James A. Garfield, James
G. Blaine and Theodore Roosevelt. He is a
member of the Jerry B. Mason
Post, No. 168, Grand Army of the Republic,
Knightstown, and no man in
Southwestern Henry County stands higher among his friends and neighbors. He is
possessed of
an excellent home at Elizabeth City,
which is surrounded by
spacious grounds, and there he is enjoying to the full
the sunset of a happy and
well spent life.
ANCESTRY
OF MRS. JOHN H. (KINDER) BURRIS.
The Kinder family to which Elizabeth, the wife of
John H. Burris and
the mother of Daniel H.
Burris, belonged, came from Wyeth County. Virginia,
in 1832, crossing the Ohio
River at Cincinnati and traveling overland to
Indiana. They settled at
Charlottesville. Hancock County. The father, Henry
Kinder, died there in
February, 1846. The mother, Magdalene Kinder, died a year or
two prior to her husband.
Both are buried in the cemetery at Charlottesville.
They were the parents of
eleven children, six sons and five daughters. Henry
Kinder was a practical farmer
and followed that occupation until his death. The
family has been for many
years a prominent one in Charlottesville and in Hancock
County, where a number of the
descendants now reside, who are held in the highest
regard and esteem. Two
members of this family are known to have served in the army during the Civil
War. George
Kinder was я Corporal in Company A, 57th Indiana Infantry; he served from November
18, 1861, to February 5,
1865, when he was mustered
out. Jefferson Kinder enlisted as a private in Company
B, 19th Indiana Infantry ; he
was appointed a Sergeant and veteranized. He
served with that regiment
until it was consolidated with the 20th when he was
transferred to the 2Oth
Regiment reorganized. He was mustered out July 12, 1865.
MILITARY
SERVICE OF THE BURRIS FAMILY.
The loyalty
and patriotism of
the Burris family is well illustrated by
the fact that fourteen
grandsons of Daniel and Mary (Horton) Burris served in
the army during the Civil
War, namely Aaron Burris
served as a private in
Company A, 105th Indiana Infantry. during the Confederate raid in Indiana
under General John H. Morgan.
Arthur
M. Burris served as a private in Company A, 139th Indiana
Infantry. He was mustered in
June 5, 1864, and mustered out September 29, 1864.
Asahel Burris served as a private in
Company B, 110th Indiana Infantry. during the Confederate raid in Indiana
under General John H. Morgan.
Daniel
Burris served as a private in Company F, 84th Indiana Infantry.
He was mustered in August 12,
1862, and was discharged for disability on
April 8, 1864.
Daniel
H. Burris
served in the Union
Guards of Knightstown, Indiana Legion;
also
as a private in Company A, 105th Indiana Infantry, during
the Confederate raid in
Indiana under General John H. Morgan ; again as private in Company A, 139th Indiana Infantry;
mustered
in June 5, 1864. and
mustered out September 29,
1864; also as private, unassigned. 22nd Indiana
Infantry: mustered in
November 28, 1864; mustered out May 8, 1865.
Daniel
L. Burris
served as a private
in Company F, 6th Indiana Infantry
(three months). He was
mustered in April 25, 1861, and was mustered out August 2, 1861.
Elwood
Burris
served as Corporal in
Company A. 105th Indiana Infantry, during the Confederate raid in Indiana
under General John H. Morgan; he
also served as a private in
Company A, 38th Indiana Infantry; he was
mustered in September 26,
1864, and was mustered out July 15, 1865.
Eden
Burris served
as a private in
Company A, 57th Indiana Infantry.
,He was mustered in November
18, 1861, and was mustered out March 9, 1865.
Henry
J. Burris
served as a private
in Company F, 84th Indiana
Infantry. He was mustered in
August 13, 1862, and was discharged for disability
on January 4, 1863.
Jacob
Burris
served as a private in
Company A, 19th Indiana Infantry.
He was mustered in July 29,
1861; wounded and captured in the battle of
the Wilderness, Virginia, May
6, 1864; unaccounted for.
Mathias Burris
served as a private in
Company A, 105th Indiana
Infantry, during the
Confederate raid in Indiana under General John H. Morgan.
Nelson
Burris
served as a private in
Company A, 57th Indiana Infantry. He was mustered in November 18, 1861 ;
veteran; appointed Principal
Musician; non commissioned
staff; mustered out December 14, 1865.
John
Burris and
Wilson Burris entered
the army from Iowa but the record of their service
is not now
obtainable.
Five of these
grandsons of Daniel and Mary (Horton) Burris are sons of John. H. Burris by his two several
marriages, namely: Daniel H., Eden,
John, Nelson and Wilson.
JACOB
BURRIS.
Jacob
Burris was
the father of Elwood
Burris. He was married first to Christina Hiatt, in Ohio, and second to
Charlotte Wilson. He was the
father of ten children, eight
boys and two girls, all by his first wife. Elwood
was born June 27, 1836. He
was first married in 1856 to Rebecca Norton and
second to Ruth Abigail
Paxton. He is the father of six children, two boys and
four girls. He is as above
stated one of the fourteen grandsons of Daniel
and Mary (Horton) Burris who
took part in the Civil War. He now resides at Willow Branch, Hancock
County,
Indiana, six miles west of the growing town of Shirley, and it is to him that the author
of this History is indebted
for much of the information
here recorded touching the Burris family.
Source: Hazzard;s History of Henry County 1822-1890
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