Schley-Effingham County GaArchives News.....ETCHED AND SKETCHED (Robert Burton) December 28 1892 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Harris Hill http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002514 November 20, 2003, 7:57 pm The Atlanta Constitution The Atlanta Constitution Friday, December 28, 1892 ETCHED AND SKETCHED Few men in Georgia possess in a more remarkable degree the faculty for remembering people than Judge Richard H. Clark. It rarely happens when the name of any one is mentioned in the presence of Judge Clark-- especially if that person is a resident of Georgia-- that the judge is not familiar with his family connections. This faculty has been the source of great information, as well as pleasure, to people generally, for the reminiscenses of no public man are read with more avidity than those of Judge Clark. His knowledge of the antecedants of Mrs. Judge Crisp, the wife of the distinguished speaker of the House of Representatives, will be of interest to many readers. Judge Clark says: We know all about Speaker Crisp, including his ancestry, but as is usually the case in such matters, reference is seldom made to his wife. He says Mrs. Crisp is the daughter of Robert Burton, of the county of Schley, and he is the son of Robert Burton, who resided in Effingham county, Ga. General Lafayette McLaws now owns and resides at the old Burton planatation. When an old man, he and his wife moved to Marion county, where they died. Judge Clark says Robert Burton was the only man in Effingham county, who made for one crop as much as one hundred bales of cotton, or who owned as many as one hundred bales of cotton, or who owned as many as one hundred negroes. Mr. Crisp's father was one of the two children, both boys, of his second marriage. Charles Burton of Burke county, a wealthy planter in his time and so well known in the country from Augusta to Savannah, was a son of the first marriage was also Henry Burton, of Effingham county. Judge Clark says that when a boy he was at Robert Buton's and partook of his hospitality. He says he and his wife were a happy and typical old southern couple, and lived in great happiness and comfort, with their two young sons, who made the whole family. Judge Clark he has a grateful rememberance of young Robert, the father of Mrs. Crisp. The Judge says his mother was left a widow, and when the event occurred he was the oldest child of four, at the age of eight years. The consequence was that he first became useful, and as the saying is, "he had to do every thing and go to the mill besides." At that time people in the country were dependent upon water mills entirely to grind their corn and bolt their wheat. When about fifteen years of age, he says, he was carrying a bag of corn to mill on horseback. Somehow, when within a mile of the mill, the bag became too on one side and fell to the ground. He did not have strength enough to lift the bag from the ground; so he dragged it on top of a very big stump, but every time he would make the effort to replace it, the horse would move. He tried and tried until he was worn out and in a state of despair. Just then he discovered a man on horseback away off on the top of the hill, coming towards him. That made his heart glad, for he knew that relief was at hand. He supposed the rider was, of course, some of the neighbors, but when he came up, to his infinite surprise, it was young Robert Burton, who, a year or two before, had moved with his parents to Marion county, Georgia, nearly across the whole state. When the bag was safely on the horse again, the judge said to him: "Well, Mr. Burton, it must have been predestined from the foundation of the world, that my bag of corn was to fall from the horse, and that you were to come 200 miles just to put it back again." He and Mr. Burton rode together as far as the mill, and Mr. Burton went on his journey to the eastern part of the county. Ever since that, the judge says he has gratefully and pleasantly remembered Robert Burton, the younger, and shares with him the gratification that his son-in-law is speaker of the national house of representatives. Additional Comments: Robert Burton was born June 4, 1820 in Effingham Co., Ga. He died July 27, 1897 in Americus, Sumter Co., Ga. He married Martha Ashurst Wilkinson in Talbot Co., 12 Dec. 1842. The daughter spoken of here but not named was Clara Belle Burton and she married Charles Frederick Crisp. As the story goes, the Burton's were less than elated over their daughter's choice of a husband. He was at the time an actor and they felt he had no real future. Never the less, Robert Burton set out to make his son-in-law a lawyer and he succeeded and he was quite a good lawyer. He later became Speaker of the House of Representatives. Robert Burton organized and was the first Capt. of Co. G, 5th Ga. Inf. "Schley Guards." He resigned early in the war while the company was in Pensacola. There is reported dissatisfaction of him by the men of his company and possibly this was the cause. His other children were Ella, for whom the city of Ellaville took it's name, and Homer who was musician in his father's company during the war and later became postmaster in Ellaville. All of the Burtons save Ella are buried in Ellaville cemetery. ADDITIONAL NOTES: For any who are interested in this line, it is given in the "History of Sumter County, Georgia" by Jack F. Cox. The content of that line in the book is given by Janet Burton (Scarborough) Merritt, Mrs. Thomas Mickleberry Merritt of Americus, Sumter Co, GA. "CLARA BELLE BURTON, second daughter of ROBERT, JR. and MARTHA A. WILKINSON BURTON eloped with CHARLES FREDERICK CRISP in 1867. Her parents voiced violent objections because he was an actor and had 'wild habits,' but after they were married ROBERT BURTON helped him study law and the connection with BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL was a help in his political live." Mrs. Merritt also carries the line of BURTON back to a THOMAS BURTON, b in England in 1634........ Hope this is helpful & adds some interest -Sarah Howell Studstill