Biographical Sketch of Colonel Lewis Burnes, St. Joseph,
Buchanan County, MO

>From "History of Buchanan County, Missouri, Published 1881, St. Joseph
Steam Printing Company, Printers, Binders, Etc., St. Joseph, Missouri.
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Colonel Lewis Burnes was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1811.  He afterwards
moved to Indiana, and was, for several terms, a member of the General
Assembly of the latter state.  In 1838, he moved to Platte County,
Missouri, and at once became an honored member of society there, and
a staunch and reliable business man.  In 1842, he was chosen State
Senator from the counties of Platte, Clay and Ray, and occupied his 
seat until 1850.  He was the associate and peer of such men as Gov-
ernor Stewart, Hon. James S. Rollins, Claiborne F. Jackson, and 
others, and was an active participant in the memorable contest be-
tween the Benton and anti-Benton Democracy.  He was the Colonel
commanding a regiment under the old militia law, and was several
times called into active service in the Indian campaigns on the
frontier.  He was, at the period of his death, which occurred in 
St. Joseph, on Monday morning, November 17, 1879, a lawyer of forty
years standing, and eminent in the profession.  In Platte County he
accumulated a handsome fortune, and was regarded as one of the ablest
and cleverest men in the county.  Not long before the breaking out of
the war, he transferred his residence to Leavenworth, Kansas, and at
once engaged in business there in an energetic and enterprising manner.
While in Leavenworth, he added greatly to his private fortune and 
possessed legions of ardent friends.  He afterwards emigrated to Salt
Lake City, and for a few years engaged in mining and other enterprises.
Returning to the states, he purchased the St. Joseph Gazette, and from
that time up to the period of his death, was an honored citizen of St.
Joseph.  He left a wife and two daughters, and five grand children.
These were Mrs. Smedley, of Salt Lake City, and her two children, and
Mrs. Victoria Stoddart, of Kirwin, Kansas, and her three children.
Being a man of remarkable energy and enterprise, he always delighted
in the prosperity and greatness of our common country.  He was a
consistent Democrat all his life, and conscientiously believed in the
principles of the party, but he was never arrogant in expressing his
opinions, or desirous of abridging the political rights and privileges
of others.  No man ever endeared himself to his subordinates more than
Mr. Burnes did while he was the controlling spirit of the St. Joseph
Gazette, and he went to the grave possessing the respect, admiration
and love of all the attaches of the paper.

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