Westmoreland County PA Archives Biographies.....Burd, Simeon K. November 7, 1843

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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 12, 2018, 8:41 pm

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SIMEON K. BURD. One who served with honor and distinction in the Union armies
from the opening to the downfall of the “Great Rebellion” is Simeon K. Burd, a
courteous gentleman and one of the most prominent and influential republicans of
Derry township. He is a son of Major Simeon and Mary (Karns) Burd, and was born
in Derry township, Westmoreland county, Pa., November 7, 1843. The Burds are of
German descent and came into Pennsylvania in the early days of its colonial
history. One of them was the James Burd of “song and storv,” who served under
Commodore Perry on Lake Erie. He was home on a furlough and overstaying his
leave of absence was tried as deserter, sentenced and shot. A reprieve was
granted but did not arrive until a few hours after his execution had taken
place. William Burd (grandfather) was a farmer and life-long resident of this
county. His son, Major Simeon Burd (father), was born in 1804 and died 27th
December, 1861. He was a blacksmith by trade but carried on farming in
connection with his trade. He was an old-line whig, held various township and
county offices and served as major of a militia regiment for many years. He was
no aspirant for political or military honors but always exerted himself to be
useful in whatever position he was placed by the suffrages of his fellow
citizens. In 1825 he married Mary Karns who was a daughter of William Karns of
Derry township, and died 20th October, 1852, aged fifty years. They had fourteen
children: William, John and Mary who are dead; Margaret, wife of Daniel Beck;
Lieut. Harmon, who died of disease contracted in the army; John A. (deceased);
Phebe, widow of Elisha Harbor of Indiana State; Elizabeth (deceased); George,
who served one year in the late war and resides in Derry township; Albert, who
served in the Army of the Potomac from first to the close of the war and was
killed at Petersburg; Simeon K.; Sophia (deceased); and two who died in infancy.

   Simeon K. Burd was reared in Derry township where he attended the common
schools and afterwards pursued his studies in a select school at Latrobe. On 22d
of April, 18G1, he enlisted in Co. G, fourteenth reg. Pa. Vols., re-enlisted 7th
of August, 18G2, in the same company, one hundred and thirty-fifth reg., and on
25th of August, 1864, enlisted in the fifth heavy artillery and served until the
end of the war (1865), when he was honorably discharged as a noncommissioned
officer at Vian, Virginia. He took part in the battles of Chancellorsville,
Fredericksburg and the Wilderness, besides numerous skirmishes and several
slight engagements with Mosby’s guerillas. After the war he learned the trade of
carpenter and engaged in contracting and building which he has continued in ever
since, excepting several years when he was operating in the oil field above
Pittsliurg, Pa. In 1883 he purchased his present faem which he has improved and
upon which he has erected one of the finest dwellings in the township.

   On the 8th of September, 1864, Mr. Burd was married to Virginia Carbis,
daughter of Capt. Samuel Carbis of Pittsburg, who was born in England in 1812,
commanded a steamboat on the Mississippi river for over forty years and died in
1884. To Mr. and Mrs. Burd have been born six children: George A., born April
23, 1867; Eugene M., born March 30, 1870; Mary S., born November 23, 1873;
Florence, born August 25, 1875; Genevieve, born Christmas, 1880; and John E.,
born May 15, 1883. The two eldest sons are carpenters and good mechanics.

   Simeon K. Burd is a stanch republican and believes in an aggressive policy
upon the part of his party in all of its struggles for political power.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from
Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Compiled and Published by John M. Gresham & Co.
Samuel T. Wiley, Chief Assistant
1890


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