Patrick County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Mize, W. Burrell Preston April 23, 1844 - March 12, 1927
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ron Martin cindyandron@bellsouth.net November 12, 2023, 4:00 pm

Author: Ron Martin

  The life of William Burrell Preston Mize began on April 23, 1844 as he was 
born to Sampson Mize and Elizabeth Betsy Stone Mize in Patrick County, Virginia.   
Unfortunately, the timing of his birth placed him on a collision course with 
destiny as the Civil War broke out in 1861.
  He enlisted into the Confederacy on April 25, 1863 as he has just turned 
nineteen years old.  He went to Saltville which was in Smyth County to enlist 
and joined Company D, 51st Virginia Infantry.  
  During his service, he suffered both head injuries as well as an injury to his 
hand and was admitted to a pair of hospitals in Richmond as well as a hospital 
in Danville.  He had a head wound and his doctor placed a silver dollar to cap 
the wound so as not jeopardize his brain which remained in his head for the 
duration of his life.  He returned to battle and eventually he was taken as a 
Prisoner of War in March 1865 but was released two months later.  The head wound 
also left him partially blind in his right eye.
  He returned home at that time to Patrick County and eventually married Lucinda 
Spencer.  They made their home in an extremely remote area of Patrick County 
which is past the end of what is now called Indian Hollow Road which is off 
Fairystone Park Highway (Route 57).  They proceeded to have a very large family 
with fourteen children.  
  The Mize family relied on the land to support their home and while they might 
have been poor, he was always able to provide for his family.  According to the 
Patrick County Heritage Book, there were only two books in the Mize home which 
was the Holy Bible and a dictionary.   
  He was a God-fearing man by all accounts and since there was not a Primitive 
Baptist Church in the area, the community decided to build one.   Around the 
conclusion of the 19th century, Burrell Mize gave the land, materials, and labor 
to helped build Goblintown Primitive Baptist Church which was just over a mile 
away on the horse trails that were used back then.  He wanted to name the church 
“Love’s Feast” but the other members decided upon Goblintown because that was 
the name of the community in which the church would serve.
  Sometime during the latter part of his life, he tamed a white rat and it was 
with him all of the time.
  In 1913, his wife Lucinda passed away and she is buried near their home place.  
Four years later, he married 29-year-old Martha Susan Adkins Turner.    They did 
not have any kids and he died in 1927.  He is buried beside his wife and his son 
J. Albert Mize who was cut down in the prime of his life by an assassin’s bullet 
in Fayerdale just five months before his father married his second wife.  The 
cemetery is located on a high ridge near the home place and unfortunately it is 
now a neglected and abandoned cemetery in 2023.  It is very difficult to get to 
because of the incline of the ridge.
  He left an enduring legacy and at least seven of his children have graced the 
pulpit to spread God’s word in the community.  Of course, the church served the 
little community of Goblintown for many decades and his generosity has affected 
the lives of many, many people in the community. 


Additional Comments:
Some of this information was obtained from the Patrick County Heritage Book.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/patrick/bios/mize28nbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/vafiles/

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