Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Burges family, 1712-1940 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ [handwritten] #211 BURGESS FAMILY Thomas Burgess, born 1712, died 1779, was the father of Henry John Burgess, born 1744, died 1797. Henry John Burgess was born in Isle of Wight county on March 28, 1744. His father, Thomas Burgess was the pastor of the Nottoway parish, later to be in Southampton County. Articles and notices contained in the "Virginia Gazette" during his lifetime give some clue to the life of Henry John Burgess. These things are known. He formed the Newport parish Glebe, owned slaves, ran a school at the glebe, and was an active supporter of the Revolution. Reverend Burgess was one of the thirteen original subscribers (all of whom were ministers) to the Articles drawn up i Williamsburg by members of the House of Burgesses immediately following its dissolution. Henry John Burgess represented Isle of Wight County as a member of the committee of safety and was captured by the British at Suffolk the day that city was burned. Tradition says that General George Washington, at the request of his wife Martha Dandridge, came or sent someone to Reverend Burgess' aid just before he was to be hanged. Mrs. Washington had been educated by his father, Reverend Thomas Burgess. Actual dates are not known, but it is known that Henry John Burgess ministered at Southwark parish in Surry County and finally at Nottoway parish in Southampton County after he left Newport parish. Henry John Burgess was married three times, widowed twice. His first wife Ann Geddy, whom he had met and married in his father's parish in Halifax County, North Carolina, is buried just outside the door of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. She died in childbirth Christmas eve 1771. Her stillborn child is buried with her. Henry John married again to Judith Driver of Southampton County. They had no children when she died in 1775. He and his third wife Sara Jones, the daughter of Albridgton Jones, Sr. of Isle of Wight, were married in 1777. They had two children, Albridgton Samuel Hardy and Elizabeth Burgess. Elizabeth married Richard B. Kello of Southampton County in 1803. Albridgton Samuel Hardy Burgess was ten years old when his father died in 1797. General Lawrence Baker, the son of Henry Baker of Isle of Wight County and the brother-in-law to Henry John agreed to be the guardian of A. S. H. Burgess and raised him at their home, Buckland's in Gates County, North Carolina. A. S. H. Burgess was educated at the University of North Carolina and took up practice as a medical doctor in Raleigh. He married there at the age of 27 (1814), and remained there until soon after the death of his wife, Mary Gilmaur in 1822. A. S. H. Burgess with his two children William Henry and Laura returned to his birthplace and home in Southampton. He maintained his medical practice out of his farm until his death in 1864. In 1833 he married Louisa Wellons in Southampton County. They had several children, one of whom was Richard Urquhart Burgess, who had descendants living in the family home, Oak Grove, until 1940. Dr. Richard Urquhart Burgess, the son of A. S. H. Burgess, married first Miss Fannie Urquhart and had six children: Walter Burgess who died here in 1931, Dr. Richard W. Burgess, Jr., who practiced in Norfolk until his death in 1926, James Burgess a lawyer, also Louise, Margaret and Samuel Urquhart Burgess. After the death of his first wife he married Matilda Kello on June 26, 1884 and had one duaghter Alice Burgess who died in 1936. Dr. Richard Urquhart, Sr. died in 1888 and his wife survived him fifty-two years, dying in 1940. I knew Mrs. Matilda Burggess very well. Thomas Burgess was the father of Henry John Burgess. Henry John was the father of A. S. H. Burgess. A. S. H. Burgess was the father of Richard Urquhart Burgess. Richard Urquhart Burgess was the father of Walter Burgess, who did not marry, Dr. Richard Urquhart Burgess, James Burgess, Louise, Margaret and Samuel A. Burgess. ** This information was donated by Mr. Julian Felts, who obtained it from the Burgess family now living in Texas. It is copied verbatim. BURGES [BURGESS] family notes, 1712-1940 manuscript (typed in cursive font), citing Mr. Julian Felts Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager Matt Harris. Additional information: This family usually spelled their name BURGES, though BURGESS is often given. Dr. Richard Urquhart BURGES, both wives, and children Alice & Walter are buried in the URQUHART family cemetery, "Oak Grove," Broadwater Rd. Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, Miscellaneous Cemeteries, Vol. 1 (I-45 & -46): http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/miscvol1.txt Also see the BURGES family cemetery, on Appleton Rd. SCHS Cemetery Project, Miscellaneous Cemeteries, Vol. 8 (VIII-27): http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/miscvol8.txt The death notice ("Alexandria Gazette & Virginia Advertiser," Oct. 23, 1888) for Dr. Richard U. BURGES, with the record of his first marriage appended, is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b622r2ob.txt The obit ("Tidewater News," Mar. 1, 1940, p. 8) of his widow Matilda (KELLO) BURGES, with their marriage record appended, is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b622m1ob.txt file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/bios/b622hj1.txt