Biography of Robert Lee Burgess - Mercer Co. WV The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, Pg. 407-408 ROBERT LEE BURGESS was interested in the first garage and automobile sales agency at Bluefield, but principally his business here has been as a dealer and contractor in electrical supplies. He is now proprietor of the Burgess Electrical Supply Company at 37 Bland Street, a business whose trade and service territory covers a large section of Southern West Virginia and adjacent states. Mr. Burgess was born in Henry County, Virginia, December 28, 1873. His birthplace was on a part of the land grant given to the Burgess family by King George in Colonial times. His parents were John and Mary (Foster) Burgess, both native Virginians, the former born in Henry County and the latter in Patrick County. John Burgess owned a fine plantation of a thousand acres, and had twenty-two slaves before the war. During the Civil war he was captain of a Virginia regiment, and was in many of the great battles of Southern Virginia. He was liberally educated, had been a teacher, and always took a deep interest in educational progress and was a leader in the democratic party, serving twenty years as democratic committeeman. He and his wife were members of the Primitive Baptist Church. John Burgess died at the age of eighty-one. His widow, now seventy-seven and living in Florida, is very active and independent physically and makes many long journeys over the country alone. The vitality of these parents has been transmitted to the children, since of five sons and five daughters all are living. The third child is Robert Lee Burgess, who finished his education with a commercial course at Oakridge College in North Carolina. For several years he was in the hotel business at Covington, Virginia, and that gave him opportunity to form a wide acquaintanceship and many of his oldest friends were gained while he was in the hotel. Mr. Burgess came to Bluefield in 1908, and with his brother J. K. Burgess established a little shop for electrical supplies. They had just one-half of a storeroom. Soon afterward they bought the Appalachian Garage from F. M. Smith. This was the first garage in the city. They continued the business two years, selling the Hupmobile and Hudson cars. After leaving the automobile business they concentrated their attention on the electrical supply and contracting business. J. K. Burgess, who married Mrs. Walters Sanders, subsequently withdrew from the firm and since then Robert L. Burgess has continued the business alone. He has a large and well equipped store, and as an electrical contractor does installation work all over the southern part of the state and portions of Virginia and Ohio. In 1907 Mr. Burgess married Miss Nannie Tyrone, daughter of Henry Tyree and sister of Ed Tyree. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess have one daughter, Elizabeth. They are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Burgess is affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter, Knight Templar Commandery, Scottish Rite Consistory and the Shrine in Masonry. In politics he votes for men and measures that appeal to his best judgment. Submitted by Linda Katalenich **************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ****************************************************************