William W. Burns
WILLIAM W. BURNS
19 February 1836 - 17 October 1877
NANCY ANN FARMER
3 March 1835 - 8 March 1906
And Their Descendants
Family history by Brenda Kellow, CU, CGI
1. WILLIAM W.3 BURNS (Equilla 2, John1) was born in Alabama on 19 February 1836 to Equilla and Elizabeth BURNS. He died at age forty-one on 17 October 1877 in Burns City, Cooke County, Texas. He is buried there in the older south central section of New Hope Cemetery.
He married NANCY ANN FARMER in McKinney, Texas, on 24 September 1857, daughter of LeRoy Farmer and Nancy (Voss) Farmer. She was born on 3 March 1835 in Tennessee and died at age 71 on 8 March 1906 in Wylie, Texas. Nancy was laid to rest in the Wylie Cemetery near other family members.
William moved with his parents and siblings (George C. Burns, et. al.) from Alabama at about twelve years of age. To date the family has not been found on the 1850 census; however, his father does make a rather complicated land purchase while the family resides in Rusk County, Texas. Equilla bought 460 acres of land, located in Fannin County, from Mr. Squires who lived in Panola County. The land is on Timber Creek which is north of Bonham on Highway 78. They lived there until 1857 when Equilla died at age 60 after an illness which appears to be pneumonia, according to the doctor bills.
The newly married William became the executor of his father’s estate (will and probate). On 7 March 1862, William volunteered in McKinney, Texas, for military service in the Confederate States of America. He enrolled in the newly organized Sixteenth Texas Cavalry Company “H” as a Corporal. He was in Captain Gabriel H. Fitzhugh’s Third Regiment, Johnson’s Brigade. His card is number 50318131. William signed up for a period of one year, although he stayed longer. When he joined, he brought with him his horse, valued at $200, and equipment valued at $25. He was mustered into Confederate service in mid-April 1862. Like almost all Civil War units, the Sixteenth Texas Cavalry was frequently known by an alternate designation derived from the name of its commanding officer. William’s regiment served its entire career in the Trans-Mississippi Department, serving in Arkansas, Louisiana, Indian Territory and Texas. Some of the battles he fought include Spring River and Newtonia in Missouri, and Prairie Grove in Arkansas. For a time, William’s company was assigned to Polignac’s brigade and participated in the battle of Yellow Bayou, also called Norwood’s Plantation, Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. At the battle at Mansfield, the regiment captured a battery of federal artillery. With the battle of Pleasant Hill came the capture of many soldiers carrying Enfield rifles which were immediately seized by the Confederate soldiers. The regiment was dismounted late in its career when the Trans-Mississippi authorities attempted a reorganization of their scattered forces. The Department recognized its desperate need for more infantry troops; therefore, a number of cavalry units were dismounted. William was one of the cavalrymen who was opposed to being assigned to the infantry. However, as his grandson, Joe E. Burns, was so proud to say of the Burns Family, “If there was a war, there was a Burns to volunteer.”
After he finished his tour of duty, William and Nancy Burns moved from Collin County to Burns City in time to be counted on the 1880 census. His occupation was listed as cabinet maker. Many other Burns families were there - mainly his brother, Robert. His family operated the Burns City Hotel which featured a hot mineral spring. People came from all over the country to stay at the hotel and bathe in the spring touted to cure all ills.
William died there on 17 October 1877 and he is buried in the New Hope Cemetery located on County Road 372, north of the intersection of Mountain Springs and County Road 922, south of the community of Burns City. Few people live in Burns City now. The spring dried up a few years after William died and the once bustling town began to slowly become almost a ghost town.
After William’s death, Nancy moved with her younger children to southeast Collin County where her parents farmed their large land grant in St. Paul. Nancy, or Nanny as she was sometimes called, was a pious Baptist who seldom missed a Sunday in Worship Service. Her later years were spent in her home near her older son and his family. The home, with its white paint slowly fading with the rain and sun of time, still stands on St. Paul Road. She died there on 8 March 1906 of pneumonia. She is buried with her son and his family in the Wylie Cemetery.
William and Nancy are the parents of seven children:
i. Nancy Grace2 Burns b. 1859
ii. Mary Elizabeth Burns b. 1860
iii. William “Junior” Burns b. 1862
iv. Equilla Joshua Burns b. 17 Aug. 1864
v. Infant, died young
vi. Martha (Mattie) Bums b. 1867
vii. Thomas Burton Bums b. 1869
viii. Ada Burns b. 9 Jan. 1874
ix. Ida Bums b. 9 Jan. 1874
19 February 1836 - 17 October 1877
NANCY ANN FARMER
3 March 1835 - 8 March 1906
And Their Descendants
Family history by Brenda Kellow, CU, CGI
1. WILLIAM W.3 BURNS (Equilla 2, John1) was born in Alabama on 19 February 1836 to Equilla and Elizabeth BURNS. He died at age forty-one on 17 October 1877 in Burns City, Cooke County, Texas. He is buried there in the older south central section of New Hope Cemetery.
He married NANCY ANN FARMER in McKinney, Texas, on 24 September 1857, daughter of LeRoy Farmer and Nancy (Voss) Farmer. She was born on 3 March 1835 in Tennessee and died at age 71 on 8 March 1906 in Wylie, Texas. Nancy was laid to rest in the Wylie Cemetery near other family members.
William moved with his parents and siblings (George C. Burns, et. al.) from Alabama at about twelve years of age. To date the family has not been found on the 1850 census; however, his father does make a rather complicated land purchase while the family resides in Rusk County, Texas. Equilla bought 460 acres of land, located in Fannin County, from Mr. Squires who lived in Panola County. The land is on Timber Creek which is north of Bonham on Highway 78. They lived there until 1857 when Equilla died at age 60 after an illness which appears to be pneumonia, according to the doctor bills.
The newly married William became the executor of his father’s estate (will and probate). On 7 March 1862, William volunteered in McKinney, Texas, for military service in the Confederate States of America. He enrolled in the newly organized Sixteenth Texas Cavalry Company “H” as a Corporal. He was in Captain Gabriel H. Fitzhugh’s Third Regiment, Johnson’s Brigade. His card is number 50318131. William signed up for a period of one year, although he stayed longer. When he joined, he brought with him his horse, valued at $200, and equipment valued at $25. He was mustered into Confederate service in mid-April 1862. Like almost all Civil War units, the Sixteenth Texas Cavalry was frequently known by an alternate designation derived from the name of its commanding officer. William’s regiment served its entire career in the Trans-Mississippi Department, serving in Arkansas, Louisiana, Indian Territory and Texas. Some of the battles he fought include Spring River and Newtonia in Missouri, and Prairie Grove in Arkansas. For a time, William’s company was assigned to Polignac’s brigade and participated in the battle of Yellow Bayou, also called Norwood’s Plantation, Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. At the battle at Mansfield, the regiment captured a battery of federal artillery. With the battle of Pleasant Hill came the capture of many soldiers carrying Enfield rifles which were immediately seized by the Confederate soldiers. The regiment was dismounted late in its career when the Trans-Mississippi authorities attempted a reorganization of their scattered forces. The Department recognized its desperate need for more infantry troops; therefore, a number of cavalry units were dismounted. William was one of the cavalrymen who was opposed to being assigned to the infantry. However, as his grandson, Joe E. Burns, was so proud to say of the Burns Family, “If there was a war, there was a Burns to volunteer.”
After he finished his tour of duty, William and Nancy Burns moved from Collin County to Burns City in time to be counted on the 1880 census. His occupation was listed as cabinet maker. Many other Burns families were there - mainly his brother, Robert. His family operated the Burns City Hotel which featured a hot mineral spring. People came from all over the country to stay at the hotel and bathe in the spring touted to cure all ills.
William died there on 17 October 1877 and he is buried in the New Hope Cemetery located on County Road 372, north of the intersection of Mountain Springs and County Road 922, south of the community of Burns City. Few people live in Burns City now. The spring dried up a few years after William died and the once bustling town began to slowly become almost a ghost town.
After William’s death, Nancy moved with her younger children to southeast Collin County where her parents farmed their large land grant in St. Paul. Nancy, or Nanny as she was sometimes called, was a pious Baptist who seldom missed a Sunday in Worship Service. Her later years were spent in her home near her older son and his family. The home, with its white paint slowly fading with the rain and sun of time, still stands on St. Paul Road. She died there on 8 March 1906 of pneumonia. She is buried with her son and his family in the Wylie Cemetery.
William and Nancy are the parents of seven children:
i. Nancy Grace2 Burns b. 1859
ii. Mary Elizabeth Burns b. 1860
iii. William “Junior” Burns b. 1862
iv. Equilla Joshua Burns b. 17 Aug. 1864
v. Infant, died young
vi. Martha (Mattie) Bums b. 1867
vii. Thomas Burton Bums b. 1869
viii. Ada Burns b. 9 Jan. 1874
ix. Ida Bums b. 9 Jan. 1874
