Well, it has been a busy time for me. Lots going on, mostly non-genealogical. But I’m hoping to get back into the game.
I have been working on my mother’s Burns family from Lincoln/Burke/Catawba County, North Carolina. It has been an interesting journey with the discovery of one of my German immigrant ancestors, Johann Conrad “Coonrod” Bornn/Burns. Conrad came into the Americas in 1753, arriving at Philadelphia on 28 September of that year on the ship Halifax from Rotterdam by way of Cowes, England. At this point, I am still working on the proof that my documented ancestor, Eli Burns of Burke/Catawba County, was the grandson of Conrad. I am convinced that Eli was the son of Nicholas Burns who was reportedly born in 1766 in Anson County, North Carolina. Turns out that Nicholas was married twice and had a ton of kids with each wife. I have a court case from Andrew County, Missouri, which determines the partition of the real estate of Philip Burns, son of Nicholas and his first wife Sara Hoffman/Huffman. The case, dated 13 December 1888, states that Philip had 8 full siblings and 8 half-siblings. It names all of the surviving siblings and their spouses, and if they had passed, their children and their spouses. It does mention Eli as a half-brother of Philip, but it doesn’t connect Philip and his siblings to Nicholas. I have census records for Nicholas from 1790 through 1840 (he died in January 1850 prior to the 1850 census) and for his surviving children in the 1850 census. I am working on reconstructing the families from those early (1790-1840) census records. I am lacking birthdates from only two children from the first marriage. When I determine those, I can match all the children to the census records and show that both Philip and Eli were children of Nicholas. It has been a long slog, and I have learned a tremendous amount about my ancestors from Lincoln, Catawba and Burke Counties. I’m hoping to finish this up in the coming months. Wish me luck!