William Burnett
William Burnett, who formerly and for years was connected with the operations of the Hagar Strawboard Company at Cedarville, but who since 1899 has been living on a farm on the Hoop road in New Jasper township, proprietor of a farm of sixty-one acres there, is a native of England, but has been a resident of this country and of Greene county since 1881. He was born in the town of Barrow, in Lincolnshire. October 26. 1847, son of John and Charlotte (Halling) Burnett, both of whom also were born in that country and who spent all their lives there. John Burnett and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Hepsey, wlio married and made her home at New Holland, in England; Hannah, who married and spent her last days in her native land; Mrs. Barbara Starkey, a widow, who is still living in England; Ada, deceased: Olive, unmarried and still living in England, and Halling, who became a soldier and died during service in the Soudan in the '70s. These children were early left orphaned, both parents dying before their eldest son was fifteen years of age, and the children were reared in the homes of kinsfolk.
Early thrown upon his own resources for a livehhood, William Burnett began working as a boy in the mines and along the docks and after a while became permanently, employed in the iron mines. In the spring of 1880 he married and a year later, in March, 1881, he came to this country, accompanied bv his wife's brother, George Ross, then a lad of seventeen, his point of destination being New Mexico, but not finding conditions there to his liking he came to Ohio and located at Xenia. where, in June of that same year, he was joined by his wife and infant daughter, for whom he had sent upon making his decision to settle there. In the following year Mrs. Burnett's parents and the other nine children of their family came to this country and also settled at Xenia. For fourteen years after his arrival in Xenia Mr. Burnett was engaged there in the employ of the Hagar Strawboard Company, buying straw and looking after the teams. In 1895 when the Hagar Company moved its plant to Cedarville Mr. Burnett moved to that village and was there further engaged in work in the strawboard plant until in December, 1899, when he moved to the farm of sixty-one acres which he had bought a few years before and on which he since has made his home. The house he erected on that place upon taking possession of the same was destroyed by fire in 1901, but he at once rebuilt. Upon becoming a citizen of this country Mr. Burnett allied himself with the Republican party. He and his wife were reared in accordance with the tenets of the established church in England and are members of the Episcopal church at Xenia.
On March 4, 1880, the year before he came to the United States. Mr. Burnett was united in marriage to Elizabeth Ross, also a native of England, born at Winterton, in Lincolnshire, daughter of Richard and Maria (Hill) Ross, both of whom also were born in Lincolnshire and the former of whom was a shepherd there. In 1882, the year following the location of Mr. and Mrs. Burnett in Xenia, the latter's parents and the other members of their family came to this country and also located at Xenia. Richard Ross became connected with the operations of the paper mill there and spent the rest of his life in that city, his death occurring on July 18. 1897. His widow's death occurred in May. 1908. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom Mrs. Burnett was the first-born, the others being as follow: Charlotte, deceased; George, who came to this country with Mr. Burnett when seventeen years of age, became connected with the work of the Hagar Strawboard Company, eventually working up to the position of inside foreman of the plant, and met his death in the factory at Cedarville on January 22, 1897, by being drawn into the rolls when his arm was accidentally caught in the machinery; Mildred, widow of the late Scott Steward: Rebecca, wife of A. B. Gaunt, of Hartford City, Indiana: Mrs. Florence Graham, of Richmond, Indiana; Mrs. Anna Tiffany, a widow, living at Indianapolis; Harry and Pauline; William, who is superintendent of the plant of the Beveridge Paper Company at Indianapolis, and Fred, a machinist, who lives at St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett have three children, Ruth, who married Wilbur Rayner and lives at Dayton; Olive, wife of D. P. Walters, also of Dayton, and Charles, a farmer, of New Jasper township, who married Bertha Thornhill and has one daughter, Elizabeth.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918