William Hendrickson Burr
William Hendrickson Burr, a Jefferson township farmer, formerly engaged in the mercantile business at Bowersville, was born in Greene county, and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of the village of Spring Valley on November 20, 1852, son of John H. and Henrietta (Morris) Burr, both of whom were born in that part of the county now comprised in Jefferson township, their respective parents having been among the early settlers of that section.
John H. Burr was a son of David and Louisa (Oxley) Burr, who had come over here from Virginia after their marriage and had established their home in that section of the county which in 1858 was set off as Jefferson township, previous to that time having been included in the boundaries of Silvercreek township. There these pioneers spent the remainder of their lives, David Burr living to the age of eighty-four years and his wife to the age of eighty-six. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom ten grew to maturity. Reared on the home place, John H. Burr remained there until his marriage to Henrietta Morris, after which he established his home on a farm in Spring Valley township and there remained until his death in 1861, he then being thirty-three years of age. His widow survived him but six years, her death occurring in 1867. They were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being Louisa E. (deceased), who was the wife of John Miller; Mary E., who married E. E. Horney and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased; Hannah B., wife of A. L. Smith, of Jamestown, this county, and John H., who died at the age of two years.
William H. Burr was but eight years of age when his father died and was fourteen at the time of his mother's death. He then made his home with his grandfather Burr until the latter 's death, after which he made his home with the family of his uncle, William C. Burr, until he started out for himself. He received his schooling in the local schools and early learned the blacksmith trade, at which he worked, in the shop of I. C. Stewart at Bowersville, for three years, or until his marriage in 1874, when twenty-one years of age. after which he located on a farm in Jefferson township, two miles northeast of Bowersville, where he continued to reside for twenty years, or until 1894, when he bought the Thomas Smith farm of one hundred and five acres, later selling part of the same to his son, Dwight D. Burr, who now owns it. In 1894 Mr. Burr became engaged in the hardware business at Bowersville, but two years later returned to farming. Not long afterward he became engaged as a salesman for the International Harvester Company, covering local territory, and for four years continued thus engaged. Since then Mr. Burr has been living practically retired, continuing, however, to make his home on the farm in Jefferson township. Mr. Burr is a Republican and for twenty years served as a member of the local school board. He and his wife are members of the Christian church at Bowersville, with which congregation Mr. Burr has been connected for more than forty years, an office bearer in the church for more than twenty years.
On January 8, 1874, William H. Burr was united in marriage to Flora B. Hussey, also a member of one of the old families in Greene county, and to this union the following children have been born: Charles M., a farmer in Silvercreek township; Femmie M., who married W. F. Lewis, a Silvercreek township farmer; Fred E., a Jefferson township farmer; Horace, a farmer in the neighboring county of Fayette; Henry S., a Jefferson township farmer; Dwight D., who now owns part of the old home place; Kate L., who married Charles Miley, a Jefferson township farmer, and Mary, who married Earl Garringer, a Silvercreek township farmer.
Mrs. Burr was born on the old Hussey place in that part of what then was Silvercreek township, now comprised within the bounds of Jefferson township, a daughter of Christopher and Catherine (Lockhart) Hussey, the former of whom had been a resident of this county since he was twelve or thirteen years of age, having come up here from Tennessee with his parents, Christopher and Mary Hussey, in 1807, the family settling in Silvercreek township among the very first settlers in that portion of that township that in 1858 was set off as Jefferson township. The elder Christopher Hussey and his wife were Virginians who had established their home in Tennessee, where they resided for some years before coming up here into Ohio, where they acquired a large tract of land. The elder Christopher Hussey died in 1874. He was a soldier of the War of 1812.
The junior Christopher Hussey, for many years known throughout the community as Squire Hussey, for he served for forty years as justice of the peace in and for his home township, was born on June 12, 1794, and died at his home in Jefferson township on March 8, 1874, and was buried in the Hussey graveyard. As noted above he was but a lad when he came up here from Tennessee with his parents and he and his brothers continued the work of developing the home tract in the immediate vicinity of where the village of Bowersville presently came to be established. The old log house, circular in form, built by the Husseys upon taking up their residence there, remained one of the familiar landmarks of that section for many years and served as a place of residence until in good time a brick house was built on the place. In the family of the pioneers, Christopher and Mary Hussey, there were seven children, who grew to maturity, hence the Hussey connection in the present generation is one of the most numerous hereabout. The original homestead tract of the Husseys contained twenty-seven hundred acres of land, bought for one dollar an acre, and the junior Christopher Hussey, or Squire Hussey, as he was better known, in time came to be the owner of eleven hundred and twenty-five acres of his own. Reared a Whig, he became a Republican upon the formation of the latter party. He was a member of the Church of Christ.
Following the death of his first wife, Squire Hussey married Catherine Lockhart, who was born in Silvercreek township, daughter of Samuel Lockhart, a Virginian and a soldier of the War of 1812, and to that union were born the following children: Henry M., who married Polly Ann Reeves and is now living in the vicinity of Bridgeport. Indiana; Narcissa. who married James Compton, and who. as well as her husband, is now deceased; Lydia Ann, now living at Ellsworth, Michigan, widow of Gilbert Bentley; Eveline, now living at Mt. Vernon, this state, widow of Joseph H. Huffaker; James W., who has been twice married, his first wife having been Christina Walthall and his second. Narcissus Bass, and who is now a ranchman and a dealer in lumber and brick at Starr, Idaho; Albert M., who married Rosa Green and who, as well as his wife, is now deceased; Flora B.. wife of Mr. Burr; Joseph, who married Anna Hall (deceased) and is now living in western Colorado, and Catherine, who is now living in Paulding county, this state, widow of Frank Huston. The mother of these children survived her husband for many years, her death occurring on October 18, 1889, she then being eighty-two years of age.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918