William C. Burr
William C. Burr, a soldier of the Civil War and former trustee of Jefferson township, was born in this county and has lived here all his life, a resident of the farm on which he is now living for nearly seventy-years, he having been under ten years of age when his father took possession of that farm back in 1848. He was born in that vicinity, on a farm in what then was Silvercreek township, but which in 1858 was set off as the new township of Jefferson, September 21, 1839, son of David and Louisa (Oxiey) Burr, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Louisa Oxley was born in the vicinity of Culpeper Court House, Virginia, and was but six vears of age when she came with her parents, John Oxley and wife, to Ohio, the family settling in Clinton county. Upon their retirement from the farm John Oxley and his wife came up into Greene county and here spent their last days in the household of their son-in-law, David Burr.
David Burr was born on a farm in the vicinity of Clarksville, in the neighboring county of Clinton, a son of Peter and Hannah Burr, pioneers of that section, who spent their last days in that county. Peter Burr was for years clerk of courts at Wilmington. David Burr grew up in that county and early turned his attention to farming, coming up into Greene county and acquiring possession of a tract of land in what later came to be organized as Jefferson township and after his marriage to Louisa Oxley established his home there, continuing to reside there until 1848, when he traded that tract for the farm on which his son William, the subject of this sketch, is now living in that same township and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. David Burr died at the age of sixty-eight years and liis widow survived him for many years, she having been eighty-six years of age at the time of her death. They were members of the Methodist Protestant church and were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom grew to maturity, out of whom only three are now living, the subject of this sketch and two of his sisters, Mrs. Julia Ann Urton, widow of William Urton, of Van Wert, this state, and Mrs. Ella Fawcett, widow of Levi Fawcett, of Middleton, the others having been the following: Mary Jane, who married Levi Hollingsworth; Peter, who married Mahala Wical; Lucinda, who married Isaac Steward; John, who died in 1862 and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume; Hannah, who married Stephen Cline, and Aaron Sewell, who died while in the service of the Union during the Civil War. He enlisted in September. 1861, and went with the Thirty-first Ohio to Camp Robinson, Kentucky, where he died of brain fever in the following November.
William C. Burr was about nine years of age when his parents moved to the farm on which he is now living and there he grew to manhood, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools. He married when nineteen years of age and after his marriage continued farming on the home place. During the earlier stages of the Civil War he served as a member of the Home Guard and in the spring of 1864 he enlisted his services in behalf of the Union and was sent into West Virginia with Company H, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for four months, during which time he participated in the battle of New Creek and various engagements. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Burr returned home and resumed farming on the home place, of which in due time he acquired possession, and he ever since has made his home there, for the past ten years or more having lived practically retired from the active labors of the farm. Mr. Burr is a member of the Methodist Protestant church at Bowersville. He is a Republican, as was his father, and served for several terms as township trustee and also as assessor of the township. For more than forty-five years he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his wife and daughter formerly were connected with the Daughters of Rebekah. On March 9, 1872, Mr. Burr joined the Odd Fellows lodge at Port William and on September 20. 1874, became connected with the encampment. Patriarchs Militant, at Wilmington, later transferring his connection to the encampment at Jamestown. He was one of the organizers of Otto Lodge No. 559, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Bowersville, a charter member of the same.
In December, 1858, William C. Burr was united in marriage to Rachel Ervin, who was born in that portion of Greene county now comprised within Jefferson township, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cottrell) Ervin, pioneers of that section, who had come up here from Tennessee and whose last days were spent here, both dying during the time of the cholera scourge. John Ervin and wife were the parents of nine children. To Mr. and Mrs. Burr three children were born, a daughter and two sons, Jennie, who has always made her home on the home place, and George Sewell and Frank Elder, the latter of whom, an undertaker at Jamestown, married Elvie Miller and has two children, Guy and Marion. George Sewell Burr, who became a teacher in the schools of this county, was killed by the kick of a horse in 1887. He had married Elizabeth Ferguson and after his death his widow married Florence Smith, of Jamestown, and has one child, a daughter, Zora P.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918