John Burwell Family

I found a pair of Burwell sisters in the DAR [Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Books] that I believe are my great-great-grandfather John W. Burwell's sisters.

From Volume 14, p. 122 (for the year 1896):

Miss Nettie B. Burwell

ID No. 13326

Born in Illinois

Descendant of John Burwell, of New Jersey.

Daughter of Moses T. Burwell and Isabella Goodfellow, his wife.

Granddaughter of John Burwell and Missouri Thorp, his wife.

Gr.-granddaughter of Jonathan Burwell and Mary Comer, his wife.

Gr.-gr.-granddaughter of John Burwell and ___ Lyons, his wife.

John Burwell turned out in Capt. Stephen Baldwin's company, Col. Sylvanus Seely's regiment of Morris county militia, 1780, at Connecticut Farms, N.J. He died 1825.

Mrs. Mary Alice Burwell Burns

ID No. 13327

Born in Illinois.

Wife of Luther Burns.

Descendant of John Burwell.

Daughter of Moses T. Burwell and Isabella Goodfellow, his wife.

See No 13326.

I believe that these women are John W.'s sisters for several reasons:

1. The mother's maiden name is Goodfellow. One of my great-grandmother Alice's brothers was named Clarence Goodfellow Burwell. It was common to choose a middle name that was the mother's or grandmother's maiden name. We know the maiden names on his mother's side for at least a few generations: Champion, Baker, Ives, Frye, Shaffer. Therefore, Goodfellow had to be from the Burwell side.

2. My grandmother recalls an Aunt Mary who would come out to visit the California relatives with Grandpa George Champion. In one of Alice's letters she mentions visiting Aunt Marie [Champion Bowles] in Ohio. Aunt Marie had the DAR ladies over, including an Aunt Mary Burns.

3. In the 1870 U.S. Census, I found a Moses Burwell, age 27 from Hensley Township, Champaign County, Illinois. He was born in Ohio. This would make him old enough to be John W.'s father and I believe he is the same Moses Burwell mentioned in the DAR entries. Also I looked up the 1850 or 1860 U.S. census and found a handful of John and Jonathan Burwells and a few Goodfellows in Ohio. I believe that Moses and Isabella probably married in Ohio before moving to Illinois since I could not find any of the names listed above in the Illinois marriage index at IRAD [Illinois Regional Archives Depository].

Post-Script 18 August 2000

I found more information on the Moses Burwell family. I am more convinced that he is John W.'s father. Moses and Isabella had six children: Nettie, Mary Alice, Guy, Thomas, Moses, and William (another source appears to refer to him as John). The Burwell family moved to Kansas in 1892. (John W. and Gertrude moved to Kansas in 1892. Uncle Clarence was born there in 1892.) Moses was a banker and described by a Kansas newspaper in 1895 as one of the wealthiest men in Kansas. For more information see www.umkc.edu/whmckc/Collections/ikc233.htm. This link refers to the Burwell/Tate Family Papers (KC233) at the University of Missouri. I sent an e-mail to find out if the papers are public or private.

Also, check out the Burwell family tree for the updates. [This was a private family tree that no longer exists.] A reply to one of my Burwell message board queries states that John (son of Moses) was married to Adriana Rohrer (date not known). [The John Burwell married to Adriana Rohrer was Moses' brother, not his son. The name John is common in the Burwell family.] They had a son Lou Edward Burwell. I found on the California Death Index at rootsweb a Louis E. Burwell born in Kansas on 9/12/1894, maybe he is the same person.

Originally published on personal MyFamily.com website on 10 August 2000 and 18 August 2000. Edited for clarity. Comments are in brackets.

Post-Post-Script 7 February 2021

My grandmother never met her maternal grandfather. Initially, the only clue I had to go on was the name she wrote in my mother's baby book, William Burwell. My great-great-grandparents' marriage certificate lists him as John W. Burwell. One day while researching on my lunch break, I found the DAR books in the Los Angeles Public Library and randomly looked up Burwells in the Patriot index. I found a John Burwell from New Jersey and thought, "Hey, why not?" Later research confirmed that John Burwell of New Jersey was indeed my ancestor.