Thomas B. Burnett ^{1 2 3 5 6 7}

  General Notes:

T. B. as he was familiarly known, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, 9 Feb 1840, son of Isaac and Eliza Nixon Burnett of Irish descent. He was married 15 Oct 1868 in Iowa City, Iowa to Elizabeth N. Lightfoot. She was born 9 Feb 1844 also in Wayne County, Ohio, the daughter of Daniel and Susannah Arnsberger Lightfoot, and moved to Cedar County, Iowa in 1856. T. B.'s interests were many. He was a boot maker, sewed his own work clothes including overalls of brown denim and underwear of cotton flannel, cabinet maker, harness maker and blacksmith. His farm improvements included a blacksmith shop and a barn equipped with a grain mill run by an engine powered by a windmill located on the roof of the engine room. He was ever on the lookout for better methods of doing the task at hand and spent much time studying new material. He owned the first phonograph brought into the area. He was a generous, good natured man, friend to all, with a thirst for knowledge. His keen interest in horticulture prompted the planting of an extensive orchard and experimentation with new varieties. In search of better fruit growing conditions he moved his family to Arkansas in 1896 but returned to Sumner County [Kansas] within two years to spend the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Burnett died after a few days illness June 16, 1907 and T. B. on 17 Dec 1922. He had been a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge for fifty years and while living in Iowa a member of Golden Rule Lodge #24, getting his Master Mason degree 10 Apr 1876.

(Source: Phyllis Harrison and Lois Storey; as published in "Mulvane - City of the Valley, 1879-1977", page 79; Farber, Madeline K. Farber, Editor; published by the Mulvane Historical Society)
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In this 1870 US Census record, was this a different Thomas Burnett? He should have been 30 years old but this 1870 US Census record shows him to be 26. Otherwise, he was married to Elizabeth Lightfoot in 1868 and was enumerated with her at home in Iowa Township just a few farms away. Maybe this was merely a case of a minor spat between a husband and wife, and Thomas was temporarily living with the Sawyers/Soyers.

Thomas' wife, Elizabeth Lightfoot, was a 1st cousin to Emma Corker, wife of Andrew Sawyer. So in effect, Thomas may have been staying with the 1st cousin of his wife.

1870 US Census
Page 3, Dwelling 21, Family 21
Iowa Township, Cedar County, Iowa
Andrew J. Soyer...30..OH..Farmer
Emma Soyer...26..OH..Keeping House
Thoms Burnett...26..OH..Farmer
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The obituary for Thomas incorrectly says his marriage was 15 Oct 1858 instead of 16 Oct 1868.
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  Burial Notes:

The funeral home interment record from the Mulvane Funeral Home indicates that Thomas was buried on December 18, 1922 following services which cost a total of $190, considered a somewhat better than average funeral service. The services were ordered by his son-in-law, Charles Foudray. The "casket and services" charge was $150.00, embalming was $20.00, the hearse was $10.00, and a pillow was an additional $10.00.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1870 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 23 August 1870. ⁵

1870 US Census
Page 2, Family 13
Iowa Township, Cedar County, Iowa
Thomas S. Burnett..30..OH..Farmer

(Living with wife.)
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• He appeared on the 1880 US Census in Gore Township, Sumner, KS on 8 June 1880. ²

1880 US Census
Page 6B, District 189, Family 48, Roll 398
Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas
T. B. Burnett..Head..40..OH..Farmer

(Living with wife and 2 daughters.)
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• He appeared on the 1900 US Census in Gore Township, Sumner, KS on 9 June 1900. ³

1900 US Census
Sheet 4A, District 329, Family 71
Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas
Farm owned, with mortgage
Married 32 years
Thomas B. Burnett..Head..Feb 1840..60..OH..Farmer

(Living with wife and daughter, Ruhama.)
.

• He appeared on the 1910 US Census in Gore Township, Sumner, KS on April 1910. ⁶

1910 US Census
Sheet 12A, District 158, Household 281
Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas
Thomas B. Burnett..Head..70..OH
Elizabeth M. Burnett..Wife..63..Canada English

NOTE - This was the 2nd wife of Thomas who was also named Elizabeth. His first wife, Elizabeth Lightfoot, had died 3 years earlier in 1907.
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• His obituary was published in the Mulvane News in December 1922 in Mulvane, KS.

Thomas B. Burnett was born in Wayne County, Ohio, February 9, 1840 and died at his home near Mulvane, Kansas, December 17, 1922 at the advanced age of 82 years, 10 months, and 8 days. On October 15, 1858 [sic...should be 1868], he was married to Elizabeth N. Lightfoot at Iowa City, Iowa. Two children were born to this union - LaVerne, now Mrs. Charles Foudray and Esther, now Ms. John Newton. These, with three grand children, one great grand child, and one sister, Mrs. R. H. Blackman of Saint Petersburg, Florida, are his relatives left to mourn his departure. Father Burnett moved from Iowa to Kansas in June, 1876, and settled on the farm where he died. He had been a member of the I.O.O.F. lodge for 50 years. He was a good neighbor, a good citizen, a good friend, and a kind and loving father. Funeral services were conducted at his late home Tuesday afternoon by Rev. A. J. Rhodes, pastor of the Church of Christ, and the body was laid to rest in the Mulvane city cemetery with the beautiful burial ceremony of the I.O.O.F.

NOTE - In the published obituary for Thomas Burnett, the daughter Alice Laverne is referred to using her middle name of "Laverne". The other daughter, Ruhama Esther, is referred to also using her middle name of "Esther" even though she used the nickname of "Hette". It is not clear why the information given in this obituary used their middle names but most probably it was given by well-meaning relatives.

Additionally, Alice LaVerne is referred to as "Mrs. Charles Foudray" while Ester Ruhama is referred to as "Ms. John Newton". Why their titles of "Mrs. and Ms." are handled differently is not known to me and I'm not sure what significance it might represent. It could mean that Ruhama Esther Burnett Newton was separated, divorced, or living separately from John Newton at the time or it just might be nothing more than a grammatical choice by the writer. John Newton was still alive at the time but he died 4 years later. When Ruhama Esther Burnett Newton eventually died in 1970, some 44 years after her husband, she was buried alongside of her husband, John E. Newton in Mulvane Cemetery.

(Source: Mulvane News, Mulvane, Kansas; Dec 1922)
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• He was buried on 18 December 1922 in the Mulvane Cemetery in Mulvane, KS.

The gravestone is a dark gray granite approximately 2' wide and about 4' high and sits on top of a concrete base. The inscription reads "Thomas B. Burnett, Feb. 1840 - Dec. 1922, At Rest". At the top of the face is carved the I.O.O.F. insignia of three interlocked circles with the letters F.L.T. (Friendship, Love, and Truth).

Find A Grave Memorial #32182159
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. ⁷

Thomas married Elizabeth N. Lightfoot, daughter of Daniel Lightfoot Sr and Susannah Arnsberger, on 15 October 1868 in Iowa City, IA.^{1 2 3 4} (Elizabeth N. Lightfoot was born on 19 February 1844 in , Wayne County, OH,^{2 3 5 9 10 11 12} died on 14 May 1907 in Mulvane, KS ¹² and was buried on 16 May 1907 in Mulvane Cemetery, Mulvane, KS ¹².)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Image: 15 October 1868, in Iowa City, IA. ¹

• They appeared on the 1870 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 23 August 1870. ⁵

1870 US Census
Page 2, Family 13
Iowa Township, Cedar County, Iowa
Thomas S. Burnett..30..OH..Farmer
Elizabeth Burnett..26..OH..Keeping House
.

• They appeared on the 1880 US Census in Gore Township, Sumner, KS on 8 June 1880. ²

1880 US Census
Page 6B, District 189, Family 48, Roll 398
Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas
T. B. Burnett..Head..40..OH..Farmer
Elizabeth Burnett..Wife..36..OH..Keeping House
Alice Burnett..Daughter..5..IA
Ester Burnett..Daughter..3..KS
.

• They appeared on the 1900 US Census in Gore Township, Sumner, KS on 9 June 1900. ³

1900 US Census
Sheet 4A, District 329, Family 71
Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas
Farm owned, with mortgage
Married 32 years
Thomas B. Burnett..Head...Feb 1840..60..OH..Farmer
Elizabeth Burnett..Wife..Feb 1844..56..OH..2/2
Hette R. Burnett..Daughter..Apr 1877..23..KS
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  Marriage Notes:

Name: Thomas B. Burnett
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 15 Oct 1868
Event Place: Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, United States
Gender: Male
Spouse's Name: Elizabeth M. Lightfoot
Spouse's Gender: Female

Citing this Record
"Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJVX-D7C : 10 February 2018), Thomas B. Burnett and Elizabeth M. Lightfoot, 15 Oct 1868, Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, United States; citing reference , county courthouses, Iowa; FHL microfilm 1,685,428.
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In June, 1876 Thomas B. Burnett settled in Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas on 160 acres he had purchased two miles southeast of Littleton. The trip from his former home in Pee Dee, Iowa was made in two covered wagons accompanied by his wife Elizabeth and twenty month old daughter Alice Laverne, his wife's sister, Mary Alice Lightfoot, and an Iowa neighbor who drove one wagon. Their journey was interrupted for a few days at Eldorado County, Kansas when one of the mares gave birth to a colt. There was a dugout on the property when Burnett acquired it but when the family arrived they discovered the roof had fallen in, so until a house could be built they lived in a tent in the yard of Valentine Harwood whose farm was across the road. Another daughter Ruhama Esther, was born 25 Apr 1877.

(Source: Phyllis Harrison and Lois Storey; as published in "Mulvane - City of the Valley, 1879-1977", page 79; Farber, Madeline K. Farber, Editor; published by the Mulvane Historical Society)
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To answer a few of your questions--Why they came to Kansas? They were looking for a warmer climate. At that time there was a lot of land available in Kansas and the general trend seemed to be to move from PA to IL or IA then on to MO and KS. I sometimes think my great grandfather Burnett had itchy feet as he and Luke Lightfoot went on to Arkansas a few years later looking for a better place to grow fruit. I think they lived there only a year and came back to Kansas. Grandpa Burnett did have a big orchard on his farm. Even though he died before I was born there were still lots of trees left. I can remember the peach and pear trees but they all perished during the Dirty Thirties except a couple of pear trees near the house. My grandparents lived on his farm until sometime in the 50's. After Grandpa Foudray died my mother's sister and her husband moved in to be with Granny. As for T.B's talents, I don't think there was much he couldn't do. He even made his own overalls. I have inherited a secretary he made in 1876. It's a pretty primitive piece of furniture but I treasure it.

(Source: Email from Phyllis Storey-Harrison, 1 Jun 2004)
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The Burnett farm remained in the family until just a few years ago. My grandmother sold it to one of my uncles on my dad's side of the house and they lived there, tore down the old house and built a new one, their son tore down the old barn, so there's nothing original left unless the windmill is still standing. The buildings were deteriorating and not needed. Today instead of a barn people need a machine shed and grain storage. They don't milk cows or raise chickens and pigs like we did 50 years ago. When I was growing up there was a shed where the cows were milked and feed was stored in half of it, by the windmill was a pig shed and a pen full of pigs and the chicken house had a bunch of old hens scratching and cackling. I think Granny's last old hen died of old age in the late 50's.

Both my parents grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same country school that had been attended by both their mothers and where I also went in later years. This is the school that was organized the year after my grandmother (Alice Laverne Burnett) started to school in town where her Uncle Luke Lightfoot was teaching. My dad's mother lived on the farm adjoining the Burnett farm. This was the Darnell property which had a stage stop on it. The old barn was still there until in the 70's when it was burned along with several empty houses and the school. The farms had one by one been left without an occupant in the house and the ground was worked by renters who brought in large equipment and farmed several places. For a time some of the houses were rented, mostly to Boeing workers or air base personnel with families. Anyhow one such family moved in to the neighborhood with a couple of undisciplined teenagers and they burned the old houses one by one, including the school and stage barn before they got caught.

TB Burnett divided his farm between the two girls. Verne got the part where the house stood and Hette got more acreage with no improvements. She and her husband John Newton put up a nice house and barn just across the road from the school house and lived there until he died when I was about 3 years old. My folks lived less than half mile on up the road. By that time my other grandparents had moved into Mulvane but I had cousins within the same mile section as the Burnett farm. I think there was some part of our family in that school from the time it was built until its last year, when the son of one of my cousins went there. One year when I attended there were over 25 students. Its last year had 4. I went there all 8 years; 7 of them I had the same teacher. I think our smallest attendance during that time usually had at least one in each grade, with 2 or mo re in some.

One of the story's that came down through the years is that my dad got mad and ran away from home when just a tad. He told his folks he was going to go live with Charlie Foudray, which was my mother's folks. I'm sure he didn't get to stay very long but I can see his point.

Granny Foudray was a good cook and kept a clean house. Conditions at his house left much to be desired with 3 kids older and 3 girls younger by the time he was 5, and at the Foudray house there was only my mother.

In some of the things I read about Daniel Lightfoot you questioned his birthday being in June or January. On a family record which appears to be in Elizabeth Lightfoot's hand writing the date 17 Jun 1811 is shown.

One thing that confuses me is that in our references to Daniel Lightfoot's father he is called Jacob. Since Susannah's father was Jacob A., I'm wondering if the name was not passed down in error as I doubt any of my immediate ancestors ever knew him and your records seem to be pretty accurate. My mother's notes say, "We know very little about Grandmother Burnett's ancestors only that her grandparents were Pennsylvania Dutch and lived in the east until some time in the late 18th century when Grandmother and Grandfather Lightfoot came to Kansas -- we have very few dates." I'm not sure when she wrote this but there is 1963 at the top corner of the first page. At that time I was just beginning to take an interest in ancestry and hadn't yet accumulated any data. The first time I was in Salt Lake City I read some of the Pee Dee County History, but on a later visit I couldn't locate the book.

I better shut this down for now. My daughter and I plan to leave in the morning for Branson, MO for the next 4 days so I'll miss our little exchanges. Oh yes, I found another reference to Frank Lightfoot. It was l Sept 1855 (which I think is his birth) but after his name I have "married May" but I have no idea where I got the information. It is something I put down in the past 15 or so years. Have you tried to find him on any Arkansas census?

Phyllis

(Source: Email from Phyllis Storey-Harrison, 8 Jun 2004)
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