This next letter I am sharing was written 6 years after the letter that Alexander Burrows of Drum wrote to Alexander Burrows (my Great Great Grandfather) in 1878 (see 10/28/21...A Voice From the Past). This letter was written to my Great Great Grandfather by his younger brother John Elliott Burrows.
John was born in Sligo in 1849 and was two years younger than Alexander. John came to America at around the same time as Alexander. He may have even come before Alexander, as he appears in the 1870 US Census as a 21 year old living in New Orleans and working as a clerk in Cassady's Hotel. Hugh Cassady was listed as the Hotel Keeper and was originally from Ireland, as were most of his tenants. The family story is that Alexander Burrows came to America around 1871 or 1872.
By the 1880 US Census John was living in St. Louis, Missouri at 809 Barlow Street with his wife Maggie (O'Leary) Burrows. The couple was living with their daughter Francis, sister in law Jennie O'Leary and a niece, Jennie Greene. The box where John's occupation was supposed to be listed is interestingly left blank.
By 1884, John was still living in St. Louis (address unreadable) and was able to send a letter to his older brother. Alexander Burrows was living in Grass Valley with my Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows and their growing family. This letter gives a wonderful glimpse of John's life in America up to his eventual settling down and finding a career path in the new American oil industry. The transcribed letter comes after the original copy.
Here is the transcribed letter. This was a work of collaboration between several Burrow's DNA cousins through email exchanges during the month of January, 2022.
John refers to being in California as well as in the Black Hills (South Dakota) during "the big excitement". He was probably referring to the discovery of gold in South Dakota around the mid 1870's which eventually led to the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana Territory and Custer's Last Stand in 1876. He may have tried his hand at mining like so many others at that time, because working as a hotel clerk at the age of 21 might not have seemed that glamorous an occupation. He was young enough to be able to travel and experience his new country before marrying Margaret O'Leary in 1878 and landing a job with the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, based in St. Louis.
St. Louis Marriages 1855-1881 Ancestry.com
The Waters-Pierce Oil Company was incorporated to deal with naval stores, and to deal in and compound petroleum and other oils and their products. By 1884 it looks like the Standard Oil Company had purchased Waters-Pierce as a subsidiary of John D. Rockefeller's vast oil empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil
John was able to become a successful and valued employee for the company, and was even able to purchase his own house. I would say that he was as successful as his brother Alexander, who became a lawyer and eventually City Attorney for Grass Valley, California. John would eventually go on to start his own oil company in Oklahoma after the turn of the century.
24 May 1914 advertisement Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
John also refers to the death of his son. Another DNA cousin was able to locate this little one's Record of Death for June 20th, 1882. It lists a Thomas A. Burrows (A for Alexander?) age 3 months living in St. Louis on Page Ave. (possibly the same address on the letter). His cause of death was "congestion of brain", possibly meningitis. He was buried in the Calvary Cemetery, which is a Catholic cemetery in St. Louis. John's wife Margaret (Maggie) O'Leary was born in Ireland and was Catholic.
Death Record for Thomas A. Burrows (at bottom of image) Missouri, U.S. Death Records 1850-1931 Ancestry.com
It is interesting to note that both brothers had previously been in contact through letters but that Alexander did not share any information of his marriage or family with John. He shared how well he was doing. By 1884 my great grandparents had six children! Sharing pictures of each other's families was also difficult at the time due to weather and Maggie's "delicate health". I hope that eventually John shared pictures with the Burrows in Grass Valley. I do know that when Alexander committed suicide in 1904 a letter from his niece Francis was found in his hotel room which suggests that communication was continued into the turn of the century from his brother's family. In fact, that tidbit of information first led me to uncover John's family and add them to the Burrow's tree. John's letter(s) confirmed his family information.
And then we come to the information in the letter regarding the Ireland Burrows. John mentions brother Tom (Thomas Burrows b. 1856) and sister Emmy. She may or may not be the same person as Ismena. There is some confusion with the names Emma/Emmy and Ismena, as there was another sister named Elizabeth who went by Emma and was married to a Hermann Bucher in New York. This Emmy was still living in Drum with Alexander Burrows of Drum by 1884. He passed away in 1889. Apparently the funds were not available for the family in Drum to hire on a servant for an unknown reason. The funds from the Manorhamilton property were used for the upkeep of brother Adam Burrows who was in the Sligo Workhouse as he was an "imbecile". The grandfather mentioned may have been Adam Elliott (father to Fanny Francis Elliott wife of Alexander of Drum) who passed away in 1878 and was mentioned in the letter written in 1878 (see post of 10/28/21). The death of the doctor mentioned may refer to Dr. Thomas Burrows, brother to Alexander Burrows of Drum who passed away in 1883. There is still some confusion as to whether he was a brother, or a cousin at this point. Research is ongoing.
So, from this letter and other resources found on Ancestry.com I can add John Elliott Burrows, his wife Margaret O'Leary, their daughter Francis and their son Thomas A. to the Burrows working tree.
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The following tree is our "working tree". It will change as we do more research, fit more pieces together and verify family members. This is the basic tree as of now.
Alexander Burrows of Carrowcrin (based on his will of 1834) father to....
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Alexander Burrows of Drum (based on his will of 1889) m. Fanny Francis Elliot (based on the marriage registration of John Burrows and Margaret O'Leary) parents of.....
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1. Margaret Burrows Porteus (married Rober Porteus) of Clara
2. Jane Burrows (married Adam Elliott White) of Sligo
3. Adam Burrows (lived at the asylum in Sligo)
4. Alexander Burrows (married Elizabeth Jane Hurd in America) my G G Grandparents
5. John Elliott Burrows (came to America) m. Margaret O'Leary in St. Louis. Children Francis and Thomas A. Burrows.
6. Thomas Burrows (was to look after Adam per will of 1889)
7. Ismena Burrows (possibly spent time in America but went back home to Ireland)
8. Elizabeth Burrows (came to America and married Hermann Bucher) in New York, was called Emma (based on letters written by Hermann Bucher)
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