The Ancestry of Nancy White Burch wife of Abraham Cronkhite

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

BURCH FAMILY

4 November 2016

Josie Cronkhite Jones’ mother Nancy White Burch Cronkhite died when she was quite young. The most distant ancestor that is known is John Burch [Birch] who was Nancy Cronkhite’s 3rd great grandfather.

JOHN BURCH and unknown

4^TH Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

John Burch was a tobacco planter in Prince George County, Maryland in the late 17th Century. Prince George's County was created by the English Council of Maryland in the Province of Maryland in 1696 from portions of Charles and Calvert counties. The county was divided into six districts referred to as "Hundreds": Mattapany, Petuxant, Collington, Mount Calvert, Piscattoway and New Scotland.

The Burch family lived in Piscattoway Hundred which is part of Washington DC today. Whether John Burch was born in America or was an emigrant is unknown. He was a successful tobacco farmer and was married twice and all of his children were born to his first wife whose name has been lost. He married again and his widow Elizabeth is mentioned in his will dated 12 April 1720 and probated 7 months later 12 November 1720. “John Burch, planter, Prince George Co.,12th April, 1720; 12th Nov., 1720. To wife Elizabeth, executrix., ½ of estate, absolutely. To son Francis and dau. Easter Holly, remaining ½, equally. To Mary Panty and son Francis, personally, boy of Stephen Cawley. WitnessesThomas Edelin, James Green.

FRANCIS BURCH and ALICE OWENS

3^rd Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Nancy White Burch Cronkhite’s 2nd great grandfather was John Burch’s son Francis Birch [Burch]. He was born circa 1695 in Prince George County, Maryland. Francis was married in St. John's also known as Piscataway Parish, Prince Georges County, on 20 July 1720, to a Welsh woman named Alie [Alice] Owens. Upon the death of his father Francis inherited a portion of his father’s estate and was also a tobacco farmer until his own death about 1765.

JOHN BURCH Sr and MARY ANN HARRIS

2^nd Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

John Burch Senior was Nancy White Burch’s great grandfather. He was baptized 18 October 1721 in St Johns Parish, Prince George's, Maryland and became a tobacco farmer also like his father. He married circa 1745 in Piscattoway Hundred Prince George County, Maryland Colony to Mary Harris. She was the daughter of a planter named John Harris, Sr. and his wife Mildred Webster.

 John Burch Sr.’s family shortly after their marriage moved south to neighboring Charles County, Maryland as their first child was baptized in Trinity Parish Charles County, Maryland in 1746. Evidently they also continued to moved back and forth between Prince George County and Charles County. However they lived mainly, after 1762, in Charles County until after the War for Independence began.

 In 1769 when his son Leonard Burch was about 18 years old, an African American slave named Pompey, the property of Benjamin Davis was condemned in a court held in Charles County, Maryland in August 1769 “for having attempted to Poison a certain Leonard Burch of the said County.” A Council held 12 September 1769 before “His Excellency Robert Eden Esqr Governor” and a board of prominent Marylanders ordered “that a Death Warrant Issue for the Execution of the aforesaid Negro Pompey, on Wednesday the 6th day of October next, which issued accordingly.”

A Maryland Census of 1778 lists John Burch Sr. and his grown sons John Burch Jr. and Leonard Burch as residents of 1778 Port Tobacco in Upper Hundred, Charles County. In the 1775-1778 Charles County Maryland Census (18 years and upward) the Port Tobacco Parish lay between Nanjemoy creek & Mattowoman creek on the west and north and the upper part of Wicomico River/Creek as it continues through the Zachia Swamp on the east side.

Due to the large area covered by the aforementioned description entire area was most likely divided into two areas. Settled by the English in the 17th century and established in 1727, the town on the Port Tobacco River soon became the second largest in Maryland. The first county seat of Charles County, it was a seaport with access to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

All of John Burch Sr’s sons served in the Revolutionary War. Leonard Burch was a Corporal in Captain Samuel Smallwood Company of Militia. His younger brother John Burch Junior joined the same company as a private. His son Francis Burch was in the Continental Army serving under General George Washington until he lost one of his leg from infection due to a bullet wound.

Francis Burch had enlisted as a private in the First Maryland Regiment, on the Twenty-ninth day of March, 1777 when he was 16 or 17 years old and was discharged on the 29th March 1780. Francis' pension records are marked "invalid". He was a private in a regiment commanded by Colonel Stone, of the Maryland Line, for the term of three years. He stated in his pension application “That he the said Francis Burch in March 1777 in Charles County in the State of Maryland enlisted as a common soldier in a company at that time commanded by Captain Ford of the First Maryland Regiment on Continental establishment for three years; that he served the term for which he enlisted, and was regularly discharged at Kombia (?) Farm in the Jerseys, which discharge is long since lost.

“That he had no other evidence nor  proof of his said service-That he was at the several Battle of Brandy Wine-Mud Island Fort-Monmouth Courthouse-Stony Point and Paulus Hook- and that reason of his age of reduced circumstances, he needs the assistance of his country for support and I having examined Captain Francis Gray, who solemely affirms and says that he is acquainted with the aforesaid Francis Burch, and that he the said Francis Burch is a person of credibility and that he is chiefly dependent upon his own personal labour for his support and maintenance, does to appears to the Secrtary for the department of War of the United States, that it appears to my satisfaction that the said Francis Burch did serve the United States as a common Soldier against the Common Enemy in the Revolutionary War for nine months and more and that his is on reduced circumstances and needs the assistance of his country for support, which I send under my hand and seal, there being no official seal of the Superior Court of Law in County of Campbell this 22 June 1818. Wm. Daniel”

During the war the family moved to Prince William County, Virginia probably after 1778. After the war ended and prior to 1788, John Sr. and his sons John Jr., Leonard and Francis Burch relocated to Fauquier County, Virginia. There they are all listed on the 1788 Fauquier County tax list. John Sr. and John Jr. were listed in one household while Leonard and Francis in separate households.

The 1793 Fauquier tax rolls list John Jr., Leonard, and Francis but John Sr. is missing and presumably had died. It is likely that he was deceased, as at that time he would have been about 66 years of age.

In 1794, Leonard and John Jr. remained in Fauquier County while Francis and some neighbors, Nichols' and Vermillion brothers departed for Amherst County, VA. In 1796 John Jr. married Elizabeth Benham in Fauquier County. They must have moved to Amherst Co. shortly thereafter as their first child Robert Benham Burch was born there. Leonard followed shortly thereafter.

By 1801 all of the Burch brothers were all residents of Amherst County, Verginia. Francis must have left Amherst County prior to 1810 as he is listed on the 1810 U.S. Census for Campbell County, Virginia along with his sons Nicodemus and Eli Burch. He applied for a pension according to the Revolutionary Claim Act of 1818.

Francis Burch of Lynchburg, Campbell was granted a pension “at the rate of 8 Dollars per month, to commence on the 22 of June, 1818” The last mention of Francis was dated 4 September 1819 and probably died before the 1820 census in Campbell County Virginia Leonard died ca 1816 probably in Kentucky, and John Jr. left about 1817 for Barren Co., Kentucky where he lived the remainder of his life.

John Sr. and Mary Harris Burch Children

1. Oprah Burch baptized 16 Feb 1746 Trinity Parish, Charles County, Maryland, USA

2. Leonard Burch born Sep 1750 Trinity Parish, Charles County, Maryland married Monokey "Monica" Guy Webster a cousin

3. James Burch born 22 Oct. 1752 St. John's Parish, Prince George, Maryland 1752

4. Mary Elinor Burch born 14 May 1754 • Prince George's Co., Maryland

5. John "Long" Burch born 8 Jan 1759 • St Johns Parish, Prince George's, Maryland, married married Elizabeth Benham

6. Francis Burch born 1760 • St Johns Parish, Prince George, Maryland, 1760

7. George Burch born 1763

JOHN “LONG” BURCH and ELIZABETH BENHAM

Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

John Burch Junior nicknamed “Long” Burch

Born 18 January 1759 St Johns Parish, Prince George's, Colony of Maryland

Died 01 MAR 1834 Glasgow, Barren, Kentucky,

Wife Elizabeth Benham

Born 18 March 1778 Loudoun County, Virginia,

Died 16 June 1853 • Knoxville, Marion, Iowa, USA

Buried in Teter Cemetery Marion CO, IA

John Long Burch was the grandfather of Nancy White Burch Cronkhite. He was born to a prosperous Tobacco farmer in Prince George’s County, Maryland on the eastern shores of the Potomac River. When he was a small child his father moved the family south to neighboring Charles County where he was living when at the age of 18 years old he joined in the fight for American Independence. Burch joined the patriot militia 31 May 1777 as a private in Captain Samuel Smallwood regiment. His older brother Leonard Burch was a corporal in the same outfit.

Fifty five years later in 1832 John Long Burch applied for a pension for his Revolutionary War service in which he detailed his military service the best he could remember at the age of 74 years.

“State of Kentucky Barren County and circuit court on the 17th day of December 1832 John Burch personally appeared in open court before the clerk of the County court of Barren County now setting. John Burch is a resident of said county and state, aged 74 years who, being first duly sworn according to law doth, on oath, make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefits of an act of Congress passed June 7th 1832. That he entered the service of the United States and served as hereinafter Stated.

He was born in Prince George County Maryland on the 18th day of January 1759. And when he was quite a child was taken by his father to Charles County, Maryland. He lived there until he was, he thinks, near about 19 or 20 years of age.

When it was reported Dunmore [Lord Dunmore was the British Royal Governor of Virginia at the time of the American Revolution and a foremost adversary of the colonists] was coming up the Potomack [Potomac] River and he [John] was called out with others to meet him, marched about 30 miles down the river when news was brought that the vessel had gone down the river and sailed off & after about a week’s service on this duty he returned home & was discharged and went home with directions to await further orders. No written discharge was given, as it was from the beginning only an expedition gotten up for to meet the emergency. Samuel Smallwood was his captain, Elija [Elijah or Elisha] Smallwood, lieutenant [both of Charles County, Maryland]. The other officers not remembered. He thinks there were two other companies but they were little together and he does not now remember their officers. In the second year of the Revolutionary War [1778] he moved with his father to Prince William County, Virginia [across the Potomac River] & shortly after he was called out in the militia of Virginia and marched down to Alexandria [Virginia] under Captain Peter Evans [commanded a company in the Revolutionary war, and was one of the first settlers of Boonesborough Kentucky], Lieutenant William Jacobs, 2nd lieutenant William Peck and under Col. Henry Lee [also known as Light-Horse Harry Lee, an early American Patriot] who commanded. He lay there for about two months during which time the British vessels lay in the Potomack just below Alexandria. At the end of probably a week or so the vessels moved off down the river and the company of Captain Peter Evans followed after them by a very rapid march (the men running all the way) down to Mount Vernon, Genl. Washingtons mills which contained something like 400 barrels of flour and which, it was feared, would by attached by the enemy.

While they lay at Mount Vernon the vessels had stopped on the opposite side of the river & burnt Col. Lyles [William Lyles of Prince George County, Maryland] buildings. The soldiers then moved off down the river & Captain Evans Company followed on after. Their march was, however, intercepted by a creek which he thinks was called Chappawanipsick & while the company was marching around this creek the enemy burnt Brandts buildings. When the Company arrived at the head of the creek orders were received from Col. Henry Lee that the enemys shipping had gone and for the company to return to Alexandria. Which it did, the applicant among the rest.

They lay at Alexandria for some time to see if the vessel would return and were then discharged, receiving no written discharge-were marched home by his captain. He thinks this tour or term of service lasted about two months & a half. The applicant cannot now supply all the particular periods of his service on the Potomac River. But as he lived near the river, he was continually on every alarm of the approach of vessels up the Potomac River, called upon to march to the river to watch the vessels. He thinks he can safely say he was two years in actual service of this kind upon the Potomac in the same Company above named and under the same officers above named.

He could, in fact safely say that he was in the service well on to three years, sometimes he was out a week. Sometimes two weeks & sometimes 3 or 4, not being allowed to stay at home sometimes not more than a day or two & he cannot now remember that he was ever permitted, during the time, to stay at home for the space of one whole week. So that it may be said in fact that he was on service all the time, never being permitted to stay at home long enough to work a crop or do anything else for himself.

The company of Captain Evans was kept enrolled for that purpose and was subject to be called on at any moment that it might be demanded by an emergency. It is impossible for the applicant now to relate every particular period which he Spent in actual service of this kind, but he is confident he actually served 2 years of not 3.

He was drafted in the summer [1780] before Cornwallis was taken [British General Cornwallis had taken command of the army. Cornwallis' movements in Virginia were shadowed by a Continental Army force led by the Marquis de Lafayette.] & marched down to Fredricksburg on the Rappahannock River under Capt. Peter Evans, first Lieutenant Robert Overhaul, he thinks & 2nd Lieutenant Pur. Harrison & were commanded shore by Genl. Weedon [George Weedon at the request of Governor Thomas Jefferson led his militia unit in the Yorktown campaign, where his brigade successfully repelled the feared and infamous unit of Colonel Banastre Tarleton, thus closing the one means of British escape at Gloucester Point] & Major Armistead.

While at Fredricksburg, orders were received from Genl. Washington to clear out a road around the tidewater of Ockoquon river in order that Genl. Washington, the troops & baggage from the north might march along that road down to Little York where Cornwallis was besieged. While he was engaged with the rest in cutting out the road, Genl. Washington & some other officers passed on to the Little York, and the baggage & troops came on after the road was finished.

After they (the North Army) had gone on some days the applicant & company were marched down the Little York by Captain Evans and were stationed with the militia on the opposite side of York River from Little York, for the purpose, as was said, of preventing Cornwallis from escaping. He continued there until the surrender of Cornwallis, [October 1781] when he was marched home by his Capt. & discharged. He does not remember having received a written discharge at any time. If he did it is now lost.

In this last term of service he served out, within a few days, the tour for which he was drafted. He is now unable to say for what time they were drafted or how long this tour was. He has no documentary evidence, nor does he know of any person whose testimony he can procure, who can testify to his service. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.

In answering to the questions prescribed by the War Department he sayeth that he was born in Charles County Maryland. He has no record of his age except an old bible at home of his fathers in which it is set down.

When first called out to meet Dunmore he lived in Charles County Maryland afterward he lived all the time in Prince William County Virginia. From that county he moved [circa 1783 or 84] to Fauquier county where he lived 16 or 17 years . Thence he moved to Amherst Co., [circa 1800] and lived there near about 16 years. Thence he moved to Barren County Kentucky [circa 1817] where he has lived 15 years and still lives.

During the time he served on the Potomack River they were called out by Company by orders, as the applicant thinks, from Col. Henry Lee. The tour of duty he served when Cornwallis was taken, he was drafted. He was so little with the regular troops that he can not name the regular officers that he served with & continental regiments. He will however name Genl. Weedon & Major Armistead. He saw other officers at the Little York but cannot now remember.

The regiment he does not now remember. He served on the Potomack River to guard the county against the enemy's shipping, helped to cut the road round the tidewater of Ockagnon River for the Northern troops & was on the opposite side of York River when Cornwallis capitulated.

He does not remember ever to have received a written discharge, neither did he ever receive a commission. In answer to the 7th [character witnesses] he would name: William Glover, Andrew Nuckolls [Nichols], John Nichols, John Glover, William Bailey, Francis Scott, James Bennett Esqr, William Bennett, William Elliot, William Pursley, James Wood, Abner Wills, Samuel Marshall, & Thpmas Brandford, William Heffenander Tolle & he could name others. Mr. Andrew Nuckolls, a clergyman, residing in the county of Barren, Kentucky & William Glover, residing in the same county, hereby certify that we are well acquainted with John Burch who has subscribed & sworn to the above declaration: that we believe him to be about 71 years of age, that is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion.

Sworn to and subscribed the day & year aforesaid. And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogations prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states. And the court further certifies that it appears to them that Andrew Nuckolls, who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman residing in the county of Barren Kentucky. And that Wm. Glover, who has also signed the same, is a resident in the same county & that their statement is entitled to credit.” He was granted for his service a pension of $80.00 per year.

After the war ended, John Long Burch moved with other members of his family to Fauquier county, Virginia where he met and married .

“Know all men by these presents that we John Birch and Roger Benam ______ are held & firmly bound to his excellency Robert Brooke esq. Governor of Virginia in the just sum of one hundred and fifty Dollars to which payment will and truly to be made to the said Brooke and his sucessors for the use of the Common Wealth we bind ourselves our heirs and admors jointly and severally firmly by these presents seated with our seals and dated the 15th of March 1796. The Condition of the above obligation is such that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized between John Birch and Elizabeth Benam for which a licence hath issued. Now if there be no lawful cause to obstruct the said intended marriage then the above obligation to be void else to remain in force.”

After John's death, his wife Elizabeth Benham Burch applied for his pension. State of Kentucky, Barren County On this the 13th day of November 1850 personally appeared before me William N. Alexander, an acting officer of the Peace in and for the County and State and Elizabeth Burch who after being first duly sworn according to Law doth on her oath make the following Declaration Towit: That she is the widow of John Burch Deceased who was as she verily believes a soldier in the army of the Revolution and was a Revolutionary Pensioner of the United States at a rate of Eighty dollars per annum under the act of Congress of 7th June 1832. That she is now Seventy one years old. That she was married to her aforesaid husband when she was in her seventeenth year By one Richard Majors in Louden County, Virginia. That she and her aforesaid husband had seven children the oldest one of which is Robert B. Burch and is Fifty three years old. That she has not a record of her marriage but she has a record of the ages of her children which is herewith presented. That she and her aforesaid husband lived together as man and wife until his death which took place of the 1st day of March 1834 and that she is still a widow never having married since the death of her said Husband. She makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining a Pension under the act of Congress of the 2nd of February 1848 and believing that she is entitled to receive the same rate of Pension that her aforesaid Husband received she most respectfully asks the Hon Commissioner of Pensions to cause the allowance made and the certificate evidencing the same to be enclosed to her attorney Isaac W. Gratin of Frankfort, Kentucky.

Robert Benham Burch’s Statement: State of Kentucky Barren County On this the 13th day of November 1840 personally appeared before me William N. Alexander an acting justice of the Peace in and for the county and state aforesaid, Robert B. Burch who after being first duly sworn according to law doth make the following statements Towit: That he is the Child of John Burch and Elizabeth Burch. That he was fifty three years old on the 11 day of July last. That his Father was a Pensioner of the United States under the act of Congress of 7th of June 1832 at the rate of Eighty Dollars per annum. That he does verily believe that his aforesaid Father and Mother were married about the year of seventeen hundred and ninety six and that they lived together as man and wife until his father's death which took place on or about the 1st day of March 1834. That he has three sisters and three brothers younger than himself. Viz Margaret H. Burch, Landon J. Burch, Anne Burch, Fanny P. Burch, William D. Burch and John Burch. That he was married on the 21st day of May 1821 and is now a man of family and has only twelve children. Further Deponent saith not. Sworn to and subscribed before me on the day and year afsd. I the just subscribed magistrate do certify that the above Deponent is a man of the first respectability unto of whose statements the fullest faithe and credit should be given. I do further certify that he is personally known to me and is a farmer of this county and a man of family.

“In the old Nichols graveyard, about one mile east of Elbow Springs, and near the present home of Mr. Will Bowles, rests one of Barren County's numerous veterans of the Revolution. To his neighbors he was known as "Long" Burch, which was probably due to stature, being much taller than the average person. It has been ascertained from Mr. Bowles that Mr. Sandusky Burton, a Union veteran of the Civil War, would journey to the grave of the valiant old soldier each decoration day and place a flag there. Mr. Burton passed away several years ago and is buried in the same plot. Since that time Mr. Bowles has been caring for the grave. Markers of rather soft stone have been erected, but because of deterioration the crude lettering cannot be made out.This information was provided by Dale V. Key. Since then, the Burch family has erected a new headstone.”

Children of John Long Burch and Elizabeth Benham

1. Robert Benham Burch b July 11, 1797 married a cousin Ann Nichols the daughter of John Nicholas and Nancy Burch the daughter of Leonard Burch and Monica Webster.

2. Margaret Frances Burch Nichols b June 21, 1799

3. Landon J. Burch b August 9, 1801

4. Ann Burch b September 20, 1803

5. Fannie Poil Burch Nichols b December 19, 1806

6. William D. Burch b October 9, 1809

7. John Burch b February 12, 1816

LANDON J BURCH and MARY ELIZABETH PURSLEY

Grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Landon J. Burch

birth August 9, 1801, Amherst County, Virginia

death March 17, 1882, Niwot, Boulder County, Colorado

buried Niwot Cemetery, Niwot, Boulder County, Colorado

Mary Elizabeth Pursley

Birth 18 JANUARY 1811 • Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky, USA

Death 19 JANUARY 1890 • Marion County, Iowa, USA

Landon J Burch was born the son of John “Long” Burch Jun, and Elizabeth Beham. He moved with his father’s family to Barren County, Kentucky about 1816 and there he married Mary Elizabeth Pursley on 16 October 1832 while living at Elbow Springs, Barren County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of William Pursley and Nancy Buckley. About six years after their marriage Landon J. Burch settled in Van Buren County, Iowa Territory in 1838. Later his brother William Burch also came to Iowa Territory but did not remain in the state but a few years. He later moved to the southern part of Missouri. Both Landon and William Burch are shown as living next to each other in Van Buren County, Iowa in the 1840 Census.

LJ Burch Home in 1840 Van Buren, Iowa Territory

Free White Male age 30 thru 39 [1801-1810] Landon J Burch

Free White Female age 20 thru 29 [1811-1820] Mary Pursley

Free White Male age 20 thru 29 unknown

Free White Female age - 5 thru 9 [1831-1835] Manturia Burch 1833

Free White Female age Under 5 [1836-1840] Nancy Burch 1835

Free White Male age Under 5 [1836-1840] Orestus Burch 1837–1849

2 Persons Employed in Agriculture

After central and western Iowa was opened to settlement with the removal of the Sac and Fox Indians, they brothers moved to Marion County and settled on Whitebreast Creek, in Knoxville Township. Whitebreast Creek runs through a beautiful country, and it was on the bank of this stream, within the northern limits of Knoxville township, that Landon J. Burch erected the first mill in the county. The construction of mill was began in the summer of 1845 and completed in about a year and a half.

Landon and Mary moved to what is now known as Knoxville in Marion County, Iowa in 1844. The following is an abstract from an article Landon submitted to the "Old Settler's Association" of that county, describing the hardships of being one of the first settlers of that county.

THE HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY IOWA

“Landon J. Burch, a prominent old settler in the northern part of this township, and still a well-known resident there, was born in Virginia in 1801. He became an orphan early in life and was subjected to many hardships and adventures during a long career of changes of place and occupation, till he finally located here in 1844. In relation to his adventurous experience as a pioneer, we will let him speak for himself, quoting from an elaborate paper, submitted by him to the " Old Settlers Association" of Marion county.

"I and my brother William shouldered a parcel of provisions, a coffee pot, and axe and a gun, and left Winchester [community in Van Buren County] sometime in January [1844]. We traveled up the Des Moines Valley to White Breast Creek, and there took the claim where I now live for myself, and my brother took that whereon John Fry now lives. We stayed there eight or ten days, made some little improvement, lived in camp and suffered a great deal from cold.

During one day of the time it snowed, after which the weather became warm enough for the bees to come out, but still cool enough for some of them to become so chilled that they could not fly far. Then we went bee hunting. Instead of looking up into the trees we traced the hives by the fallen bees; and by this means we found several swarms, some of them quite rich.

"Then we had plenty of honey, but our bread and coffee soon gave out, and we went to an Indian trader at Red Rock, (or where the town now stands) and got a supply of coffee, meal, and a little whiskey. But the snow was so deep and the weather otherwise so bad, that we could not go on with our improvements; so we concluded to go home and move our families up at the earliest practicable time.

"A thaw commenced about the time we started which was about the last of January and continued till the ice broke on the river, and we began to prepare for moving. We had now been several years in Iowa, encountering all the difficulties attending up a newly settled country, and I had spent what money I had brought from [Barren County] Kentucky. Besides improving several lots in Winchester, [Van Buren County] I had built a small boat on the Des Moines River, with which I had carried lumber from Passmore's mill, on Lick Creek, to Ottumwa, to build the first frame house there and took my part in trade.

"On the 1st of March [1844] we loaded our plunder on the boat, at the mouth of Lick Creek, and started up the river. A man named Miles Wilkinson took passage with up intending to take a look at the country, and join with me in building a mill, provided he liked the situation.

"Soon after we got on the way the weather became cold and stormy, and as our boat was an open one, and our children small, we had to camp on shore every night for the sake of fire. Besides, Wilkinson had the ague, [an illness involving fever and shivering] and was not able to work the boat more than half the time. In this way we got along very slowly, and were twenty-one days getting to our claims. But here we were at last, with our wifes [wives] and little ones, five children each. Not a neighbor's dog could we hear bark, nor a chicken crew.

Wilkinson spent two days in prospecting between where Knoxville now stands and the Des Moines River, and came to the conclusion that the country would never be settled enough to justify the building of a mill, that the toll [money] from all the custom [customers] we would get would hardly feed a few pigs. So he went back and built a mill somewhere in the southern part of Wapello County.

"As for Bill and me, we were located, and if we had no kind neighbors to hold friendly conversation with, we had frequent opportunities to listen to the howling of wolves. Yet we were not quite destitute of neighbors. The Joneses [Jehu Jones’ family] had settled in the timber west of Knoxville; Elian Fuller had made a settlement on White Breast, and Wm. McCord had located between there and Red Rock, and he was my nearest neighbor. Two bachelors living on the river, named Johnson, I also became acquainted with.

"As soon as we got into a shelter brother Bill took my boat and went to work on the river, carrying flour from Meek's Mill, (Bonaparte) to the garrison on "Coon River", where Des Moines City now is. The river was high and my brother worked hard to make even small wages. At the same time I worked about home, planted three or four acres of corn, fixed up my smith tools, did some little jobs in that line for my distant neighbors, and also for the Indians, repairing their guns, etc., for which they paid me punctually with one exception. The children also traded with the Indians in little trinkets, and thereby obtained quite a friendly understanding with them. Both the children and I acquired a knowledge of their language very rapidly; but they left too soon to enable us to become perfect in it, or to make it useful to us. [1845]

"The creek [WhiteBreast] was full nearly all summer, and as I had a patch of corn on each side of it, I had to cross pretty often in a little unwieldly canoe. On one of these trips I came very close to losing 2 of my children.”

"This was the summer of '44, during the latter part of which my brother Bill moved to his own claim, and we lived about 3/4 of a mile apart. In August, our families all got sick, I being the only well one. We had got our stock [livestock] up from Van Buren county, during the summer, and when sickness came the care and labor that fell upon my unaided shoulders were enough to have employed three men.

Our eldest daughter [Manturia Burch] died [October 30 age 11 years] after a lingering illness of about 3 months. She died from the want of medical aid and attention, when there was not a soul present except I and my sick family. My wife was unable to turn herself in bed and as for me, trouble and the loss of sleep had so nearly worn me out that I scarcely knew anything. But for the fact that I was in good health, we must have all perished.

"When I say that my daughter was dying, I went out every few minutes and blew a little tin trumpet as loudly as I could, hoping to attract the attention of someone who might be within hearing. As is happened, a young man named Moyer, was crossing the prairie at day dawn, and hearing the blast, surmised it to be a note of alarm or distress, and came to the house. He and my brother laid out the corpse, and then went abroad among our scattered neighbors, who came in and assisted us to bury our child in a tolerably decent manner.

"Having failed, on account of sickness, to make a trip in the fall, our provisions gave out. We had plenty of milk, but no bread. During Sickness and after, I had to beat corn in a mortar and sift it for bread; and now this process had to be kept up until the ice broke out of the river in the spring following [1845]. Then I made a voyage to the old neighborhood [Winchester, Van Buren County] for a cargo of bread stuff. I shall never forget the rejoicing of the children on our return. Little ones that could scarcely utter their words plainly would cry out "we'll have plenty o'bread now, mother!"

"On reaching Eddyville, during one of these trips, we fell in with one of the agents of the contractor, names [J.B.] Scott, [hauler of supplies] who was there after corn for the garrison at Ft. Des Moines, and who prevailed on us to ship a load to that place, offering a high-price. There was no available means of transporting it by land just then, for the roads were so bad that a team could not draw much more than would feed it for the trip.

"So we agreed to turn back. The weather was good to start with, and if it so continued we calculated to make the trip in eight or nine days. It was important to get provisions enough to last us for that length of time. But after insisting very hard, all the meat we could get were a couple of small thin sides of bacon.

We had plenty of tea, and could have supplied ourselves with plenty of molasses, but could procure only one small jug to hold it. Meal we had none to start with, but supposed that when we should reach the horse mill, (or rather ox mill), just above where Coal port now is, we could get a supply. But here we could get only about 3 quarts. We could have got some of our cargo ground, but didn't, thinking we could surely get a supply at Red Rock. But we were again disappointed, for the only eatable thing we could get there was a peck of very small potatoes, and what whiskey we wanted.

"Here, the weather turned cold, and the wind blew so strong against us that we had to lay by. It grew so cold that the water froze on our poles, making them so slippery and heavy that we could not use them. And to add to our troubles, our small potatoes, the only substitute we had for bread, froze and became utterly worthless. We, however, made the best we could of them by trading them to the Indians for maple sugar. And they in turn, made the best of them by thawing them and drinking the juice with much relish.

"Having at last reached the Fort and delivered our load, we started on our return voyage with nothing to eat, hoping to reach Red Rock before we should suffer much. At that time there was but one settlement between the Fort and Red Rock, on what is now called Butcher's Prairie. By the time we reached this point the wind blew so hard up stream that we could make little or no progress, through one hand went on shore with a rope to pull while the others paddled on board.

"The situation was by no means promising, and we were compelled to land and wait for fair weather. So I went to the house to see if I could get something to eat. It was occupied by a man and his wife, whose name I have forgotten. The man was a surly fellow. No dry joke, that I could pass in stating my case, could make him smile, and he looked suspiciously at me and talked as though he thought the whole world was composed of robbers, and that I had come to impose upon him. In reply to my request for something to eat, he gruffly said he had nothing for himself. But the woman wore a different countenance, and from her pleased expression I was able to glean a hope. And not only her words but her works soon confirmed it. She said we were suffering and must be fed. So she went out and killed the only chicken she had, and with that and some flour, butter, and milk, she provided us a full meal, cooked. I carried it to the boat, and after our feast, when I returned the vessels, she would receive only the moderate sum of fifty cents. She was truly a sister of charity. Blessed be her memory.

"Next morning the weather was quite calm, and we finished our voyage without any further difficulty.

"Some time in the Spring or Summer of 1845, I commenced building a mill, and in about 20 months began to grind. It was a poor thing. I could not make more than 16 or 18 bushels of meal per day, but every bushel of toll was worth .50 cents, and as many settlers had came into the neighborhood, I got all the grinding I could do. My customers extended twelve or fifteen miles around; and after this there was no scarcity of bread."

On June 10, 1845, William Edmondson, sheriff of Mahaska County, proceeded to organize Marion County. He divided the county into five voting precincts and appointed the voting places and judges of election in each. In the Knoxville precinct the voting place was at the house of Landon J. Burch. John Babcock, William Burch and Richard R. Watts were the election judges in this precinct.

An election was held on September 1, 1845 (the first Monday) to accept the organization of Marion County. 187 votes were cast with 28 votes being from Knoxville Precinct. At an election in April, 1846, to organize Knoxville Township there were twenty-five votes cast in the Knoxville precinct. The names of these voters were the early settlers of the township. They are as follows: L. W. Babbitt, James Bothkin, Christopher Cox, Thomas S. Thompson, Emanuel Jenkins, John M. Jones, John Essex, Samuel H. Robb, W. M. Bassett, G. B. Greenwood, Lawson G. Terry, Moses Tong, Gerret W. Clark, Conrad Walters, Nathan P. Cox, Joseph Tong, Landon J. Burch, George Gillaspy, Francis Daygraaton, Francis A. Barker, Noah Bonebrake, John R. Welch, Reuben S. Lowry, Eli Wickersham, David Immel, Benjamin Casner.

At a called meeting of County commissioners, in November, 1846, it was ordered that townships seventy-five, and all of seventy-six lying south of the Des Moines River, both of range nineteen, and townships seventy-five and seventy-six, of range twenty be included in Knoxville township. This included, besides all the present territory of the township, all of Polk south of the Des Moines River and part of Union. Lawson Terry, Landon Burch and Moses Tong were appointed judges to lay out the boundaries of Knoxville precinct which “shall consist of township seventy-five, range nineteen and all of township seventy-six, range nineteen, south of the Dee Monies River, and east and south of Whitebreast creek, also of townships seventy-five and seventy-six, range twenty, east of the old Indian boundary line; elections arc to be held at the place of holding District Court.”

The 1850 United States Census of Marion County, Iowa taken 12 September 1850 Household 487

Landor J Burch age 48 born Virginia occupation Miller $2000

Mary E Burch age 38 born Kentucky

Nancy W Burch age 14 born Kentucky

Oceantha Burch age 10 born Iowa

Newton C Burch age 7 born Iowa

Semantha B Burch age 3 born Iowa

Charlotte Burch age 1 born Iowa

Two children of this family had died before the census was taken. His oldest daughter died in 1844 and his eldest son Son Orestus Ducalion Burch died 28 February 1849 at the age of 11 years. His brother William D Burch was enumerated as household 487. He is listed as a 40 year old farmer with a wife and seven children.

Between 1850 and 1853 Landon J Burch’s widowed mother moved to Marion County probably in 1851. Her sons William and Landon’s families there and Landon was prosperous enough by now to take care of her. She died 16 June 1853 at the home of Landon at the age of 76 years.

Landon J. Burch received about 160 acres in grants from the government between 1852 and 1858. On 10 March 1852 he received 40 acres located in the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 30 in the 76 township range 19. He also received another 40 acres located in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 24 in Township 76 in the 20th range. Two years later he received a grant of another 40 acres on 15 September 1854 located in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 30 in township 76 range 19. On 15 January 1858 he received 40 acres in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter in Section 14 of the 76 Township range 20.

The 1856 State Census of Iowa listed “L J Burch” as 56 years and born in Pennsylvania with his residence being Knoxville township, Marion County. He gave his occupation as a Miller. He, his wife and daughter Nancy all stated that they had lived in Iowa for 17 years or since 1839. He must have made his living primarily from his mill as he had no agricultural products except 150 pounds of butter. Others in his household were his wife Mary Burch age 45, daughter Nancy W Burch age 21, daughter Acantha Burch age 16, son Newton Burch age 14, daughter Samantha V Burch age 9, and daughter Olive Burch. Absent from the census is the daughter Charlotte who died 18 September 1851.

Landon Burch’s family was enumerated in the 1860 United States Census on 12 June 1860. He was household #321 and his brother had moved to Missouri by this time as his neighbor at household #322 was John Fry who had bought out Bill Burch. Landon Burch was listed as a 58 year old Miller by occupation and worth $3000 in real estate and $600 in personal property. Others in his household was his wife Mary Burch age 49, A [Arcantha] Burch age 20, Newton Burch age 18, Samantha Burch age 13, Oliver [Olivia] Burch age 7. At the time of this census their oldest surviving child Nancy White Burch had married a widower named Abraham Cronkite in 1857.

 Landon Burch’s first grandchild Mary Josephine "Josie" Cronkhite Cronkite was born in November 1858 and his daughter Nancy White Burch Cronkhite was pregnant with his second grandchild who was born in November 1860.

In November 1861 Landon Burch’s married daughter Nancy White Burch died leaving two young daughters under the age of three. The widower remarried and the girls were raised not near their Burch relatives.

Landon’s daughter Acantha known as “Cantha” married 23 August 1862 William Marion Davis during the Civil War. His daughter Samantha Marriage married 18 Nov 1863 in Marion County, Iowa, Augustus Caesar Cronkhite, the half-brother of Abram Cronkhite who came to Iowa to visit from Warren County, Indiana. The couple would return to Warren County, Indiana to raise a family there.

While his son Newton Burch was old enough to enlist in the Civil War he more than likely stayed home to assist his aging parents as the only surviving son.

The 1870 United States Census of Iowa listed the family of Landon J. Burch as still living in Knoxville Township as household 190. The family was enumerated on 16 June 1870 as L J Burch age 68 born in Virginia, M.E. Burch age 59 born in Kentucky, N.C. Burch age 25 born Iowa and Olive Burch age 17 born in Iowa. Newton Clay Burch and his sister Olive were the last of the children to still be at home.

Oliver Burch married on 21 Dec 1876 Albert M Jones the son of Isaac and Mary Booth Jones. They moved to Pocahontas, Arkansas where they had one son before Olive died there. The 1880 census listed Albert as a widower with a two year old son Frederick born in Arkansas.

Albert’s younger brother Silas W. Jones had married Olive’s niece Josie Cronkhite the previous year on 28 Feb 1875. Landon J. Burch’s family now had four connections with the Jones and Cronkhite families. His daughter Nancy White had married Abram Cronkhite, his daughter Samantha had married Abram’s half brother Augustus Cronkhite, his daughter Olive married Albert Jones, and his granddaughter Josie Cronkhite had married Albert’s brother Silas Jones.

Some time in the 1870’s the marriage between Landon Burch and his wife Mary Pursley fell apart and the couple separated after all their children were grown. Landon Burch left Iowa and went to Boulder County, Colorado where his brother William Burch had children. The 1880 Census shows that Landon and Mary were living in separate households. Landon is enumerated the 26th of June 1880 within the 218th household of a 28 year old Swede farmer named JH Andersen who is listed as single. They lived in Left Hand, Boulder County, Colorado.

L. J. Burch age 78 Birthplace Virginia Marital Status Married

Father's Birthplace Maryland Mother's Birthplace Virginia

Occupation Blacksmith

The Burch’s divorce record is recorded in book 2, page 208, case # 1202 on 12 August 1880 -Divorce- Landon Burch vs Mary E. Burch". That doesn't say whether it was the filing date or the decree date. A newspaper item said "Divorce - Burch, L.J. versus Mary E. Burch (1881 trial)". So it may be that he filed in 1880, had the hearing in 1881 and died in 1882.  Landon's divorce petition can be found in the book "Boulder County, Colorado Marriages, Anniversaries, Divorces, Births and Birthdays-1859-1900, Newspaper Abstracts" by Mary McRoberts, July 1991.

Landon J Burch’s gravemarker reads: L. J. Burch, died Mar 17, 1882, aged 80yrs, 7M's 8D's, and he was buried in Niwot Cemetery in Boulder, Colorado.

Mary Elizabeth Pursley Burch remained in Iowa after her husband left for Colorado and the 1880 Census shows that she was still living in Knoxville Township in Marion County. On the 23rd of July she is enumerated in the household of her son Newton Burch. He is the head of household 451 and Mary is listed as his mother. She is 69 years old “keepinghouse” and born in Kentucky. She stated that both of her parents were born in Virginia. Her Marital Status was “Married”. Newton is listed as a single 37 year old farmer.

The 1885 census of Iowa is the last record for Mary Elizabeth Pursley Burch. The census was taken 1 Jan 1885 and she is recorded in the household of her son “Nuten” [Newton]. Newton is listed as a 42 year old farmer living in the Northwest quarter of the Southeast quarter of section 30 Township 76 Range 19. Mary E Burch is listed 74 years old born in Kentucky. Also within the household was her grandson Francis Jones age 7. His father Albert M Jones had died in 1884 making him an orphan. The census says he was born in Kansas but he was born in Arkansas.

Mary Elizabeth Pursley Burch died 19 January 1890 probably at her son Newton’s residence Marion County. She was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery with a large obelisk marking her grave. She had lived in Marion County for 45 years.

The following is from the hand written pages of Landon J. Burch's Holy Bible,

This holy Bible was a present from M. M. ______, Pastor of the _____ton Creek Baptist Church to Landon J. Burch, 1821.

Landon J. Burch was born Aug. 9th,1801

Mary E. Burch was born Jan. 13th 1811

Mantura E. Burch was born Aug. 13th 1833

Nancy W. Burch was born Feb. 4th 1835

Orestes Ducalion Burch was born August 26th, 1837

Acantha Frances Burch was born January 21st, 1840

Newton Clay Burch was born March 23rd, 1842

Samantha Victoria Burch was born November 18,1846

Charlotte Burch was born November 11th, 1848

_______ ______was born August 24th, 1852 [Olive]

Mantura E. Burch died October 30, 1844

Orestes Deucalion Burch died September 18th, 1851

Charlotte Burch Died September 18, 1851

Buried: Burch Cemetery plot north of Knoxville, Marion Co, IA. [Greenwood]

Landon and Mary Ekizabeth were divorced in 1881 in Boulder Co, CO.

Landon J Burch and Mary Elizabeth Pursley had the following children

1. Mantura Elizabeth Burch b August 13, 1833 Barren County, Kentucky died October 30, 1844 at the age of 11 years in Marion County, Iowa Territory

2. Nancy White Cronkhite born February 4, 1835 Barren County, Kentucky married Abraham Cronkhite 30 December 1857. She died 6 November 1861 age 26 years and was survived by two daughters Mrs. Josie Cronkhite Jones and Mrs. Augusta Victoria Neve

3. Orestes Ducalion Burch b August 26, 1837 Barren County, Kentucky died 28 February 1849 age 11

4. Acantha Frances Davis b January 21, 1840 Winchester, Van Buren County, Iowa Territory. She died 18 December 1923 age 82 years in Lafayette Colorado. The Lafayette Leader, Friday, December 21, 1923: Mrs. Cantha Davis Dies Last Tuesday Passes Away Dec 18, At Her Home Aged 82; Funeral Thursday Cantha Frances Davis, died at her home in this city last Tuesday, December 18, aged 82 years and 11 months. Death followed an illness due to the infirmities of old age. Cantha Frances Burch was born in Winchester, Iowa, January 21, 1841. August 21 1861, near Knoxville, Iowa she was united in marriage to William M. Davis. To this union were born six children, three of whom survive, Mrs. Emma Noftsger and D. D. Davis of Mt. Harris, and O. O. Davis of Denver. In 1903 the family came to Colorado and five years ago Mr. and Mrs. Davis moved to Lafayette, where Mr. Davis passed away in 1921. Because of her advanced years Mrs. Davis lived a retiring life but those who knew her speak of her as a consistent Christian woman. Funeral services in charge of the Henning mortuary were held at the M. E. church Thursday afternoon, conducted by Rev. J. C. B. Hopkins and the remains were laid to rest in the Lafayette cemetery.

5. Newton Clay Burch b March 28, 1842 Winchester, Van Buren County, Iowa Territory. He married Sarah Malissa Timmerman circa 1892 when he was 50 years old and she was 42 years old. They had one son Newton Clay Burch Jr. who married but had no children. Newton Clay Burch Sr, died 7 Apr 1922 Knoxville, Marion, Iowa, at the age of 79.

6. Samantha Victoria Cronkhite b November 18, 1846 Knoxville Township, Marion County, Iowa married Augustus Caesar Cronkhite. She died 29 November 1880 in Warren County, Indiana, at the age of 34 years and left two daughters.

7. Charlotte Burch b November 11, 1848 Knoxville Township, Marion County, Iowa She died 18 September 1851 2 years of age.

8. Olive Jones b August 24, 1852 Knoxville Township, Marion County, Iowa. She married Albert M Jones on 21 December 1876. They moved to Pocahontas, Randolph County, Arkansas where they had just one son before she died circa 1879.