Posted by Bill Burroughs Thanks for the note. I am familiar with your John. I think that the whole family arrived in Mathews County just after 1800 from Stafford County, Virginia. I descend from William K. Burroughs, the likely brother of your John and of Elzy Burroughs, Sr. Elzy was a stonemason, and had the federal contract to build three lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay. As all three Burroughs arrived in Mathews at the same time (there seem to have been none there prior to 1800), as they lived in the New Point area of the County (the far southern tip) and considering that Elzy is known to have built New Point Comfort lighthouse out of sandstone in 1803-04 and was the keeper from 1804 through 1814 (though he actually left the county in 1810), this indicates to me that they were probably all working together as stone masons in constructing the lighthouse. The Burroughs of Mathews still live in the New Point area on land the apparently originally belonged to the Armisteads. William K. Burroughs married an Armistead woman. Stafford County was known to be a key source for sandstone used in construction of the US Capitol and the White House. Local Mathews County tradition has always held that the lighthouse was built from the same stone as was the US Capitol and White House. I have found a reference to a law suit in Fredericksburg between a Dunbar and a John Burroughs that refers to the taking of stone from the property of John Burroughs in Stafford County, and refers to a quarry. There was a John Burroughs in Mathews in 1835 who was collecting a Revolutionary War pension and was serving in the Revolution in 1775. Strangely, he was in the Gloucester County regiment. I say strangely as there is no record of any Burroughs in Gloucester at this time. I believe that John Burroughs (the elder) was a resident of Stafford County, owned a stone quarry, and was the father of Elzy, your John (who I think was also named John Henry Burroughs like his son), Elzy, William, and perhaps other boys, plus a girl or two. I believe that all of the boys learned some degree of stonemasonry skills as children. The Burroughs were not in Stafford County for long (probably just one generation). Despite the theories of some researchers, all the evidence that I have seen (and the consistently strong weight of family traditions in both Mathews and Princess Anne) points to the family originating in Princess Anne County, known early as Lower Norfolk. We probably descend from the line of Christopher Burroughs of Lynnhaven Parish in Princess Anne County, circa early 1600s. There is a bio of Capt. William H. Burroughs (Elzy's grandson), written in the late 1800s that states that Elzy descended from one of the oldest families in Virginia. The only Burroughs in early Virginia with the same spelling (this family line has kept a consistent spelling while in America) were the Princess Anne Burroughs of the line of Christopher. I have made contact with the descendents of Elzy Burroughs who have been a prominent family in Princess Anne County (Virginia Beach) since he moved there suddenly in 1810 after his wife apparently died giving birth to his son Richard H. Burroughs. Elzy ended up a wealthy man who died at around 50 years old. His grave and those of his children are in a cemetery behind his old home. Elzy's family homestead still stands as a historic landmark near the Virginia Beach/old Princess Anne Courthouse, on Holland Road. His descendents were wealthy and kept the farm, which continues to work, though it has passed out of the family. Other family members are still in the farming business and are landowners/landlords. Note that Joanna Borum, your John's wife, was a Mathews County native, and Borum is an old and prominent name here. I have seen a reference to a John H. Burroughs who was the Superintendent of the Gosport Navy Yard during the Civil War, and who commented on the cladding of an ironclad ship, the CSS Richmond, that was being built to replace the CSS Virginia (Merimac). This must be your John H. Burroughs. Even though he lists his occupation as "shipwright" in your records, it is not uncommon for skilled artisans to define themselves by their traditional skill even after they rise to a high administrative position. I can send you this info if you like. However, I had also read that John Henry Burroughs was a Union man during the Civil War (in Samuel Burroughs' bio). My family tradition always said that a Burroughs fought in blue during the War. I do not know if they were refering to John Henry, who would have been out of Mathews County by then. You can find more info on your John and his likely father from the GEDCOM downloadable at this website. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Again, thanks for the note. All of the branches of this family need to get to know each other and discover our common ancestry.
on 8/17/2002, 9:25 pm
Hey Bruce -
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