Special Collections Department Burd Family Papers 1703 - 1937 (bulk dates 1800 - 1860) Manuscript Collection Number: 379 Accessioned: Gift of the Moyerman family, 1970. Extent: 3 linear ft. (1372 items) Content: Wills, deeds, estate records, correspondence, bills, receipts, funeral notices, legal documents, stock certificates, mortgages, account books, and ephemera. Access: The collection is open for research. Processed: September 1998 by Arthur Siegel for reference assistance email Special Collections or contact: Special Collections, University of Delaware Library Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 (302) 831-2229 Table of Contents Biographical Note Scope and Contents Note Series List Contents List Genealogical Tables Biographical Note The Burds were a distinguished family of Scottish origin, whose members were engaged in both the legal and military professions, and were also prominent landowners in Pennsylvania. Edward Shippen Burd's grandfather, Col. James Burd (1726-1793), was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, and settled on a farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, after his marriage in 1748 to Sarah Shippen, a member of the prominent Shippen family of Lancaster and Shippensburg. He joined the military as an officer at the outbreak of the French and Indian War, eventually earning the rank of colonel by 1758. From 1756-1757 he was in command of Fort Augustus, near Shamokin, Pennsylvania, and from 1764-1770 he held the office of Justice of Lancaster County. In 1774, a year before the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain, Col. Burd was instrumental in garnering local support for the colonial congress in its opposition to the Crown, and by the following year was assisting in the military organization of Lancaster County as a member of the Committee of Safety. His direct military involvement in the Revolutionary War was brief, however, as he resigned his post in December 1776 due to frustrations over the mismanagement of troops. James Burd's son, Edward Burd (1750/51-1833), was a nephew of Pennsylvania Chief Justice Edward Shippen (1729-1806), with whom he studied law as a young man. He was a member of the Berks County Bar, practicing in Reading, Pennsylvania until 1776, when he joined the colonial army as a volunteer. He was captured at the Battle of Long Island in that same year, but once he was freed his ill health kept him from re-enlisting in the service. Instead, he continued his legal career, winning an appointment to the High Court of Errors and Appeals. In 1778 he married Edward Shippen's daughter Elizabeth, and as a result Edward Burd was appointed by his new father-in-law (and uncle) Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, a position he held until 1805. Edward Burd owned a number of properties in the city of Philadelphia, and lived in an area that was inhabited by other prominent lawyers and judges of the day, including Jared Ingersoll, Joseph B. McKean, and Edward Tilghman. He also built a house on the Schuylkill River, naming it "Ormiston" after the birthplace of his father. Edward Shippen Burd, a prominent and wealthy lawyer, was born in Philadelphia on December 25, 1779, and was the only son of Edward and Elizabeth (Shippen) Burd. In 1800 he was admitted to the bar, and in 1810 he married Eliza Howard Sims, daughter of Wooddrop and Sarah Sims. Eliza inherited a large estate from her father, an estate which was placed under the executorship of the reverend William White, Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania, and her uncle Joseph Sims. Beginning in 1814 a dispute arose between Edward Shippen Burd and Joseph Sims, and the latter was dismissed as executor in 1822, to be replaced by Edward Burd. Edward Shippen and Eliza Burd had eight children. However, five of them died before the age of four years, and the remaining three -- Elizabeth (1815-45/6), Margaret (1819-1844), and Wooddrop (1822-1837) -- predeceased both of their parents. The loss of all his children proved to be too much of a shock for Burd to bear, and he died on October 17, 1848. He was buried in St. Stephen's Church in Philadelphia, an institution which he had helped to found years before. Eliza Burd memorialized her husband and their children by commissioning the erection of a monument at St. Stephen's Church, and several years later conceived the idea of establishing a school for fatherless girls. She died in 1860, but her will provided for the principles and funding of this institution. Edward Shippen, son of Edward and Sarah (Plumley) Shippen, was born in Philadelphia on February 16, 1729. Edward's father was a prosperous merchant, who encouraged his son to study law, and by age 17 Edward was working with noted Philadelphia lawyer Tench Francis. In 1748, Edward traveled to London to continue his legal studies at Middle Temple, working for several years as a barrister as well. Afterwards he returned to the colonies, and in 1752 was appointed Judge of the Court of Admiralty in Philadelphia. Over the next two decades he developed a distinguished legal career, winning appointments to several other prominent positions. However, when the revolution broke out in 1775, his professed loyalty to Britain resulted in the loss of several key appointments, as well as a severe restriction on his movements. Fortunately for Shippen, his judicial stature was such that these were not permanent recriminations, and in 1784 he was appointed Judge of the High Court of Errors and Appeals of Pennsylvania, a position he held until 1806. He was appointed to other judicial posts as well, including Associate Justice in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which he held from 1791 to 1799. In that year, Chief Justice McKean was elected governor, and appointed Shippen to take his place as Chief Justice, a position he held until 1805. Edward Shippen was a member of the American Philosophical Society, as well as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, which bestowed upon him an honorary LL.D. degree in 1790. In 1753 Edward Shippen married Margaret Francis, daughter of prominent lawyer Tench Francis, who for many years was the agent in America of the Penn family, and who at one point was Attorney General of Pennsylvania. Together, Edward and Margaret had seven children: Elizabeth (b. 1754), who married Edward Burd; Sarah (1756-1831), who married Thomas Lea of Philadelphia; Mary (b. 1757), who was the second wife of Dr. William McIlvaine; Edward (1758-1809), who married Elizabeth Juliana Footman; Margaret (1760-1804), who married Benedict Arnold; John Francis (1762-1763); and James (1766- 1769). In 1805, as a result of failing health, Shippen resigned his position as Chief Justice, and on April 16 of the following year he died. Daniel W. Coxe, son of William (1723-1801) and Mary (Francis) Coxe, was born in Philadelphia on September 20, 1769. Daniel was a descendent of one of the oldest families in Philadelphia, and like Edward Shippen Burd was a descendant of Tench Francis. His father, William Coxe, was a prominent judge who held numerous positions; he was a member of the Philadelphia Council, Alderman, a member of the Independent Company of Foot, a trustee of the College of Philadelphia, and a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Daniel Coxe was a successful merchant and landowner, and in 1800 he married Margaret Burd (1781-1845), daughter of Edward and Eliza Shippen Burd mentioned above. They had no children, and lived for the first eight or nine years of their marriage in a house built for them in Philadelphia by Margaret's father. Daniel Coxe's financial investments and business ventures were rather varied. Aside from owning numerous shares in bank stocks, he owned several vessels which regularly traded goods with England, and he owned "Belleville," an estate on the Schuylkill River. From 1800-1805 he was the director of the Insurance Company of North America, in 1807 he served as one of the managers of the Philadelphia Assembly (a post he shared with several others, including Edward Shippen Burd), and in 1814 he was one of the founders of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Coxe was also active politically, though largely in response to economic concerns. Like other merchants, Coxe faced severe financial losses during the War of 1812 due to spoliation by Great Britain and the United States, and he served on a committee of Philadelphia citizens to draft a petition of complaint to President James Madison. Coxe also delivered a speech at a meeting in 1825 concerning the proposed Allegheny and Susquehanna Canal. Daniel Coxe had numerous siblings, including the Hon. John Coxe, who was President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, and the Hon. Tench Coxe (1755-1824), who was a merchant as well as a member of the Continental Congress. Daniel Coxe died on June 4, 1852, at the age of eighty three years. Note: See geneological charts in Appendix Sources: Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. ed. by John W. Jordan, LL.D. vol.1 Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Dictionary of American Biography. ed. by Dumas Malone. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Eberlein, Harold Donaldson & Cortlandt Van Dyke Hubbard. Portrait of a Colonial City: Philadelphia 1670-1838. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1939. Jackson, Joseph. Encyclopedia of Philadelphia. Harrisburg: The National Historical Association, 1931-3. Lewis, John Frederick. The History of an Old Philadelphia Land Title: 208 South 4th Street. Philadelphia: Patterson & White, Co., 1934. Ross, Michael. The Reluctant King: Joseph Bonaparte, King of the Two Sicilies and Spain. New York: Mason Charter, 1977. Simpson, Henry. The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians Now Deceased. Philadelphia: William Brotherhead, 1859. Scope and Content Note The Burd Family Papers concern the business, legal, and personal affairs of the Burd family, prominent lawyers and landowners from Philadelphia, as well as the legal and business affairs of other branches of the extended family, including the Shippens and Coxes.