Chapter 6A Our Burks Family History
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Chapter 6A Our Burks Family History By means of introduction, the surname Burks is both Irish and English. Various genealogical sites claim the Irish origin, and say that the Burks family was one of the Tribes of Galway. It is said the name was originally deBurgo; Burgo a form of the German “Burgh” meaning “fortified place,” and Burks could refer to one who lived in a village. There are many different spellings of the name: deBurgh, Birk, Bourke, Burge, Burke, Burk, Burks, etc. The genealogical history of the Burke family in Ireland is populated with people of considerable importance. William de Burgh was the progenitor [don’t you just love that word??] of the Burkes in Ireland and a brother of Hubert de Burgh, “the most powerful man in England next to King John.” These brothers claimed ancestry directly from Charlemagne. And just so you know where this narrative is headed, my paternal grandmother was Kate Cameron Burks. Kate married Ray Miller Oakley in Quincy, Illinois, on 7 April 1897. So the “Oakley family” descendants of Ray and Kate are just as much derived from the Burks family as they are from the Oakley family. ============================ Generation 1: John Burks John Burks was born in 1655 in Ireland. He died in 1721 in Virginia. He married Mary Partree Peartree in 1679. She was born in 1657 (some say 1660) in Virginia. She died in 1721 in Albemarle County, Virginia. So unlike our Oakley, Burr, and Miller ancestors who lived in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, the Burks family that immigrated to America lived much farther south, in Virginia. Several online genealogies state that John Burks was the son of another John Burks, who was born in 1635 in County Mayo, Ireland, and who died in 1735 in Ireland at the age of 100. John Burks and his wife, Mary Partree Peartree, had the following child: Samuel King Burks, Sr. – born about 1680 in Hanover, Albemarle County, Virginia. ============================= Generation 2: Samuel King Burks, Sr. Samuel King Burks, Sr., was born in about 1680 in Hanover, Albemarle County, Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia, is the county seat of the present day Albemarle County. Samuel died before 12 February 1756 in St. Anne’s Parish, Albemarle County, Virginia. His occupation was “Indian Trader” and he was a Quaker. Samuel King Burks, Sr., married Mary Elizabeth Davis in 1703 in Virginia. Mary Elizabeth Davis was born on 16 May 1685; she was one-quarter Indian. Her maternal line can be traced directly to the Indian Chief Powhatan, whose Indian name was Wahunsonacook (sometimes spelled Wahunsenacawh or Wahunsonacock). Chief Powhatan, who died in1618, was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time that the English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607. [More on this towards the end of this narrative – keep reading …] As an aside, Mary Elizabeth Davis had a brother named Robert Davis, who was a direct ancestor of President Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Jefferson Davis never publicly acknowledged his Indian heritage. Samuel King Burks, Sr., and Mary Elizabeth Davis had the following children: 1. Elizabeth Burks (b. 1705, d. 21 September 1756) – she married William Cabell 2. Mary Partree Burks (b. 1706, d. 1777) – she married Obadiah Smith 3. Samuel Burks, Jr. (1707–1753) 4. Capt. John Peartree Burks (b. 1710, d. 1773) 5. Richard Floyd Burks (b. 1713, d. 12 July 1753) 6. Charles Richard Burks (b. 1715, d. 1753) 7. Frances Burks (b. 1718, d. 1795) Samuel King Burks, Sr., must have been very successful. Court records show that on 9 July 1770, Samuel King Burks Sr. sold 600 acres in Albemarle County for 100 pounds to Obediah Smith, husband of Samuel’s daughter, Mary. This land was adjoining the Rivanna River, 200 acres of which were granted to Samuel by Patent date 28 September 1732 and 400 acres by Patent date 5 June 1754. The book “The Cabells and Their Kin” states that Samuel King Burks Sr. and his wife were “the ancestors of the Burks family of Virginia”. He owned much land, both by Patent and by purchase. His will is recorded in Albemarle County Will Book 2 p. 23: IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN: I Samuel Burks of Saint Annes Parrish, county of Albemarle, being of sound mind and memory do make and declare this to be my last will and testament...First, I give to my son John Peartree Burks...my negro boy named Prince...to my daughter Mary Smith...my negro girl named Lyddia...to my beloved wife Mary Burks during her natural life the use of the following slaves now belonging to me...Toby, Frank, Nan, Phillis, Tom, Simon, Flora, Bess, Sammy, Will and Lucy...to my wife Mary Burks...the use of all my houses and lands...the use of all my personal estate not already disposed of...after my wife's decrease the tract of land whereon I now live containing six hundred acres shall be sold...money arising from the sale...distributed in the following manner...to my daughter Elizabeth Cabell one shilling sterling money...to my son Samuel Burks...one shilling sterling money...my son Richard Burks...one shilling sterling money, the residue of the said money shall be equally divided between my son John Peartree Burks, Charles Burks and my daughter Mary Smith and my Grandson Samuel Burks...it is my will that my wife shall have all the uses of my lands and of the slaves and the rest of my personal estate...during her life. I desire she may be undisturbed in that possession and...if any person or persons on any pretense whatsoever shall endeaver to disturb or molest her in her said right he, she or they shall be deprived of all benefit of this my will except one shilling sterling money and the rest of his or her legacies...shall be vested in my said wife... Lastly, I do appoint my said wife Mary Burks and my friend John Smith, Jnr. Executors of this my last will and testament. In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 6th day of October in the year of Our Lord 1755. His Samuel X mark Burks (L.S.). Signed, sealed and published in the presence of Samuel Hopkins, Jos. Thompson and William X Moore (his mark) Here is an original of his will: It looks like he cut some of his children out of the will, since he only left them one shilling each. Elizabeth Burks Cabell was a very wealthy woman, so maybe he didn’t give much to his offspring who didn’t need it. And it pains me to note that Samuel King Burks, Sr., owned so many slaves. Other lines of the Burks family continued to use the name Samuel King Burks name as late as 1888 – and that particular individual’s father was named Benjamin Franklin Burks. Is this a great family, or what? ============================== Generation 3: Samuel King Burks, Jr. (some say he was Samuel King Burks II – the first Burks II aka “B2”). Samuel King Burks, Jr., was born in 1707 in Albemarle, Virginia. In 1725, he married Elizabeth Mims in Albemarle, Virginia. She was born in 1710 and died in 1753. Samuel King Burks, Jr., and his wife Elizabeth, had seven children: 1. Samuel King Burks, III (1725–1784) 2. Mary Partree Burks (1726–1784) 3. George Richard Burks (1732–1792) 4. Elizabeth Burks (1736–1835) 5. David Burks (1740–1828) 6. Charles Burks (1741–1817) 7. John Burks (1742–1828) Samuel King Burks, Jr., died on 12 July 1753 in Albemarle, Virginia. Other than that his wife’s name was Elizabeth, there isn’t a lot of information for this Samuel. His death was prior to his father’s. Note the spelling of the family name Burks as Burk in his will, but when his wife qualified as the executor, her name was entered as Burks. Here is the text of his will: IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN: I Samuel Burk Jr. of Albemarle County being sick and weak, but of perfect mind and memory, thank Almighty God for it, do this fifth day of January, One Thousand Seven hundred and forty-three, make constitute and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following to wit: Item: I give and bequeath unto my sons David Burk, Richard Burk, John Burk and Charles Burk...to be equally divided between my said sons, when David shall attain the age of twenty-one years, my eight hundred acres of land I hold on Pedler River. I give to my son George Burk...one hundred and fifty acres of land I now dwell on. I give to my son Samuel Burk...my entry of one hundred acres of land I hold on Tye River. I give to my daughters, Elizabeth Burk...Mary Partree Burk and Million [Milliam??] Burk and to their heirs, when they shall marry or attain twenty- one years, twenty five pounds current money of Virginia to each of them. Item: I give and bequeath to my loving wife Elizabeth and to her heirs forever, fifty acres of land an entry I hold on Watt's Creek. Item: I lend my said wife so long as she continues my widow and no longer, my negro man Adam and all the rest of my estate real and personal for the maintenance and bringing up of my children but in case my wife Elizabeth should marry or when she departs this life then...all my estate lent her shall be equally divided between all my children before mentioned.