Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tombstone Tuesday - Walter Burns

Walter Burns first appears on the 1840 Livingston County, Kentucky census as a single man between the ages of 20 and 30. On the 30th of December 1840, he married Miss Evalina Petty. Before his death in 1849, Walter Burns served as county jailer and as paymaster of the 24th Regiment, 19th Brigade.

It is believed that Walter and Evalina had the following children: James Walter, Charles H., Isabella and Agnes.



Walter Burns
Born
in Kilsyth, Scotland
April 16, 1815
Died
July 9, 1849
 
Buried Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky. The tombstone above was photographed in 2010. During the summer of 2012, someone wedged a piece of wood in front of the stone, perhaps in an attempt to straighten it. As a result, the tombstone broke at ground level.
 
 
Evalina Petty Burns married as her second husband, James E. Smullen on 25 March 1856 in Livingston County. At the time of that marriage, she was listed as age 38, widowed, born Christian County, Kentucky and a resident of Smithland. She died after 1880, probably in Livingston County.
 
 
 



2 comments:

sueold55 said...

Walter was my great-great grandfather. He became much more real to me earlier this year when I obtained a copy of a hand-written family history his son James Walter wrote in 1912. Walter left Scotland in 1836 at age 21, went to Canada, and joined the Patriots in the revolt against Britain in 1837. After this he traveled south and settled in Salem Kentucky. He met Evaline at church where she sang in the choir, and he "wooed and won her heart" and she became his wife. In 1843 they moved to Smithland and had 4 children, and he died in 1849 at the age of 34. Each gravestone has a whole lifetime of living buried beneath it. Until I became interested in genealogy I never thought of it this way. My thanks to Bonnie for understanding this and bringing people to life, and for respecting each of them like she does.

Brenda Joyce Jerome said...

Thank you for the additional information. What a treasure you have in the hand written family history! I really appreciate you for sharing this info and you can call me Bonnie any time! Thanks again.