My column last week on brick walls prompted an e-mail from Vicky (vickyjchambers@yahoo.com) who lives in Gainesville. She reads the column on the Internet each week. Vicky writes:

"Hi Judy, I'm frustrated with a branch in my tree. I figure this is a great way to get more names to work with. Joseph Burson was born about 1779, probably in Union County, S.C. He migrated to Gwinnett County where he is found in 1830 and 1840. This is the list of children I believe he had. The only one I am 100 percent sure of is Frances Brookfield Burson, born 24 July 1821 in Jackson County. She married John King at Kings Tan Yard. John and Frances are both buried in Roswell, which formerly was in Milton County.

"These may have been his other children: (1) Fletcher A.T. Burson, born after 1804 in Georgia, died May 1860 in Coweta County. Married first Jane Nash on 17 Nov. 1831 in Crawford County, married second Susannah J. Waller on 18 Feb. 1844 in Upson County. (2) Mary A. Burson, born 8 Aug. 1807, died 6 Sept. 1884 in Carroll County. Married Benjamin King of Abbeville, S.C. (3) George W. Burson, nothing else known. (4) James C. Burson, born about 1817. (5) Martha B. Burson, born about 1825. (6) Jerusha Burson, born after 1825.

"In some Civil War information, Joseph Burson is called 'Jim' Burson. Fletcher seems to be some sort of traveling evangelist who lived his last years in Coweta County. I'm hoping there are some Burson descendants in Coweta. I am hoping to go sideways into this. Forward is not working. With a name like Fletcher A.T. you would think I could find some concrete information. But, so far, dead ends.

"I think I would just like to know if there are any Burson people in your area researching the Burson family. Thanks, Vicky."

Vicky also sent me her family file which shows she has done quite a bit of research on her early Bursons, beginning with George Burson who was born in 1662 in Scarborough, England and died in Gilberts Manor, Philadelphia, Pa.Nov. 26, 1715, at the age of 53. The Bursons reportedly were Quakers and fled England to escape religious persecution.

George Burson married Hannah Goode and had six children: James, b. 1688; Joseph, b. 1689; Mary b. 1692; Ann, b. 1694; William, b. 1696; and George, b. 1701. George's son, Joseph (#1), married Rachel Potts, daughter of Jonas Potts and Mary Thomaston, and migrated from Pennsylvania to Louden County, Va. where he died sometime after 1776. Joseph and Rachel had the following children: Ann, b. 1719; James, b. 1722; Joseph (#2), b. 1730; Rachel, b. 1732; Benjamin and Sarah, b. 1739.

Joseph's brother, George, also migrated to Louden County, with his wife, Sarah Cox. Most of the Bursons in Indiana, Ohio, Colorado and California are descendants of George and Sarah Burson, including former President Richard Milhous Nixon, according to information found in this family file.

Joseph Burson (#2), b. 1730, (son of Joseph #1) married Mary Shaw and had the following children: Jonathan, b. 1750, Isaac, b. 1752, Lydia, b. 1756; Phoebe, b. 1759; Rachel b. 1762; Peggy, b. 1764; Polly, b. 1767; Joseph, b. 1771; Jesse, b. 1774; Enoch, b. 1775; and Alice, b. 1776. This family migrated from Virginia to South Carolina and on into Georgia. Joseph #2 died on 28 Oct. 1801 in Warren Co., Ga.

Isaac Burson, son of Joseph (#2), was born in Va. in 1752. He married Sarah Shaw in Union County, S.C. in 1774 and had the following children: Hannah, b. 1778; Joseph (#3), b. 1779; Isaac, b. 1781; Sally, b. 1783; Elisha, b. 1786; Deliah, b. 1791; David, b. 1792, and Brookfield, b. 1797. Isaac died in Jackson County about 1830 and Sarah died in 1832.

Isaac's son, Joseph (#3), married but his wife's name is unknown. Joseph (#3) and his wife had the following children: Fletcher A.T., b. bef. 1804; Mary A., b. 1807, George W., b. 1814; James C., b. 1817; Francis Brookfield, b. 1821; Martha B., b. bef. 1825; Jerusha b, aft. 1825, and three children whose names are not known.

Many children and grandchildren of Joseph (#3) were married and lived in Campbell, Carroll and Coweta counties.

One was Mary A. Burson, dau. of Joseph (#3), who married Benjamin King, son of Joseph King, and died in Carroll County in 1884.

Another was Joseph Gorder King, son of Mary and Benjamin, who married Indiana Langston of Campbell County and moved to Bowdon in Carroll County. Indiana died there in 1890 Joseph in 1925.

Still another was William Carter King, son of Joseph Gorder King and Indiana Langston, who was born in Carroll County and married Lucinda Frances Burt. This couple and their family migrated to Cullman, Ala.

If you can connect to any of these Bursons and their descendants, I'm sure Vicky would like to hear from you.

Got a brick wall of your own? Tell me about it ... you'll never break it down unless you let somebody know it's there. And I'm still looking for information on your families who settled for any length of time in the counties south of Atlanta. We want to know who they were and what they did, where they came from and where they went. Send mail to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Until next week, happy hunting!

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