Our family DNA traces our Burns ancestry back to the Perthshire area which adjoined the southern edge of the Highlands of Scotland, matching the DNA of descendants of the MacLeod and Rattray clans:  CLICK

 

In the 1600s, King James I of England and VI of Scotland confiscated all of the lands in Ireland of the O'Neils and O'Donnell clans, nearly a half million acres. He recruited protestant, English speaking colonists from Scotland, many from Perthshire, to resettle these lands. This colonization never really settled Northern Ireland and between 1717 and 1770 an estimated 150,000 Scots-Irish left Northern Ireland for America, most arriving in Philadelphia.

We do know the family appeared in America during this huge influx of Ulster Scot immigrants, or Scots-Irish as they became known here. It is likely the family came from the Northern Ireland (the red) area populated by these Ulster Scots.


So far we have no clue as to when, how or why James Burns came to America. It was a difficult three month trip across the Atlantic and thousands died trying to make it to the New World.

He could have worked his way on a ship or been a deserter from the British army. It is quite possible his parents came as an indentured servants and he was born here, we just don’t know, but maybe this was his mother talking:


Whenever and however the Burns family came to America, they brought with the them Ulster Scot passion for freedom and hatred for British oppression. CTRL (Sorry, if you are not my Friend here you cannot see this link.)

There are not any books or articles about James Burns, nothing we can look up and say this was him. There are no family stories about him we can use to say what he was like—we didn’t even know he existed.

What is known about him comes from his Revolutionary War record and government records in Kentucky . If it weren't for those, we wouldn't even be able to put together “what probably was.” But when you look at the places he lived, and when he lived there, you know he had to be one tough and hardy individual. I have pieced together a picture of him by looking at his times and those who lived around him.

 

From his Revolutionary War pension application (which was granted) made in 1820 in Pendleton Co, Ky, it appears he was born in 1759 (he said he was 61 in 1820) but where he was born remains a mystery. CLICK  Most researchers list him as being born in Pennsylvania simply because that is where he enlisted in the Revolutionary War, there is no documentation that he was in fact born there. All we really know is that he married Eleanor Wilson in Pennsylvania sometime around 1773, their oldest son Thomas was born there sometime around 1773, and they were living in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, at the start of the Revolutionary War.

As you can tell, these dates are not entirely accurate. He would not have been 14 when he got married. The 1773 date is from the age his oldest son Thomas stated on the 1850 census (he said he was 77). Either Thomas was a couple of years younger or James was born a couple of years earlier, they is no way to tell which is the correct date at the present time.

Burns was a common name during that period and James was a popular given name for a lot of the families making it impossible to find a record of a James Burns and say there he is. Finding him back in Pennsylvania is going to take a lot more work, and luck, because of the number of James Burns in the state.

We also know James Burns was a farmer, but then virtually everyone was a farmer back then. You either planted and grew your food or your family didn’t eat. So James Burns was a farmer. And he was a frontiersman .


Their first shelter was probably a very crude one that was half tent and half log cabin. As they cleared their land to plant more crops they used the trees to build a crude log cabin. The logs were left exposed inside or Eleanor might have plastered them while James was out hunting. It would have been a crude building, sixteen to twenty feet in length and not more than twelve or sixteen feet wide. Inside was a single room centering on a fireplace along one wall with an unfinished loft above. Furniture was simple, a table, a few stools or chairs, and mattresses stuffed with corn shucks. Windows were few and frequently without glass, covered by wooden shutters and animal skins during the winter months.

The Westmoreland County area of Pennsylvania was all wilderness, the western frontier of the colonies. There were no roads. There was no farmland. It was all trees and forests. It was Indian territory and the risk of attacks was very real. Farmers like James Burns hunted and trapped for their food while they used an axe to clear an acre or two to plant crops in. His wife, Eleanor, would have worked along side him clearing that acre and planting it. His rifle would have been within a quick reach and she would have probably had hers nearby also.

A Mary Dewees, while traveling from Philadelphia to Kentucky in 1787, wrote about staying at a cabin at the foot of the hill which had “perhaps a dozen logs upon one another, with a few slabs fer a roof and the earth for a floor & a wooden Chimney….”

The first court sessions in the County were held in Widow Piper’s Tavern (which is still there today as a historic landmark). Deeds and records were kept by the officials in their homes. We know the Scotch-Irish built churches (mostly Presbyterian) where they settled but I have not found that James and Eleanor were particularly active in any church. Neither ever had the luxury of any schooling and they couldn’t read or write—they signed documents all their lives with their mark "x."

Westmoreland County was originally a part of Cumberland County and a history of its formation summarizes it: “Formed January 27, 1750.; named for county of Cumberland, England . One of the two or three rich agricultural valleys in the United States . Early industries were iron furnaces and forges. First settlers, Scotch-Irish, men of stout heart and wonderful nerve; almost contemporaneous with their building forts and providing means of protection for themselves and families, they established Presbyterian churches…."

James’ main crop would have been corn. Eleanor would have hollowed out a bowl shaped area in a tree stump and used a mallet to pound corn into a mush. She could mix it with a little milk and bake it on a wooden plank by the fireplace or by the outside fire pit during the summer.

As they got more land cleared they would have been able to raise an excess to sell. Without railroads or trucks or a wagon or even roads to drive one on, there was no where to sell their corn. They could dry it but they had no way to store it. At some point, one of the settlers who lived on a stream would apply for a license from the County to establish a mill and then James could take it there to have it ground into meal. Even if he did that he would have to haul the meal somewhere to sell it and it could easily spoil during a trip like that. So he most likely did what any red-blooded Scot or Irishman would do – he built himself a still and made whiskey. At the very least, he joined with some of his neighbors and they built a community still. They did it for practical reasons, their corn was a lot easier to store, transport and sell as whiskey than it was as corn.

By the time the Revolutionary War rolled around in 1776, James and Eleanor would have had a little one room log cabin, a child or two or three, an acre or two under cultivation and a little whiskey business going. He would hunt and trap for a lot of their food and would be gone for days and weeks while he did so. They lived under the constant threat of Indian attacks but probably also traded with them. James had the normal Scotch-Irish dislike for the British, and as the British once again threatened to take his promised land from him, just as they had done in Ireland, he heard his America calling for help and he turned out to fight to save the land he had come to love.

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On July 11, 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the formation of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line to protect the frontier areas of Pennsylvania from Indian attack. The British out of Ft Detroit were inciting the Indians to attack the frontier settlers and the creation of the 8th Regiment was to be their protection. It was organized under the Northern Department of the Continental Army and placed under the command of Col Mackay on July 15 at Kittanning, Pa. James Burns enlisted on Aug 19, 1776, in  Westmorelnd County. Congress had authorized uniforms but few were available and most of the men wore their own clothes and carried their own rifles.

By November of 1776, General Washington’s command in New Jersey was in dire straits and desperately needed reinforcements. The 8th Pennsylvania was reassigned to the main Continental Army and ordered to march to New Jersey. The orders were not very well received by the men, most of them having joined solely to defend their families in the Pennsylvania wilderness. They had no desire to march off in the middle of the winter and leave their families and homes unprotected. Many of the enlisted men deserted but on January 7, 1777, the Regiment began a six-week march over the wintry Alleghenies to join Washington in New Jersey. Col Mackay and dozens of his ragged men died from both exposure and Indian attacks on the march which was considered one of the most amazing feats of the War. James Burns was one of those who marched, leaving behind a wife and at least two children.

The Regiment was attacked and defeated by a force of British Regulars in April, 1777. On June 9, the strength of the Regiment was assessed and from its original strength of 684 officers and men there had been 36 men captured, 51 dead, 14 missing, 15 discharged and 126 deserted. James Burns was one of those who had survived.

Capt Daniel Morgan and his company of Virginia riflemen arrived in mid-summer and 135 officers and men were detached from the 8th Pennsylvania and reassigned to serve in one of 3 elite detachments of Morgan’s Rifles, to their fellow soldiers known as “Long Shirts” because of the long, fringed hunting shirts they were issued. James Burns was one of those so assigned. Every member of Morgan’s Rifles was an excellent marksman and with their long-barreled Pennsylvania rifles they would put on exhibitions for their fellow soldiers. Washington used this rifle corps as light infantry to harass the British foragers and rear guard with great success.

By late summer, British General John Burgoyne was marching from Canada with the intention of seizing the Hudson River hoping to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Gen Washington picked Gen Horatio Gates to organize and lead the Colonial resistance. Gen Gates made a special request to have Col Morgan’s Rifles join his forces. Gates, more administrator than soldier, coordinated his forces but left the fighting command to Col Morgan and Benedict Arnold, both outstanding combat commanders.

The British and Colonial armies clashed near Saratoga, New York, in October, 1777, in a two-day battle (two days of fighting but actually 18 days apart) generally considered the turning point of the Revolution.

 

On the first day, at Freeman’s Farm, Morgan’s Rifles attacked and drove off with severe losses a large force of Canadians and Indians commanded by British Major Gordon Forbes. Seeing the retreat, Morgan’s Rifles pursued the retreating British only to be met by a relief column led by Major Gordon Forbes—it was the famed British 24th Regiment of Foot. Morgan’s Rifles were forced back into the woods where they were rallied by Morgan and his “turkey whistle.” 

Their rifle fire was fast and deadly accurate, inflicting heavy loses on the British. The action grew into a full fledged battle as more and more British units arrived to take part. Most of the British officers on the field were either dead or wounded—Morgan’s Rifles had cut up an entire regiment and rendered the British artillery corps useless by picking off the crew one-by-one. By the end of the day the British losses were 160 dead, 364 wounded and 42 captured. The Colonials lost only 63, James Burns being one of the survivors.

The second day, at Bemis Heights, Morgan’s Rifles led a flanking movement to the British right that, with Arnold’s coordinated movement on the left, wrapped up the entire army and forced Gen Burgoyne to surrender his 4,991 man army (2,139 British, 2,022 Germans and 830 Canadians). He suffered over 1,400 killed and twice that in wounded. “It was a decisive victory, won when Americans needed victory in the worst way, and it played no small part in influencing the French government to officially enter the War on the side of the struggling colonies."

There is nothing to say that James Burns was more courageous or fought harder than any other rifleman there. All we know is that he was there and he survived.

While James Burns was with the detachment assigned to Morgan's Rifles. the rest of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, under the command of Col Broadhead, was at the Battle of Paoli (considered a massacre of the Colonials) in September and in October at the Battle of Germantown (a major loss for Gen Washington). In November of 1877, the strength of the Regiment present for duty was 18 officers, 143 enlisted men (of which 28 were sick), 139 on the detached service (with Morgan's Rifles), 77 absent and 59 listed as captured by the enemy. Shortly after that, the detachment with Morgan’s Rifles rejoined the Regiment and it spent the winter at Valley Forge with Gen Washington’s command.

That winter, with its extreme and miserable conditions, is such a famous part of American history that every school kid studies it. I never had a clue when I was studying it that I had an ancestor there! Now I know I did -- that James Burns was there and he survived!

"I offer neither sleep nor comfort nor happy days, all I can promise is hunger, cold nights, and loss of life. Let those whom love their country with their hearts not their mouths follow me!"   - George Washington - Valley Forge-

On March 8, 1778, after wintering at Valley Forge, the Regiment was assigned to the Western Department and ordered to Ft Pitt in far western Pennsylvania where it took part in campaigns against the Indian towns in Northwest Pennsylvania and again in Southeast Ohio. It helped construct and garrison Fort McIntosh on the Beaver River (where it joined the Ohio River) and Fort Laurens on the Tuscarawas River. It also helped garrison Fort Pitt, Fort Henry and a number of smaller posts. Col Broadhead dispersed it along the Ohio to prevent the Indian attacks in the area being promoted by the British which he complained were almost daily happenings.

 

 

It is entirely possible that James moved Eleanor and his family to the Fort Pitt area to be with him while he was stationed there. At the very least, he joined his fellow soldiers in taking time off at planting and harvest times to help their families with their crops.

In the book Our Western Border by Charles McKnight, the exploits of Capt Sam Brady of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment and two of his soldiers at “Bloody Spring” is described. The three soldiers where in route to Fort Pitt from Fort McIntosh. They discovered fresh Indian signs and then heard a horse approaching. They saw it was a white settler, Albert Gray. They pulled him from his horse and signaled Gray to be silent. After identifying themselves, they proceeded to Gray's homestead, which was on fire. They discovered Gray's family was missing and, not finding any bodies, they surmised they were captured by the war party. Familiar with the countryside they anticipated where the Indians would stop for the night. Their assumption was correct. Cautiously they approached the Indian's camp, waiting several hours until the approximately ten Indians were soundly asleep. Gray's family was off to one side of the encampment with another captured women and her children. Each of the soldiers selected his primary target and stealthily inched forward. Captain Brady gave the agreed signal, a "cluck" , and the soldiers sprang on the sleeping Indians, quickly dispatching them. The balance of the war party scrambled up, only to be likewise dispatched. The women and children were all returned to safety at Fort Pitt.

The 8th Regiment in August, 1779, engaged in "Brodhead's Expedition " which was a burn and torch campaign against the Indian tribes situated near the present day Ohio/Pennsylvania border. A force of 605 soldiers was mustered, many being militia. Going up the Allegheny River , the advance party under Lt Hardin encountered approximately forty Indians, both groups being caught by surprise. A short fight ensued, but as Col Brodhead quickly brought up the rest of his force, the surviving Indians fled. Seven Indians had been killed and three of Brodhead's men wounded. This was the only engagement of the expedition. After getting to within a few miles of the New York border, the Regiment headed back south to Fort Pitt and burned Indian Villages and corn fields on the way. Brodhead estimated 500 acres of corn were destroyed. This action was attributed with greatly reducing Indian attacks in the region. James Burns mustered out of the 8th Regiment in Sept 1779, at Ft Pitt, so this would have been his last action with the unit.

Having done his share in helping to found a new country, James Burns, a survivor, returned to his family and his life as a “farmer.”

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James Burns was discharged from the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment on Sept 15, 1779, at Fort Pitt in far Western Pennsylvania, having served 3 years and 26 days. His name appears on the first tax list for Bourbon County, Kentucky, in 1787.

We can’t tell exactly when he first settled there (but it was by 1775) or where he was during any of the eight years from his discharge at Fort Pitt to that tax list, we just know that at some time during those eight years he took his family down the Ohio River and settled in Kentucky (then actually still a part of Virginia, the Commonwealth of Kentucky not being formed until 1792).

His wilderness road was the Ohio River but it took him to the same place that Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road took him, Kentucky in the Virginia frontier.

When it was formed, Bourbon County comprised the northern half of what had been Fayette County, virtually the entire northeastern portion of Kentucky going from the Ohio River and the Virginia border as far west as the Kentucky River. The Wilderness Road went from the Cumberland Gap on the Tennessee border to Boonesborough on the Kentucky River. The Licking River ran down the middle of the County and James Burns most likely settled his family in the northern part of the County where the Licking River joined the Ohio River.

Why he moved is as big a mystery as when he moved. The Whiskey Rebellion and its migration of settlers from Pennsylvania to Kentucky didn’t take place until 1791 to 1794. If anything, the Kentucky frontier was even more rugged and less sparsely settled than western Pennsylvania. Game was still plentiful and buffalo still roamed, maybe that was the attraction. Life certainly wasn’t any easier and the risk of Indian attack was even greater.

In August, 1782, over 300 Indian warriors gathered in Ohio to attack the Kentucky settlements. They were led by British officers and Wyandottes and included Delaware, Mingoe, Miami, Shawnee and Cherokee Indians. A white man, Simon Girty, who had been raised by the Indians, gave the Indians a passionate speech as they prepared to leave Ohio:

“Brothers, the intruders on your lands exult in the success that has crowned their flagitious acts…. They are planting fruit trees and ploughing the lands where not long since were the cane break and the clover field. Was there a voice in the trees of the forest, or articulate sounds in the gurgling waters, every part of this country would call on you to chase away these ruthless invaders, who are laying it waste. Unless you rise in the majesty of your might, and exterminate their whole race, you may bid adieu to the hunting ground of your fathers, to the delicious flesh of the animals with which they once abounded, and to the skins with which you were once able to purchase your clothing and your rum.”

The Indians began their attacks at Bryan’s Station, just north of what is now Lexington, on August 16. Their goal was to drive the settlers out of the territory. The station repelled the attack, thanks in the most part to the bravery of the women of the fort, and the Indians headed northeast across the Licking River.

75 Kentuckians were killed, including 15 of their 25 officers and Daniel Boone’s son Israel. The Battle at Blue Licks was the last major Battle of the American Revolution and was a horrifying defeat for the Kentuckians.

It took place right in the area where James Burns settled. Was he already there at the time of the battle or was it why he decided to settle there? In the October term, 1799, of the Pendleton Co Court, depositions were entered from Samuel McMillin, John Morrison, Adam Simalt, William Arnold and James Theobald stating they were “along with Gen Clark on his campaign in 1782 and his third encampment from Bryants Station was in the Main fork of Licking on a Branch running into the south fork now known as Burns branch….” Was this south fork now called Burns branch after James Burns?

The defeat at the battle stunned the settlers in Kentucky. Many of them packed up and headed back east. They thought Kentucky was too dangerous a place to raise a family and would have to be abandoned. Settlers literally gave their farms away in order to leave.

In September, Indians attacked Kincheloe’s Station and killed or captured 37 people. The party of 150 Indians camped with their prisoners near Jeptha’s Knob, challenging the county’s Kentucky Militia to attack them. With only 54 men, they refused to and the Indians took their prisoners back across the Ohio River unchallenged. It would be another 12 years before the Miami and Shawnee Indians would be defeated.

In 1783, John Filson, a 30 year old school teacher from Delaware, came to Kentucky to make his fortune. He bought 12,000 acres and planned to write a book and make a map of Kentucky to attract settlers to sell his land to. Going through Fort Pitt, he took a flatboat down the Ohio River landing at Limestone. He spent 2 years interviewing Daniel Boone and in 1784 published his “Adventures of Col Daniel Boone” making him famous worldwide. Could it have been this story that caused James Burns to settle in Kentucky or was he already there? He most likely brought his family down the Ohio River by flatboat and landed at Limestone just like Filson did. The wood from their boat would have been used to build their first cabin.
 

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James and Eleanor Burns raised a large family in Kentucky. Nine children, 5 boys and 4 girls that we know of. As difficult as everyday life could have been, some aspects of it were no different than life today.

It included legal matters. In August, 1786, Benjamin Harris sued James Burns in Bourbon County for five thousand pounds and in December, 1791, James Burns and his wife Eleanor sued Thomas McLay in Bourbon County for the sum of five hundred pounds.

It included politics. There were some matters that took the governement to accomplish and James Burns had to join with his neighbor to petition fo them. October 27, 1790, the citizens of Bourbon County submitted a petition to the government:

Corn was still a major crop but Kentucky farming also offered hemp, flax and tobacco as crops. The farmers needed the government to establish a Tobacco Inspection Station for their tobacco crops.

It included crime. In April, 1810, a Mr Zaduck, along with his uncle Thomas Hawkins and a Robert McMullin, were indicted on charges stating that they “ on 6 Apr. 1809 in Campbell County did feloniously steal, take and lead away one mare of a bay color of the goods of James Burns of Campbel County, a farmer, on the Dry Ridge in said county." They pleaded " not guilty." When the evidence against Zadock and his uncle was heard, the charges against them were dismissed, the prosecuting attorney for the commonwealth not being willing to bring a case against them with the evidence he had. Robert McMullin was tried and acquitted.

What I have not yet found is role religion played in their lives in Kentucky. 1801 saw an amazing revival take place at Cane Ridge on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. It drew 25,000 people and was the start of the Restoration Movement the origin of the Disciples of Christ and the Church of Christ and others.

The Burns family certainly knew about the gathering, you have to wonder if any were there . But now we know the James Burns farm was on Dry Ridge. What was then in Campbell County became a part of Grant County when it was created in 1820 and is today a municipality of about 2,000 people.

The 1820 Grant County tax list has James Burns and Thomas Burns on it. 1821 and 1822 have James Burns and Samuel Burns. 1823 and 1824 have James Burns and George Burns . On the 1825 and 1826 William Burns joins James and George. 1827 has just James and George but 1828 doesn’t have any Burns on it. 1829 has James, William and Robert Burns.

This doesn’t tell us that all these Burns were family but obviously some of them were James and Eleanor’s sons. Some were actually neighbors and some were even in the same household with James but we find an even better way of identifying their children.

As the years went by, James became less of a frontiersman and settler and more of a farmer. The threat from Indians disappeared with the few remaining being friendly.

Settlers and Painted Stone Indians

As more years went by, his children would have done more of the farming and he probably ended up living with the family of one of them, most likely his daughter Polly.

October 18, 1820, James Burns filed his affidavit in Pendleton County Circuit Court in support of his application for his Revolutionary War Pension. In it he lists his occupation as farmer and his assets as: “one cow and Calf, five head of Sheep, three pieces of Pot mettal, half dozen earthen ??? and a set of Queensware Cups and Saucers, necessary Clothing and Bedding…” He also states “a total blindness for the last 12 years past” and that he was entirely unable to work. We don’t know if that is just what he had to say to get his pension of if he was really that blind.

While Daniel Boone ultimately left Kentucky and settled in Missouri, James Burns stayed in Kentucky and settled there. He died in Boone County in July, 1834. We don’t know when his wife Eleanor died but it appears she was already dead in 1834 because she was not named in his will (we know she was alive in Oct, 1820 when he filed his Revolutionary War pension affidavit).

Fortunately, James Burns had prepared a will before he died in July, 1834. His will was probated in Boone County and an inventory of his personal estate was prepared:

1 Sorrel Horse Saddle & Bridle & Saddle Bags $ 50.00

1 Homestead and clothing 20.00

1 Oven .75 (sold for .56)

1 Pot trammels 1.00 (sold for 1.76)

1 Old axe .25 (sold for .52)

1 Flax wheel .75 (sold for 1.52)

1 Pocket book .25 (sold for .25)

1 Razor Hone & Box 1.25 (sold for 1.56)

2 Chairs .50 (sold for .90)

Open account of Thomas Burns for 31.00

Most importantly, the will of James Burns identifies his children who were living at the time it was written:

“I will to Thomas Burns my oldest son one dollar, Margaret Aydelott my next oldest child one dollar, Elizabeth Burns my next oldest child one dollar, Samuel Burns my next oldest child one dollar, David Burns my next oldest child one dollar, Polly Webster the wife of Biven Webster & my affectionate daughter, to her I will one sorrel horse four years old against the 15th day of April next with a blaze face his left hind foot white to his paster joint, one saddle and bridle and saddle bags, one bed and bedstand and clothing. The reason I James Burns will this to my daughter is because she has had a great deal of trouble with me and my companion her mother. To Nancy Points my daughter, one bureau and one cow, and five head of sheep and one 18 gallon kettle and one dollar, George Burns my son one dollar. William Burns my son one dollar.”

His will not only named his children, but gave us their birth order and his daughters’ married names. It gives us his family as of 1834 but does not tell us how many children he and Eleanor might have had that died before that time.

I have tried to track all the children of James Burns, some more successfully than others, but my focus has mostly been on his oldest son Thomas. James' daughter Margaret was born in Pennsylvania in 1781 which gives us a clue that the 1773 birth date of Thomas was wrong. Also of interest is his son David who was born in 1794 in Kentucky. His family line has been well documented to a living male Burns descendant and my DNA is an exact match at 37 markers with him, giving us absolute confirmation of our connection to James Burns.

As I gathered more and more information on the life and times of James Burns, one thought kept coming back to haunt me. What if he had not been such a strong and hardy individual -- what if he had not been such a survivor? At any of a half-dozen different stages of his life, strong and hardy men, women and children were dying all around him. What about James Burns made him a survivor so I could be here today to write this?

But what haunts me even more is the thought that there are so many stories about James and Eleanor Burns that have been lost. So much that still has to be found and recorded. And so much that is lost forever.

Go to my Thomas Burns Story -- to see the rest of my stories you have to
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