Thomas Burgess of Scott Co., Kentucky

[Haplotype R - U106 - BY3322]

Note: this family is affiliated with that of:

Joel Burgess of Laurens Co., South Carolina
John R. Burgess of Clay Co., Alabama
and Alphonso Davis of Wayne Co., Illinois.

Thomas Burgess Sr. had to have been born by 1757, if he is Thomas Burgess Jr.’s father. He appears on the personal property tax lists of Scott Co., Kentucky, from 1797-1806 (several earlier lists are illegible, and 1798 and part of 1807 are lost). His wife’s name is unknown. He has not been found in any census record. Thomas appears to have died about 1807 in Scott Co., Kentucky, having had at least one son:

*1. Thomas Burgess Jr. (1777?-1814) of Scott Co., KY

Only Son of Thomas Sr.

Thomas Burgess Jr. was born about 1765-78 (perhaps in 1777); his son Vincent’s 1880 census record states that the father was born in Kentucky, but this appears very unlikely. He married Nancy __ about 1800. He first appears on the personal property tax lists of Scott Co., Kentucky beginning in 1799 (1798 is lost), and continues to be listed through 1814, and also on the 1810 census, where he is specifically called “Thomas Burgess Junr.”, with three sons under the age of 10, one daughter aged 10-16, and the parents aged 26-45. He apparently died in Scott Co. in 1814, having had three sons:

1. Rev. William L. Burgess (1801?-1870+) of Scott Co., KY
2. Joseph R. Burgess (1807?-1850+) of Scott Co., KY
*3. Vincent A. Burgess (1811?-1880+) of Scott Co., KY

Third Branch: Vincent A. Burgess

Vincent A. Burgess was born about 1811 in Scott Co., Kentucky. He married Anna Powell on 15 August 1831 in Switzerland Co., Indiana. He is listed from 1835 on the personal property tax lists of Scott Co., on the 1840-60 and 1880 censuses for Scott Co. (in 1880 he claims that both parents were born in Kentucky), and on 1870 in Grant Co., Kentucky. In 1840 he has two sons aged 5-10, one son and one daughter under the age of 5, with the parents aged 20-30. He died in Scott Co. after 1880, having had seven sons:

1. Son (1832?- ), died young?
2. John L. Burgess (1834-1900+) of Scott Co., KY
3. William T. (or H.) Burgess (1838-1860+) of Scott Co., KY
4. Milton S. Burgess (1842-1880+) of Grant Co., KY
5. Thomas Ranken Burgess (1844-1934) of Scott Co., KY
6. Joseph Burgess (1846-1870+) of Grant Co., KY
7. Charles Russell Burgess (1850-1940) of Owen Co., KY

Charles Russell Burgess is the ancestor of A. W. Burgess.

Test results received from one representative in this line match the numbers of the family of Joel Burgess of Laurens Co., South Carolina, John R. Burgess of Clay Co., Alabama, and Alphonso Davis of Wayne Co., Illinois; they have a common Burgess ancestor, name unknown. Thomas Burgess Jr. could be the Thomas Burgess son of Joel Burgess, but this leaves the problem of Thomas Burgess Sr. unaccounted for. Indeed, if these two men are father and son (there is no proof of this relationship other than circumstantial evidence), then this line has to be a collateral line of the Joel family, with Thomas Sr. potentially becoming Joel’s brother or cousin. Thomas Burgess is more closely related to the line of Alphonso Davis than to the Joel Burgess family.