Project Newsletter #6
15 January 2005

Dear Cousins,

We have some new results in hand, and some major new finds.

Number markers received for the line of Col. William Burgess of Anne Arundel Co., Maryland, do NOT match those of Edward Burgess of Prince Georges Co., Maryland, and Pittsylvania Co., Virginia, and also do NOT match those of William Burgess of Prince Georges and Montgomery Cos., Maryland, although the latter two individuals do match each other and have a common Burgess ancestor.  Many genealogists had assumed that these were all one family.  That's not the case, and it's clear that we must look elsewhere for a possible father or ancestor of the latter two men (who could be brothers).

However, Col. William may be related to Thomas Burgess of Sandwich, Mass., and to George H. Burgess of Lancashire, England; further testing is being conducted to determine whether these tentative matches are real.  Also, additional research is being done to move George's ancestry back a few more generations.

The numbers from the family of John Meredith Burgess of Kanawha Co., (West) Virginia, match those of William Burgess of Bedford Co., Virginia, and William Burgess of Richmond (later King George) Co., Virginia; they have a common Burgess ancestor, name unknown.

I think it likely that John Meredith Burgess is the same individual as the Jack Meredith Burgess mentioned in unattributed lists of the children of John Burgess of Fluvanna Co., Virginia, eldest son of William of Bedford--but there's as yet no proof of this.  There was an oral tradition that John Meredith was born in Beaver Dam, Virginia, and there is a Beaver Dam Creek and Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Fluvanna Co.

In December I began surveying some of the early personal property tax lists for Bedford and other several counties in Virginia and West Virginia.  These lists amount to a complete annual census of all adult free males in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, beginning in 1782 (except for 1808 and the Civil War years).

Dan Burgess's ancestor, James Burgess, is listed in Bedford Co. between 1810-18, usually in tandem (through 1816) with one William Burgess, a presumed relative.  Curiously, Armstead Burgess is apprenticed in Bedford Co. in 1817 at the age of nine; if William had died during the preceding year, and if William had been providing support for this family, his death might have been the occasion for the family of Keziah Burgess to seek additional financial support through the work of her eldest son.  These are the only Burgesses mentioned in the county records during this time.

I have now completed my initial sweep of the tax records of several of these counties, and I await your further instructions about which counties you think ought to be examined next.  Also, if any of you computer whizzes want to take my detailed information and begin building a data grid to post on the web for the personal property tax lists of the Burgesses families of early Virginia, I'd be happy to transcribe the now handwritten information, and to add in anything else I might have in my notes, or any similar data that might be supplied by other Burgess researchers.  I think this would be a very helpful device in tracking the paths of some of these early families through Colonial Virginia, (West) Virginia, and Kentucky.  I can get these lists on interlibrary loan through my University, five reels at a time.

We now have 39 participants, with 31 test results in hand.  Some of the latter are in the process of being enhanced from 12 to 25 or even 37 markers.  As always, please check my personal website, www.millefleurs.tv, for the latest information and the actual test numbers for the project, as well as for background information on the Burgess families currently represented.

All good wishes:

Michael Burgess