Maria McKey (Williams) Burtchaell (1830 - 1897)

Born 11 Jan 1830 in Saint Augustine, St. Johns, Florida, United States

Wife of William Daly Burtchaell — married 19 Feb 1859 in Lake City, Florida

Descendants

Died 24 Feb 1897 at age 67 in Norcross, Gwinnett, Georgia, United States

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Biography

Born 11 Jan 1830, St. Augustine, FL (daughter of John Williams and Martha Mackey, pioneer settlers in the Territory of Florida) - [later at Salem, Massachusetts],

1850 US Federal Census, Alligator, Columbia, Florida: Martha L Williams (48) Maria L Williams (19), born Fla Pamella Williams (12), born Fla ^[1]

Future husband, William Daly Burtchaell worked with her father (he had been appointed one of the commissioners during the territorial days in Florida). He married Maria, 19 Feb 1859, Lake City, FL

William purchased 350 acres near Norcross, GA

Married 1859, Florida

In April of 1861, William enlisted in the Columbia Rifles ('C', 2nd Florida). He appears to have been briefly at home in May 1862. He later joined the 5th Florida Regiment as a private, quickly rising to the rank of Lieutenant. He was captured on July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. She heard nothing from him for three months and some returning soldiers reported him dead, but she said she knew his was alive. Finally she received a letter from him at the prisoner of war camp of Johnston Island. He was held there until March of 1865 home when he was released due to ill health. He returned home ("a long walk") but was "quite broken down; so weak that he used to faint."

Shortly after his return, the couple started a school. The schoolhouse was built by neighbours on a piece of land in the center of the town of "Alligator", shortly afterwards renamed "Lake City". Their students included many of the "boys" who had served in the war.

The moved to town and her husband began a saw mill below the town (on the road to Jacksonville). He then ran a farm on his own land beyond Lake City. Finally, the went to Newark, New Jersey; husband went to work on the railroad at Duchess County, New York. After three years, Maria and their four children returned to Georgia, while he worked on railroad in Alabama.

In 1871 she and the children removed to Cuthburt, Georgia, where William worked as Chief Engineer on the Brunswick and Albany Railroad. In 1872 her sister, Pamela, joined them. Originally intending to stay for six months, she stayed until 1877.

Maria died 24 Feb 1897, and is buried in the Burtchaell plot in the Norcross City Cemetery. He husband continued to live on the farm near the river; he died in August 1919.

• Fact: Residence (1880) Pinckneyville, Gwinnett, Georgia, United States
• Fact: Burial (1897) Norcross City Cemetery, Norcross, Gwinnett, Georgia, United States

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 07 March 2021, 08:37), entry for Maria Mackey Williams (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:KDBB-DYW ); contributed by various users.
• Ramsay, Gene. William Daly Burtchaell: An Irishman in Gwinnett. (Draft of article for Gwinnett Heritage, vol. 3)
• Burtchaell, James Tunstead III, C.S.C, ‘’The Genealogy of the Burtchaell Family’’, (2002) [PDF], p. 54-56
• Find a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=99299155