Francis Matthew Burns (1897 - 1915)

Born 28 Dec 1897 in Bradford, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Died 30 Nov 1915 at age 17 in Simpson, Keating Township, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Francis Burns has Irish ancestors.

Francis was born 28 Dec 1897 in Bradford, McKean County, the son of Matthew and Anna Farrell Burns.

He was employed as a laborer for the Erie Railroad shops.

On Saturday, 28 Nov 1915, Francis and two companions, John G. Maloney and Austin J. Crosby, headed out toward a remote camp in Simpson, about sixteen miles southeast of Bradford, for a hunting trip. They planned to return home on Tuesday, the 30th.

A. B. Lawrence, manager of the Byron estate oil lease, and W. S. Wilson visited the shack around 6 p.m. the night of Tuesday, November 30th, to see how the men had were getting along. They found Francis and Maloney dead in a cot. There had been a natural gas leak which had asphyxiated the men. The hunting dogs were unable to move, but they were still alive, as was Crosby, who had been lying unconscious on the floor, but was able to get air through the cracks on the floor.

Francis, at the time of his death, was only seventeen, and he was buried in St. Bernard's Cemetery.

Sources

See also:

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3QD-22N : accessed 2 September 2018), Francis M Burns in household of Matthew J Burns, Bradford city Ward 5, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 98, sheet 8A, family 174, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,439.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGDK-MWP : accessed 2 September 2018), Francis N Burns in household of Mathew J Burns, Bradford Ward 5, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 114, sheet 22A, family 503, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1373; FHL microfilm 1,375,386.
• Death Certificate for Francis M Burns, 30 Nov 1915, Certificate No. 108224, Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK1P-KTFM : 15 December 2015), Francis M. Burns, 1915; Burial, Bradford, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Saint Bernard Cemetery; citing record ID 145428004, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.