Francis Burke (1725)

Born 1725 in County Limerick, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Darlington, Durham, Upper Canada

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Biography

"Francis Burk was born in Limerick Ireland in 1725, the fourth son of a family. It is significant for the understanding of his emigration to point out that he was born only thirty years after the Battle of Boyne and the infamous Treaty of Limerick. Like thousands of other people in that terrible era, the only place of hope and future promise was across the Atlantic in the new colonies of America. In 1740 at age 15, the mere boy, though much matured by hard experience, sailed for America and settled first in the state of New Jersey. At this time the Irish were producing the finest wool in the world and the Irish immigrants brought their weaving skills with them to the new world. It is altogether likely that the young Francis was immediately involved in the wool industry. An old Chester Record, referring to these fine Irish immigrants, says "they are welcomed as an accession of virtue and intelligence to our little community".

"Francis married Eunice Marsh, the young daughter of a German immigrant physician and moved thereafter to the small community of Pughton, West Virginia, just over the Pennsylvania border. Francis and Eunice had a family of six children, Of these, our concern, genealogically, is with James. Outliving her husband by many years, Eunice, having left the United States, journeyed north to join her Empire Loyalist sons in Upper Canada and died on the homestead farm of James and was buried there."^[1]

The following is from a Josia (Jesse) Burk letter of 4 March 1867 to David F. Burk^[2]:

Dear Nephew,

"Yours of the 24th comes to hand and received with much pleasure. I received a letter from Harvey ?? Burk, since receiving yours dated Jan. 8th, stating aunt Betsy Bates was still well and several others that were quite youths in my time.

"We are as well as we could ever expect for our age. I am four score six years six months and two days old 4th day of March 1867. (jsh - so that means he was born 2 Sept 1780 and he died after 4 March 1867)

"Dear Nephew, you made a request of me to give you a statement of the present race of Burk's in America from which I sprung.

"My Grandfather, Frances Burk was from Ireland. He crossed the Atlantic, came into the state of New Jersey, married a Jersey girl by whom he had five sons and two daughters.

"His son's names were John (the eldest) who was my father, second Mike or Mical, third Joseph, fourth James, fifth Luke. Daughters first Mary, second Katy or Caturah."

Death

His date of death isn't known. Some (unsourced) sites show 1768. This profile has a son attached born in 1773. Either the son's year of birth is incorrect or Francis died no earlier than 1773.

Date: 1768, Darlington Twp, Durham, Ontario, Canada?^[3]

Notes

Not named in James Burk's Will. Locations don't make for a likely fit to that family.

Sources

1. ↑ 'Father of the Burks of America" by Harry Douglas Stewart
2. ↑ http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Durham/history/burkfamilyletter.html
3. ↑ Source: #S279

• Correspondent: Mary Couts, Great Grand-daughter of Sariah Burke (1798)
• Source: S279 Type: Web Site Author: Graham Stewart <gstewart8 @ cogeco . ca> Title: Web-based Family Tree URL: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=harrydouglas&id=I364 Date: 20 Dec 2005 Data Changed: Date: 26 DEC 2008