Jonathon Prescott Burton (1820 - 1899)

Born 30 Sep 1820 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Eliza (Zerbe) Burton — married 9 Feb 1871 in Stark County, Ohio, USA

Died 8 Jun 1899 at age 78 in Massillon, Stark, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Jonathon was born in 1820. He was the son of William Burton and Rosanna (Thompson) Burton. He firs married Elizabeth Jenkinson in 1845. She passed away in 1868. He married Mary Zerbe in 1871 in Stark County, Ohio. He passed away in 1899.

Obituary

Sudden Death of a Well Known Citizen

The Funeral Services

Mr. Burton was Prominently Identified with Massillon's Business Interests and was a Man of Wide Influence and Cultivation

Jonathan Prescott Burton, aged 79 years, President and Secretary of the Ridgway Burton Coal Company and one Massillon's best known citizens died at his residence in East Main Street between 11 and 12 o'clock on Thursday evening, death being immediately due to heart failure. Mr. Burton was in his office as usual on Monday, but on Tuesday was too ill to attend to business. Since that time he had failed rapidly and his death has been momentarily expected. With the exception of Courtney Burton, who arrived on the Pennsylvania Limited from his school in the East early this morning all the immediate members of Mr. Burton's family, Mrs. Burton, his two daughters and his eldest son, Prescott Burton were with him to the end.

Mr. Burton was born at Penn's Manor, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania September 30, 1820. The family of which he was a member originated in England, whence his great grandfather, Jonathan Burton, emigrated to America in the company with William Penn. In 1839 he commenced his active career in New York City, where he was engaged in the mercantile business. In 1843 he went to Philadelphia and became an importer in the firm of Davis, Burton & Co. being stationed in Europe the greater part of nine years. In the year 1857 in the company with Jacob E. Ridgway and other Philadelphia men he took the first contract for building the Northern Pacific Railroad from Stillwater to St. Paul. Mr. Burton came to Massillon in the year 1859 and in connection with Mr. Ridgway purchased the Massillon Furnace property and began the manufacture of pig iron and to operate coal mines. Then years later he organized the Ridgway Burton Co., which operated both coal and iron mines. In 1881 with S.W. Croxton of Cleveland and Henry C. Davis of Philadelphia he organized the Pennsylvania Iron 7 Coal Co. conducting blast furnaces at Canal Dover. Mr. Burton was at the time of his death President of the following companies: The Ridgway Burton Coal Company of this city, the Pennsylvania Iron & Coal Company of Canal Dover and the Burton, Biedler & Phillips Company of Cleveland. He was also a Director of the Union National Bank and President of the Massillon Social Club. In the year 1845 Mr. Burton married Miss Elizabeth Jenkinson, who died in 1868. In 1871 he married Miss Mary E. Zerbe who survives him with four children, Alice C., Clara, Courtney and J. Prescott the latter having been connected with his father in business for several years. His sister, Mrs. L.M. Ogle, resides in York, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Burton was a man of superior attainments with a mind broadened and cultivated by study and travel and by business and social relations with men of various classes and conditions. Although quite and retiring by nature he was a man of influence among his business associates and had a remarkable faulty of surrounding himself with those who like himself were men of integrity and reliability. In politics he was a Republican. He served as a member of the City Council for two terms during which time he was Chairman of the Finance Committee. He was reared in the Society of Friends and was a Master and Royal Arch Mason. Funeral services will be held from the house on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 to which friends of the family are invited. The burial will be private.

Invitations to the wedding of Miss Alice Burton and John E. McLain, which was to have taken place on June 15 have, of course, been withdrawn.

Sources

Obituary: Massillon Independent Monday, June 12, 1899

Name: Jonathan P Burton; Event Type: Census; Event Date: 1850; Event Place: Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Citing this Record: United States Census, 1850, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4C6-VKP : 24 December 2020), Jonathan P Burton, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Name: Jonathan P Burton; Event Type: Census; Event Date: 1870; Event Place: Massillon, Stark, Ohio, United States

Citing this Record: United States Census, 1870, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6VY-FNS : 1 January 2021), Jonathan P Burton in entry for William Burton, 1870.

Name: Jonathan P. Burton; Event Type: Marriage; Event Date: 09 Feb 1871; Event Place: Stark, Ohio, United States; Sex: Male; Spouse's Name: Mary E. Zerbee; Spouse's Gender: Female; Record Number: 114

Citing this Record: Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDLV-WHP : 26 August 2019), Jonathan P. Burton and Mary E. Zerbee, 09 Feb 1871; citing Marriage, Stark, Ohio, United States, p 428, Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, Columbus; FHL microfilm.

Name: J. P. Burton; Event Type: Census; Event Date: 1880; Event Place: Massillon, Stark, Ohio, United States

Citing this Record: United States Census, 1880, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8SY-SHT : 13 November 2020), J. P. Burton, Massillon, Stark, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district ED 148, sheet 191A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,067.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40061232/jonathan-prescott-burton), memorial page for Jonathan Prescott Burton (30 Sep 1820–8 Jun 1899), Find a Grave Memorial no. 40061232, citing Massillon City Cemetery, Massillon, Stark County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by SLGMSD (contributor 46825959).