John Burgess Sr. was born by 1739 (he had to have been 21 years of age in 1760). He had two younger brothers, Second Lieut. William Burgess, who was killed while serving in the Fourth Regiment of Virginia, Revolutionary War, on 18 January 1777, and Thomas Burgess (if this is the same man, Thomas bought 15 acres of land in Surry Co. on the Great Branch on 23 March 1773, is listed in the accounting of the estate of Stephen Lucas in 1773, witnessed a deed from James Jordan to John Lane on 1 February 1779, and witnessed a deed from Joseph Hart to John Watkins Holdsworth and Jesse Cocke on 7 May 1783); both of these siblings died childless, and Thomas is not listed on the Surry Co. land tax records of 1782+; however, a Thomas Burgess is listed on the Surry Co. personal property tax lists of 1782 and 1784-90.

John Sr. is not obviously related to the family of Rev. Henry John Burgess, son of Thomas Burgess, Rector of Southwark Parish in Surry Co., and later of Isle of Wight Co. He has not yet been connected to the William Burgess who is listed as owning 85 acres of land in Surry Co. in 1733, and who served as a witness for Wm. Winkells in that year; or to the Thomas Burgess who is mentioned in 1692 as being a brother of Robert Burgess, and is listed in 1721 and 1735 (if this is the same man) as witnessing the wills of John Hicks and John Turner; or to the Robert Burgess, a blacksmith who is mentioned in the Surry Co. records from 1666-82; or to the John Burgess who is listed there from 1655-66, leaving one daughter, Susannah, and is mentioned in 1671 with Thomas Burgess as having witnessed a land sale for Robert Burgess.

John Sr. married Mary __ by 1760. He is listed in the accounting (probably as a purchaser of estate items) of the Surry Co., Virginia estate of Hannah Kersey on 19 October 1762, of the estate of John Lanier on 16 September 1767, and of the estate of Dr. Patrick Adams in 1771. He is listed as a witness in a Surry Co. deed of 10 August 1763 from Thomas Harris Jr. to William Harris. He witnessed the will of Samuel Gillum in 1767 and the will of Robert Rae in 1768. He purchased two tracts (a total of 295 acres) of land on Johnshehawkin (now Johnchecohunk) Swamp and the Great Branch in Surry Co. from James Adams of Brunswick Co., Virginia, on 3 November 1772. He helped appraise the inventory of the estate of Sharod Charity in 1782, of John Cheatham in 1790, and of John Collier in 1791. He or his son witnessed a deed in August 1786 from William Rose to Benjamin Rose. On 24 October 1786 he and his son, John Burgess Jr., deeded 80 acres of land on Matts Swamp [this place has not been identified] to William Harris, with John Sr. being noted as John Jr.’s father. He is listed in the personal property tax lists of Surry Co. from 1782-96, and in the land tax records from 1782-86 (80+295 acres), and from 1787-96 (295 acres); his widow appears as head of the family in the personal property tax lists from 1797-1802, in the land tax records there from 1797-1805 (145 acres), and also in the 1810-20 censuses; John’s estate is listed in the land tax records of 1806-07. His 295-acre farm was divided between his widow (145 acres) and his son Miles (149+ acres), with Miles eventually inheriting his mother’s portion in 1809.

John Sr. died in Surry Co. in 1796; his will was dated on 30 March 1796 and probated on 26 April, and his estate was inventoried on 18 June 1796. He had two daughters (Alice, who married Edmund Carsley or Casserley, and Rebecca [mentioned in her father’s will], who married Hartwell Carsley on 11 June 1794 in Surry Co., and died childless), and at least two sons:

*1. John Burgess Jr. (1761?-1787?) of Surry Co., VA
*2. Miles Burgess (1770?-1845) of Surry Co., VA

John Burgess Jr. was born about 1761 in Surry Co., Virginia (he had to have been at least 21 years of age in 1782). He married Lucretia __ about 1782. He or his father witnessed a deed in August 1786 from William Rose to Benjamin Rose. On 24 October 1786 he and his wife and his father (so noted on the deed), John Burgess Sr., sold 80 acres of land on Matts Swamp to William Harris. John Jr. is listed in the personal property tax lists of Surry Co. from 1784-86, but does not appear on the land tax rolls; his widow appears as head of the family there from 1801-07, and also in the 1810-20 censuses (in 1810 she has one son aged 16-26). He died there by 1801, perhaps in 1787 (or he may have just left the county then), having had at least one supposed son:

1. John R. Burgess (1783?-1813?) of Surry Co., VA; he married Susannah Warren, daughter of Rev. James Warren, on 7 January 1808 in Surry Co., with Miles Burgess providing the surety; he is listed in the personal property tax lists of Surry Co.. apparently with his mother from 1804-07, and by himself from 1809-13, and also in the 1810 census there, with two sons under the age of 10; he presumably died there about 1813, and apparently had no long-term survivors, since neither he nor any of his family are mentioned as heirs to his great-uncle William Burgess’s estate in 1841; it should be noted that there is nothing specific tying John R.  to his father, other than circumstantial evidence.

Miles Burgess was born about 1770 in Surry Co., Virginia (he is listed as aged 16-21 on the 1790 personal property tax list, and as over the age of 21 on the 1791 list). He married Nancy Velvin on 1 June 1795 in Sussex Co., VA, and secondly Sarah Cooper on 31 January 1825 in Surry Co. (a “Sally” Burgess, aged 60, is listed in the 1850 census for Surry Co.). In 1797 a few acres of his land was seized by Surry Co. for a grist mill; he later bought back the property on what was once called Burgess Mill Pond (now known as Adkins Pond), and operated the mill himself. He served as a Corporal in Capt. George Judkins’s Company, 71st Regiment, Virginia Militia, during the War of 1812, from 30 June 1813-10 July 1813. He is listed in the 1810-40 censuses for Surry Co. (in 1830 with two sons; the 1790-1800 censuses are lost), on the personal property tax lists of Surry Co. from 1790-1845, and on the land tax records there from 1797-1848.

In 1841 Miles petitioned the Governor of Virginia for a land grant in the name of his uncle, Second Lieut. William Burgess, stating in his petition that he (Miles) was about sixty-seven years of age, and that “his father was named John Burgess, that he had two brothers, William and Thomas, both younger than himself, that William went into the Army of the Revolution…and died in service, being at his death an officer of some grade in the Virginia Line, that Thomas has been long since dead having dec’d single and unmarried and intestate, and that his father has been dead about forty-four years ago, leaving two children only”—Miles and his late sister Alice, “dead about four years ago,” and her four children, one of whom is “Polly, wife of my son, John C.” This document overlooks two other children of John Sr., John Jr. and Rebecca, who evidently died without any surviving heirs in 1841. The Henrico Co., Virginia court heard the case on 1 March 1841, and then granted Miles warrants #8916-8917 for 666 2/3 acres each, with #8918-8921 going to the heirs of Alice Burgess Carsley.

Miles died in Surry Co. on 18 November 1845, according to his son Thomas’s Bible record, aged 73 years, having had three sons:

1. Miles Turner Burgess (1798?-1837?—he had to have been at least 21 years of age in early 1820); with his father, he witnessed on 23 March 1820 the marriage of Thomas Lovesay and Nancy Stewart; he married Mary Douglass on 18 Feb. 1827 in Surry Co.; he is listed in the 1830 census for Surry Co., with no children; his will was written on 14 September 1827, and probated on 27 March 1837; he apparently died there about 1837; the Miles Burgess listed with James Boyd in neighboring Prince George Co. in the 1850 census, aged 14 years, could be his son; a Miles Burgess also served as a Private in Co. D, 6th Regiment, Virginia Militia, during the Civil War, dying on 28 August 1863 at Staunton, VA
*2. John C. Burgess (1800?-1870+) of Surry Co., VA
*3. Thomas Velvin Burgess (1810-1887) of Chesterfield Co., VA

Second Son of Miles

John C. Burgess was born about 1800 in Surry Co., VA (he had to have been 21 in 1822). He married firstly Mariam H. Bilbro on 24 June 1822 in Surry Co., Virginia, secondly Mary B. “Polly” Carsley (daughter of his aunt, Alice Burgess) on 26 December 1836 in Surry Co. (she was born about 1793, and died April 1860, aged 67 years), and thirdly Rebecca Bryant on 9 October 1866 in Surry Co. (Rebecca is listed in the 1850-60 censuses with John, working as a servant; her initial group of children all originally bore her own surname [but were later changed to Burgess]; only her youngest daughter, born in 1872 after her marriage to John, had the name Burgess from birth). He is listed in the 1830-70 censuses for Guilford, Southwark Parish, Surry Co., Virginia (in 1830 he has two sons under the age of 5, and in 1840 two aged 5-10; he is listed as age 50 in 1850, 55 in 1860, and 60 in 1870); his widow appears as head of the family there in 1880. He apparently died in Surry Co. between 1870-80, having had at least four sons, two by his first wife, and two by his third, although the latter two boys have not yet been conclusively established as being his own offspring:

1. John Velvin Burgess (1827-1861) of Surry Co., VA; he married Elizabeth McGuriman on 13 March 1850 in Surry Co.; he is listed in the 1850-60 censuses for Surry Co., and in the 1849-50 personal property tax lists there; he died there of typhoid fever in September 1861, aged 34, having had at least two infant sons, George (1853-before 1860) and John H. (1861-1862) and two daughters, Hesta and Emmeretta (twins born 1856)—there is no evidence that any of these children survived to adulthood
2. Son (1829?- )
*3. Benjamin Burgess [originally Benjamin Bryant] (1848-1920+) of Surry Co., VA
*4. Peyton Burgess [originally Peyton Bryant] (1854-1923) of Surry Co., VA

Third Son of John C.

Benjamin Burgess was born in December 1848 in Surry Co., VA; he was originally named Benjamin Bryant, and is so noted in the 1850-60 censuses under his father’s entry. He married Emaretta Holdsworth on 21 December 1871 in Surry Co. He is listed in the 1870-1920 censuses for Guilford, Surry Co. He apparently died there between 1920-30, having had three sons:

1. Thomas Ben Burgess (1874-1930+) of Surry Co., VA
2. John Allie Burgess (1886-1975) of Surry Co., VA
3. Benjamin Shirley Burgess (or Shirley Benjamin Burgess) (1892-1980) of Surry Co., VA

Fourth Son of John C.

Peyton Burgess was born on 30 October 1854 in Surry Co., VA; he was originally named Peyton Bryant, and is so noted in the 1860 census under his father’s entry. He married Ella Exebina Price about 1878. He is listed in the 1880-1920 censuses for Guilford and Blackwater, Surry Co. He died there on 13 February 1923, having had five sons:

1. Emmett Junious Burgess (1879-1957)
2. Samuel Peyton Burgess (1883-1942) of Norfolk, VA
3. Edward Lee Burgess (1885-1930+) of Cumberland Co., VA; he may have died in Somerset Co., ME on 20 April 1967
4. Harvey Heston Burgess (1891-1897), died young
5. Herman Oliver Burgess (1895-1989) of Petersburg, VA

Third Son of Miles

Thomas Velvin Burgess (his full name is given on his tombstone) was born on 5 February 1810 in Surry Co., Virginia. He married Elizabeth H. Brintle on 16 January 1844 in Chesterfield Co., VA (she was born 15 August 1825, and died 15 May 1906). He is listed in the personal property tax lists of Surry Co. from 1832-50+ (from 1838 with no male tithes), and in the land tax records there from 1838-50+, being noted as a resident of Chesterfield Co. from 1841. He apparently moved to Chesterfield Co., VA, about 1838, where he appears in the 1840-80 censuses. He died there on 21 July 1887, being buried on his farm, having had five sons:

1. (Miles) Thomas Burgess (1844-1865) of Chesterfield Co., VA, died childless?
2. Charles T. Burgess (1853-1865) of Chesterfield Co., VA, who accidentally drowned (“His pet dog lay on his grave three days”), died young
*3. James Velvin Burgess (1855-1906) of Chesterfield Co., VA
*4. Walter Littleton Burgess (1859-1939) of Chesterfield Co., VA
5. Adolphus L. Burgess (1860-1862) of Chesterfield Co., VA , died young

Third Son of Thomas Velvin

James Velvin Burgess (his full name is listed on his tombstone) was born on 19 November 1855 in Chesterfield Co., Virginia. He married Sallie J. __. He died on 6 April 1906 in Chesterfield Co., being buried on his father’s farm, having had two sons:

1. Velvin Ivey Burgess (1888-1960)
2. Bernard Waverley Burgess (1894-1968)

Fourth Son of Thomas Velvin

Walter Littleton Burgess was born on 29 March 1859 in Chesterfield Co., Virginia. He married Josie R. __. He died 28 September 1939 in Chesterfield Co., having had two sons:

1. Carter Oscar Burgess (1890-1968)
2. Walter Hamlet Burgess (1896-1978)

Emmett Junious Burgess is the ancestor of Roy E. Burgess.
R. F. Burgess
J. Burgess
J. R. Saintsing

Test results from 4 members match each other but their common ancestor is unknown.