Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/503

Rh mentary on the Song of Solomon" (Philadelphia, 1853); "Octorara, a Poem, and Occasional Pieces" (1855); and "Advanced Growth in Grace " (San Francisco, 1885).

 BURROWS, William, naval officer, b. in Kensington, now part of Philadelphia, Pa., 6 Oct., 1785; d. near Portland. Me., 5 Sept., 1813. He was the son of Lieut.-Ool. Burrows, formerly commandant of the marine corps, and received a midshipman's warrant in November, 1799, joining the "Portsmouth," bound for France, in January, 1800. He joined the " Constitution " in 1803. and Com. Preble, taking a fancy to him, made him acting lieutenant, in which rank he served through the Tripolitan war. He returned to this country in 1807, and in 1808 commanded gun-boat 119, on the Delaware, enforcing the embargo law. In 1809 he became first lieutenant of the " Hornet," and, finding himself outranked by his former juniors, tendered his resignation to See, Hamilton, but it was not accepted. After a furlough of about a year, during which he made a voyage to India, he was ordered to the command of the sloop "Enterprise, of fourteen guns. He still intended to resign, but decided to serve through the war. The "Enterprise " sailed from Portsmouth, N. H., on 1 Sept., 1813, and on 5 Sept. fell in with the British brig "Boxer," twelve guns, off Portland, Me., and captured her after an action of forty-five minutes. Burrows, and Capt. Blythe, of the "Boxer," both fell at the beginning of the action. Blythe was cut in two by a chain-shot, but Burrows, though mortally wounded, lived long enough to receive the surrender of his adversary. The commanders were buried side by side in Portland, and congress voted a gold medal to Burrows's nearest male relative. The engraving is a view of their graves.

 BURT, Armistead, speaker of the house of representatives, b. in Edgefield District, S. C, 16 Nov., 1802; d. in Abl)eville, S. C, 30 Oct., 1883. His father removed to Pendleton, S. C, in 1810. Young Burt received a classical education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He moved to Abbeville in 1828, and practised law there until his death. He was elected to congress as a Calhoun democrat, and served from 1843 till 1853. In 1848, during the absence of the speaker, Robert C. Winthrop, Mr. Burt was speaker pro tempore. During the civil war he was strongly in sympathy with the Confederate government, but held no office. He was a delegate to the New York democratic convention of 1868.

 BURT, Nathaniel Clark, clergvman, b. in Fairton, N. J., 23 April, 1825 ; d. in Rome, Italy, 4 March, 1874. He was graduated at Princeton in 1846, and took a three years' course in the theological seminary there. He was ordained by the Miami presbytery on 1 Nov., 1850, and, after a five years' pastorate at Springfield, Ohio, was called to

the Franklin street Presbyterian church in Baltimore in 1855, and in 1860 to the 7th Presbyterian church in Cincinnati. He spent most of the years 1866 and 1867 in travel abroad for his health, visiting Europe, Egypt, and Palestine, where his investigations added much to our knowledge of the localities and sites of places mentioned in the Scriptures. He was at last compelled by failing health to give up his pastorate, and was president of the Ohio female college from 1868 till 1870, when he was forced to resign this office also, and spent the rest of his life in southern Europe. Here he undertook the care of young ladies who wished to finish their education abroad, spending his winters in Rome, Dresden, or Nice, and making excursions to the principal cities of the continent. Dartmouth gave him the degree of D. D. in 1861. Dr. Burt wrote much for religious periodicals, and published "Hours among the Gospels" (Philadelphia, 1865); "The Far East" (Cincinnati, 1867); and "The Land and its Story" (New York, 1869).

 BURT, William A., surveyor, b, in Worcester, Mass., 13 June, 1792; d. 18 Aug., 1858. He received a good education, was for some years an engineer in Erie co., N. Y., settled near Detroit, IMich., in 1824, and served several terms in the territorial council. He became U. S. deputy surveyor, and in 1840-'7 surveyed northern Michigan. He originated the idea of the solar compass, and was awarded a prize medal for it in 1851 at the London industrial exhibition. He also introduced important improvements in geological surveying, and in 1856 patented an equatorial sextant, but died before bringing it to perfection. He was a judge of the Michigan circuit court and member of the legislature for several terms, and was chief mover in the construction of the Saute Ste. Marie canal.

 BURTON, Asa, clergvman, b. in Stonington, Conn., 25 Aug., 1752; d. in Thetford, Vt., 1 May, 1836. His parents removed to Preston, Conn., in his infancy, and in his fourteenth year to Norwich, Vt., where for the next six years he aided his father in clearing the land for cultivation. It is said that he was one of a few that cut away the forest-trees from the spot where the Dartmouth college buildings now stand. Somewhat against his father's will he entered Dartmouth soon after its foundation, and was graduated in 1777. During his course the students were frequently on guard all night, fearing attacks from hostile Indians or tories of the neighboring province. He remained at college after graduation, reading theology, and in August or September, 1777, with what would now be thought absurdly little preparation, was licensed to preach. After officiating in various towns and continuing his studies he was ordained, 19 Jan., 1779, as pastor of the Congregational church at Thetford, Vt., where he remained more than fifty years. During the first years of his ministry there was no church building in Thetford, but services were held in private dwellings in winter and in barns in summer. Besides discharging his duties as minister, Mr. Burton taught a singing-school for two years that the church music might be improved. In 1804 he received the degree of D. D. from Middlebury college. Dr. Burton was noted as a theological teacher, and from 1786 till 1816 trained about sixty young men for the ministry. His congregation gave him a colleague in 1825, and after 1831 Dr. Burton retired altogether from his labors. He published many occasional sermons and " Essays on some of the First Principles of Metaphysics, Ethics, and Theology " (Portland, Me., 1824). A memoir of him has been published by Thomas Adams.