Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/71

 BURNS.

BURNS.

BURNS, Anthony, fugitive slave, was born in Virginia about 1830. When twenty years old he made his escape and reached Boston, where he worked during the years 1853-'54. The fugitive slave law which had recently been signed by President Fillmore made possible his arrest, May 34, 1854. Burns was confined in the court house and his trial was opened on the morning of May 25, Richard H. Dana, Jr., Charles M. Ellis, and Robert Morris volunteering as his counsel. The case was adjourned to the 27th, and on the 26th a mass meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, which was addressed by Judge Russell, Theodore Parker, and Wendell Phillips; when news that a mob had gathered around the court house reached Faneuil Hall the meeting dissolved and its excited members rushed there. A door was forced, and in the struggle that followed one Bachelder was killed, while others were wounded, among them Rev. Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Finding the court house garrisoned by marines and soldiers, the besiegers retreated. On the 27th overtures were made to Colonel Suttle for the purchase of Burns. The colonel agreed to part with him for the sum of twelve hundred dollars, provided the money was tendered before 12 o'clock, P.M., May 27. The money and pledges were provided by the exertions of L. A. Grimes, pastor of the church for colored people, and the deed of manumission needed only the signature of the marshal, which he was prevented from affixing by District- Attorney Hallett. A decision was given by the commissioners, June 2, in favor of the slave- owner, and Burns was marched to the wharf surrounded by soldiers. There were fifty thousand spectators, but no attempt at rescue was made, the streets being lined with soldiers. In State street the windows were draped with black, a coffin inscribed with the legend, "The Funeral of Liberty," was suspended from a window opposite the old state house, and a U. S. flag was hung across the street draped with black and with the Union down. Burns was placed on board a U. S. cutter and taken to Richmond, when he was fettered and confined in a slave pen for four months, and treated with loathsome cruelty. He was then sold to a Mr. McDaniel, of North Carolina, who is entitled to credit for the kindness with which he treated Burns, and the resolute help he gave in restoring him to his friends at the north. The twelfth Baptist church in Boston, of which Burns was a member, purchased his freedom through the contributions made by the citizens. He returned to Boston, and by the benevolence of a lady was given a scholarship at Oberlin in 1855; from there he entered Fairmont institute. In 1860 he was put in charge of the colored Baptist church in Indianapolis, but under

the threat of the enforcement of the Black laws, with penalty of fine and imprisonment, he remained there only three weeks. Not long after he found a field of labor at St. Catherine's, Canada, where he worked with commendable zeal until his death, July 27, 1862.

BURNS, Francis, M. E. bishop, was born in Albany, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1809; of free negro parents, who bound him out as a servant when he was but five years old. At the age of fifteen he entered the academy at Lexington Heights, where he studied for the ministry. After years of service in the home field was sent out as a missionary to Liberia, where the greater part of his remaining years were spent. He returned to the United States for a short visit in 1844, and was ordained deacon and elder. Soon after his return to Africa he was appointed presiding elder of the Palmas district, and in 1851 became superintendent of the missionary settlement at Monrovia, opening an academy at the latter place, under the auspices of the board of missions. He was ordained bishop in 1858, returning to the United States for the ceremony, which was performed by Bishops Janes and Baker. The five years following his ordination were spent in laboring in the African field, and in 1863, returned to America, and died at Baltimore, Md., April 18, 1863.

BURNS, James Austin, educator, was born at Oxford, Me., Jan. 25, 1840. He studied at Bowdoin college in the class of '62, and at the opening of the civil war became a lieutenant of the 7th Connecticut volunteers, August, 1861, and was promoted to a captaincy in 1862. He served on the staffs of Generals Viele, Stevens. Seymour, Strong and Terry; was present at the sieges of Forts Pulaski, Sumter, and Wagner, and the investment of Petersburg. He resided in Atlanta after the civil war, and was for many years professor of chemistry in the Southern medical college. He is the author of a series of Juxtalinear Translations of the Classics. He received the degree of A.B. in 1882, and of Ph. D. in 1885 from Bowdoin college.

BURNS, John, soldier, was born in Burlington, N. J., Sept. 5, 1793. He was among the earliest volunteers in the war of 1812, and was a member of Colonel Miller's regiment, which turned the tide of battle in favor of the Americans at Lundy's Lane. He served during the Mexican war, and again volunteered his service in 1861, and when not accepted, owing to his advanced age he became a teamster in the army, in time of battle taking a place in the ranks. He was constable of Gettysburg when Early's troops occupied the town, and single-handed assumed his official prerogative, and was locked up by the Confederates. While the battle was at its height he took musket and ammunition from a