Nancy (Brown) Burrus (1826 - 1911)

Born 3 May 1826 in Tennessee, United States

Died 22 Sep 1911 at age 85 in Tennessee, United States

Biography

Nancy (Brown) Burrus is a part of US Black heritage.

Nancy was born into slavery and of mixed race. She went by the surname "Brown" , but it is unknown if that was the name of her father. Her death certificate gives her mother's name as "Caroline" ^[1]. She became the enslaved common law wife of William C J Burrus. They had three sons together: Preston Robert, John Houston and James Dallas Burrus.

When William died suddenly in 1859, his will and desire that his estate pass to Nancy and their sons was disregarded and ownership of Nancy, Preston, James and John were divided and passed to William's relatives along with his other estate property.

Sons James and John were among the first four African-Americans to attend and graduate from a college in the Southern United States, along with Virginia E Walker^[2] and America W Robinson ^[3]. It is important to note that Susan Harris Love, a former homeless child that Nancy took in and supported also graduated in the first normal department at Fisk ^[4].

In 1910 she is found living with sons James and Preston in Nashville ^[5] She passed away in 1911 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee^[6].

Sources

1. ↑ "Tennessee Deaths and Burials, 1874-1955", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6R7-TLW : 27 January 2020), Nancy Burrus, 1911.
2. ↑ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_E._Walker_Broughton
3. ↑ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_W._Robinson
4. ↑ https://www.fisk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/burrus-jamesd.collection1827-1929.pdf.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGXR-XDY : accessed 28 August 2022), Nancy Brown, Nashville Ward 7, Davidson, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 31, sheet 8A, family 165, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1495; FHL microfilm 1,375,508.
   • Nancy Brown Head Female 83 Tennessee
   • Janes D Burrus Son Male 63 Tennessee
   • Preston R Burrus Son Male 51 Tennessee
   • Sarah G Burrus Daughter-in-law Female 50 Alabama
6. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVG4-2NYJ : 16 December 2021), Nancy Brown Burrus, ; Burial, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States of America, Greenwood Cemetery; citing record ID Find A Grave: Memorial #108437088, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• "Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NSVC-15W : 1 March 2021), Nancy Brown in entry for James D. Burrus, 5 Dec 1928; Death, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
• "Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NSPY-1V5 : 1 March 2021), Nancy Burrus in entry for Preston Robert Burrus, 8 Jun 1926; Death, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.