Samuel D Burris (abt. 1813 - 1863)

Born about 1813 in Delaware

Died Dec 1863 at about age 50 in San Francisco, California, United States

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Biography

Samuel Burris is Notable.

Samuel Burris is a part of US Black heritage.

Samuel D. Burris was a member of the Underground Railroad.^[1]

Samuel D Burris was born free about 1813 in Willow Grove, Delaware.

He was married to Elizabeth, also from Delaware.

He moved his family to Philadelphia and took up farming. He continued to work for the railroad. On one of these trips back to Delaware for he railroad, he was caught and ordered to be sold as a slave. With the help of southern abolitionists he was purchased by friends, and he was saved.

He left for California in 1851. He had lost his farm because of the effort and cost of purchasing Samuel, so he took his family to California and settled in San Francisco.

Samuel raised funds in San Francisco, to help support the runaway slaves moving to Philadephia, Pennsylvania.

Samuel D Burris is listed in the San Francisco City Business directory from 1863-1864.^[2]

Samuel died 3 Dec 1863 and buried 5 Dec 1863 in San Francisco, California. He was noted as being 50 years old. That would make his birth date about 1813.^[3] He lived long enough to see the Emancipation Proclamation, but not the end of the Civil War.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Samuel Burris
2. ↑ "United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZBD-BK1M : 15 February 2022), Samuel D Burris, 1863-1864.
3. ↑ "California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1835-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JNP8-8NB : 19 February 2021), Saml D Burris, 05 Dec 1863; citing funeral home N. Gray & Co., San Francisco, San Francisco, California, record book p. 1-300, 1863-1868, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History and Archive Center.
4. ↑ Delaware Historical & Cultural Affairs. : Samuel D Burris

• Blacks in Gold rush California by Rudolph M Lapp. Binghamton, NY: Yale University Press, 1977. First edition. 321pp. Octavo [21.4cm]. Page 20