James Dallas Burrus (1846 - 1928)

Born 14 Oct 1846 in Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Died 5 Dec 1928 at age 82 in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

James Burrus is Notable.

Born in slavery, James Dallas Burrus, an American educator and philanthropist, was a member of the first graduating class of Fisk University in Nashville, one of the first African-Americans to graduate from a liberal arts college south of the Mason–Dixon line, and the first African-American to receive a Master of Arts degree. He was also the first African-American faculty member at Fisk University.^[1]

James Burrus, the mixed-race son of slave owner William Burrus and Nancy (Brown), an enslaved woman, was born in Tennessee in 1846. His father maintained a relationship with but never married his mother. When his father died suddenly in 1858, his will was declared invalid, and ownership of Nancy and her three sons was inherited by a relative of William Burrus.^[2][1] That paternal relative, Colonel James Camp Tappan, took James, his brothers, and their mother with him to serve officers of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.^[3]

After the war, James and his family made their way back from Texas to Tennessee. They found employment in food service to save money for school, and James began teaching as well. He and his brother John Houston enrolled in the first class of Fisk University in Nashville, and graduated in 1875. James went on to become the first African-American to receive a masters degree from an accredited institution in the country, earning a masters in mathematics from Dartmouth in 1879. He taught mathematics at Fisk University both before and after attaining his degree. He also taught at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Mississippi as a professor of mathematics.^[1]

He is said to have been engaged for a time to fellow Fisk graduate America W. Robinson, but never married. She lent him money to go on to Dartmouth College; he became a lifelong donor to Fisk University.^[1]

In 1910 James was back in Nashville running a drug store he owned with his other brother, Preston, while also engaging in real estate ventures.^[1]

He died in Nashville in 1928.^[4] The wealth he had accumulated through his entrepreneurial endeavors, real estate and stocks and bonds valued at over $120,000, he donated to Fisk University.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Wikipedia contributors, "James Dallas Burrus," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Dallas_Burrus&oldid=1219547945 (accessed April 20, 2024).
2. ↑ Uzoma Miller, A Guide to the James Dallas Burrus Collection, 1827–1929, (Nashville, Tennessee: Fisk University Archives, March 2006), James Dallas Burrus Collection
3. ↑ Wikipedia, citing Dwight H. Wilson, "John H. Burrus and His Family," Negro History Bulletin, (1 October 1948), 12(1): 3, 15.
4. ↑ "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.
5. ↑ "Tennessee Educator Is Dead - Professor James Dallas Burrus leaves estate to Fisk University," The Pittsburgh Courier, December 15, 1928, p. 8. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-courier-tennessee-educato/133092725/ : accessed October 8, 2023), clip page for Tennessee Educator Is Dead (James Dallas Burrus) - Pittsburgh Courier by user Taneya Koonce.

See also:

• Wikipedia: James Dallas Burrus
• Blacks at Dartmouth 1775 to 1960
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62744793/james-dallas-burrus: accessed 28 August 2022), memorial page for James Dallas Burrus (14 Oct 1846–5 Dec 1928), Find a Grave Memorial ID Find A Grave: Memorial #62744793, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Carol Robertson White (contributor 46607100).
• FamilySearch Family Tree Profile https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/about/G4CG-LMK
• Wikidata: Item Q24203424, en:Wikipedia