Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
Eliza D. Burgess
Eliza D. Burgess, daughter of Jesse Williams, was born in Stokes County, N. C. Her father was a native of North Carolina, and her mother of Virginia. Mr. Williams was for many years engaged in the mercantile business, both in North Carolina and in Cincinnati, where he moved his family in 1814, and remained some years. In 1820 they came to Wayne County, Ind., where he was engaged in farming until they located in Richmond in 1825, where he died in 1833 in his eighty-first year. His wife died the same year, aged seventy years. They raised a family of four sons and three daughters, three still living — Sarah T. Mendenhall, of Richmond; Eliza D., our subject, and Jesse L. Williams, of Ft. Wayne, Ind. Mr. Williams had four children by his former wife, two sons and two daughters, none living. Eliza D. was first married to Joseph G. Hopkins, a native of Maryland, who was drowned in Whitewater River, near Richmond, soon after their marriage. They had one child — Sarah A., who now resides in Dublin. She was again married in 1835 to John L. Burgess, a native of Kentucky, who came to Wayne County, Ind., at an early day. To them were born six children, four of whom survive — Thomas C., residing in Columbus, Ind.; Mattie E. Ross, living in Connersville, Ind.; Micajah T., of Salt Lake City, and John Q., of Story County, Iowa. John L. Burgess died in Dublin in 1871, in his seventy-first year. His widow, Eliza D., is still living in Dublin, in her eightieth year and retains all her faculties.
Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2