Chapter Eleven- The Burrow Family after the Civil War.

 

“A sympathetic Yankee cavalryman stated in a letter home, “It is really sad to see this beautiful country here so ruined. There are no fences left at all. There is no corn and hay for the cattle and horses, but there are no horses left anyhow and the planters have no food for them­selves." Middle Tennessee Society Transformed- Stephen Ash, Page 86    

 

     With their assets hugely reduced by the freeing of the slaves and the destruction of the crops and livestock by the marauding Union and Confederate armies that crisscrossed that part of West Tennessee, the Burrow family and their newly freed slaves lived in relative poverty for the next several years following the war. The Black Americans, who were their former slaves, continued to live on the Burrow plantation in Lavinia. Presumably, they continued living in the old slave cabins and working on the plantation as before, but now they were free persons and were deserving of financial recompense for their labor.

     The census records for the last half of the 19th Century and the first half of the 20th give us some insight in how the Burrow family fared after the Civil War.​

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First Generation: (Banks Sr. & Mary Ann Burrow’s eight sons & daughters):    

Of the eight children of Banks, Sr. & Mary Ann Burrow, three (Banks, Jr., John Jefferson, Nancy) lived out their lives in West Tennessee, two (Maribah & Napoleon) moved to Arkansas and two moved to Texas (Abner & Miranda.) Five had large families (Nancy- seven children; Banks Jr.- ten children; Maribah- seven children; Abner- seven children; Miranda- six children); three had small families (John Jefferson- two surviving children, seven died in childhood; Napoleon- three children; Mary- two children)

Farmers- John Jefferson, Abner Burrow, John Rader (Nancy Burrow’s husband)

Preachers- Banks Jr. & John Somers (Maribah Burrow’s husband).

Physicians- James G. Barbee (Miranda Burrow’s husband), Jubilee Rogers (Mary Hinton Burrow’s husband)

Attorney- Napoleon Bonaparte Burrow (1818-1880) was a Confederate general officer who later became a well-known and successful criminal attorney in Arkansas.​

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Second Generation: (Banks Jr. & Elizabeth Burrow’s ten sons & daughters):

Of the ten children of Banks, Jr. & Elizabeth Richardson, eight (John, Mary, Harriett, Ann, Alice, Banks III, Emma & Benjamin) lived out their lives in Tennessee; one (Elizabeth) moved to Arkansas; one (Martha) moved late in life to Texas. Two had large families: (John- six children; Benjamin- six children); five had no children (Elizabeth, Martha, Harriet, Ann & Banks III); one had a small family (Eliza- two children); two were unmarried (Mary & Emma).

Farmers- Warren Seward (1829-1878, Martha Burrow’s husband), James Davie (1841-1903, Harriet Burrow’s husband), William Mays (1829-1908, Ann Hinton Burrow’s husband), Benjamin H. Burrow (1854-1919)

Preacher & college president- Isham Lafayette Burrow (1833-1913, Elizabeth Burrow’s husband),

Preacher- William McMahon (1829-1899, Eliza Burrow’s husband)

Physician- John Hayle Burrow (1833-1918)

Merchant, Steam Railway in Nashville- Banks M. Burrow, III (1847-1917).​

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Third Generation (John Hayle & Rebecca Burrow’s seven sons & daughters):

Seven (Mary Martha, 1862-1941; Annie Burrow, 1864-1929; Fannie Burrow, 1870-1955; Banks Burrow, 1868-1955, Emma Burrow, 1874-1898; Marvin Burrow, 1876- 1922) & John Burrow (1881-1936) lived out their lives in Tennessee.

Two had large families (Banks M. Burrow, III- six children; Marvin Burrow- nine children) Two had small families (Sarah Burrow & Annie Burrow).

Three had no children (Mary Martha Burrow, Emma Burrow & John Burrow)

Farmer- John McClard (Fannie Burrow’s husband)

Physician- Benjamin Caldwell (Annie Burrow’s husband)

Druggist- Marvin Burrow

House Painter- John Burrow

Railroad office worker- Robert Bruce Harris (Mary Martha Burrow’s husband)

Died young- Emma Burrow at 24 yrs. old, one month after the birth of her only child who died three months later.    

     The above three generations were selected for our study based upon their long association with Gibson County, Tennessee. Based on the limited information given above, what can we say about these persons and their families? The majority of them stayed close to the place of their birth. Only the first generation above had a predominance of large families. The next two generations had far fewer large families. Also, the first two generations had a predominance of farmers. The last generation had only one who was a farmer. These facts revealed by our study of the U.S. census reports over approximately 100 years (1850-1950) lead the author to the conclusion that they are reflective of national trends: larger to smaller families and progression of rural/agrarian to urban working class/professional occupations. In short, what we see here is largely unremarkable. That the majority of Burrow families listed above “stayed close to home” over the years may be the only atypical aspect. However, the author does not have the time to conduct the research necessary to compare this with a much larger population. Maybe this could be done, but for another time.​

 

Bibliography:

Bedford County, Tennessee History- Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1886

Carroll County, Tennessee History- Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1887

Gibson County, Tennessee History- Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1887

Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880- W.E.B. DuBois

Blacks in Tennessee 1791-1970- Lester Lamon

Burrow Family History, James Rightman Blanks

The Cotton Kingdom- Frederick Law Olmsted

History of Carroll County, Volume One- Turner Publishing Co., 1885

History of Tennessee and Tennesseans (Carroll County), Lewis Publishing Co., 1913

Klan War: U.S. Grant & the Battle to Save Reconstruction- Fergus Bordewich

Middle Tennessee Society Transformed, 1860-1870- Stephen Ash

Nathan Bedford Forrest- Eddy Davison & Daniel Foxx

The Negro in Tennessee, 1790-1865- Caleb Patterson

The Peculiar Institution- Kenneth Stampp

Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877- Eric Foner

Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls: A History of Slavery in Tennessee- William Carey, 2018

Slave Trading in the Old South- Fredric Bancroft, 1931

Slavery in the Clover Bottoms- John McCline

Slavery’s End in Tennessee, 1861-1865- John Cimprich, 1985

Slaves in the Family- Edward Bell​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​