Portrait of a Patriot: Edward Burleson
Edward Burleson, the famous nineteenth-century soldier and politician, began his long tenure of service to Texas during the early days of the Revolution. Records in the GLO Archives help tell the story of his arrival in Texas and the life he lived here.
Burleson was born on December 15, 1798, in Buncombe County, North Carolina. He moved several times before landing in Texas — first to Alabama, where he met Sarah Griffen Owen of Madison County. The two were married in 1813, and they relocated to Missouri the next year. There, Edward joined the local militia, rising to the rank of colonel. Next, the couple went to Tennessee where he continued the advancement of his military career, starting service as a lieutenant colonel and eventually receiving a promotion to colonel of a regiment in Hardeman County.[1]
In 1830, the Burleson family made the move from Tennessee to Texas.[2] They arrived on May 1 and soon began the process of applying for land, beginning Edward’s trail of records at the GLO. Writing to Stephen F. Austin to request permission to settle in his colony, Burleson stated that he was “ready to take the oath prescribed by law,” and indicated that his family consisted of himself and his wife Sarah, 33 and 35 years old respectively, and their three sons and one daughter.[3] The letter notes that Burleson “wants his land on the west side of the Colorado, or on the east side in the neighborhood of Farmer’s Prairie.”
Burleson received title to a league of land, 4428.4 acres, the full amount to which he was entitled as a married man arriving in Mexican Texas.[4] As requested, his survey was located on the east bank of the Colorado River, eleven miles below the town of Bastrop near present-day Smithville. His title was recorded in Austin’s Register of Families.[5]
Burleson’s military experience was quickly put to use in Texas. He was involved with the Texas Revolution from the onset of the conflict and served in key roles throughout the duration of the war. Stephen F. Austin was the commander of all the Texas forces at the beginning of the Revolution, but in November 1835 he was sent to the United States by the General Council of the Provisional Government of Texas to enlist more troops and secure funding. A replacement for the command was needed, to be chosen by an election among the soldiers. Texas Army volunteers selected Burleson, who had recently fought in the Grass Fight during the Siege of Béxar, as their new commander in chief, and he was commissioned by the provisional government on December 1 with the rank of general.[6]
After accepting the surrender of General Cos and reporting the successful Siege of Béxar to the provisional government, Burleson resigned his command to return home for Christmas, along with most of the volunteers.[7] He wasn’t finished with the fight, though — he organized a company and arrived at Gonzales in February 1836. The men at Gonzales elected him colonel of the First Regiment of the Texas Infantry.[8] At the Battle of San Jacinto, Burleson and his First Regiment led the charge against Mexican forces. After the conclusion of a battle, it was customary for the commander of the defeated army to hand over his sword as a token of surrender. At San Jacinto, Burleson accepted the sword of General Juan N. Almonte.[9] For “having fought bravely at San Jacinto,” he was awarded Donation Certificate №6 on May 14, 1841, receiving 640 acres of land.[10]
Burleson continued to serve in the military after the revolution. Bounty Certificate #4420 indicates that he served from October 1835 through October 1836, at which point he was honorably discharged.[11] He returned to the service and was elected brigadier general of the Texas Militia in 1837. In 1838, he was appointed colonel of the First Regiment of the Infantry of the Regular Army.[12] In 1839, he took command of the Frontier Regiment and engaged in victorious campaigns against the Cherokees and Comanches into 1840. Burleson raised soldiers during General Adrián Woll’s invasion in 1842, and he later served as a spy during the U.S.-Mexican War.[13]
Burleson’s legacy in Texas is not limited to his military successes — he was also an accomplished politician.[14] His first elected position was in 1833 as a delegate to the Second Convention in Mina (present-day Bastrop). Two years later he was elected to serve as a delegate to the Consultation of 1835, but he was unable to attend because he was already committed to serving on the safety committee.[15]
After Texas became an independent nation, committees were established to ensure infrastructure was in place. Burleson served on several of these committees, which included the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, the Committee of Indian Affairs, and the Committee on Military Affairs. He represented Bastrop County in the Second Congress of the Republic, and Bastrop, Fayette, and Gonzales counties as a Senator in the Third Congress.[16]
Burleson served as vice president of the Republic from 1841–1844 under President Sam Houston. Setting his sights even higher, he ran for president in 1844 but was defeated by Anson Jones.[17] In 1848, Burleson, then a state senator, helped pass legislation to name Hays County in honor of John Coffee Hays, the famous surveyor and Texas Ranger. He also donated land for the construction of the county’s courthouse.[18] He continued his political career as President Pro Tempore of the Texas Senate, which he held until his death.[19] In 1850, GLO records indicate Burleson purchased a 40-acre outlot north of the city of Austin, thereby completing the trail of paperwork that began with his letter to Stephen F. Austin in 1830.[20]
Burleson died unexpectedly of pneumonia on December 26, 1851. At that time, land had not yet been set aside to serve as the final resting place for Texas patriots. When the Texas Legislature convened to make arrangements for his service, Senator Andrew Jackson Hamilton donated approximately 22 acres about one mile east of Congress Avenue in Austin for Burleson’s burial. This land became known as the “state burying ground,” with Edward Burleson being the first interment in the newly formed Texas State Cemetery.[21] The body lay in state for a short time at the Capitol and Masonic burial services were performed by the Austin Masonic Lodge №12 on December 28, 1851, but it was not until 1854 when money was appropriated by the Texas Legislature for a permanent monument to be erected on his gravesite.[22]
Edward and Sarah Burleson had a total of nine children, six of whom survived to adulthood, including a set of twin boys. Two of their sons continued in the family tradition of military and political service to Texas. Edward Jr. was a member of the Texas Mounted Volunteers serving under Benjamin McCulloch in the U.S.-Mexican War. He joined the Texas Rangers and rose to the rank of major, and as a politician, he was elected as a delegate from the 21st District to the 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention.[23] David Crockett Burleson (one of the twins) was also a member of the Texas Rangers and served in the Texas Senate as Sergeant-at-Arms in the late 1850s.[24]
[1] “Edward Burleson — The Grand Lodge of Texas” — https://grandlodgeoftexas.org/edward-burleson-fourth-vice-president-republic/ (Accessed 1/10/2019).
[2] Handbook of Texas Online, Helen Burleson Kelso, “BURLESON, EDWARD,” accessed December 27, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbu40.
[3] Edward Burleson to Stephen F. Austin, 18 June 1830, Box 25, Folder 32, Records of the Spanish Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[4] Title to Edward Burleson, 4 April 1831, Box 8, Folder 40, Records of the Spanish Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[5] Austin’s Register of Families, Vol. 1, pp. 75–76, Records of the Spanish Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[6] The San Jacinto Museum of History, The Herzstein Library website — https://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Library/Veteran_Bios/Bio_page/?id=125&army=Texian (accessed January 10, 2019).
[7] Handbook of Texas Online, Alwyn Barr, “BEXAR, SIEGE OF,” accessed December 05, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qeb01.
[8] The San Jacinto Museum of History (accessed January 10, 2019).
[9] Ibid.
[10] Donation certificates of 640 acres were issued for participants of the following battles: the Siege of Béxar, the Alamo, the Goliad Massacre, and San Jacinto. Donation Certificate #6 to Col. Edward Burleson, 14 May 1841, Travis D-000075, Texas Land Grant Records, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[11] Bounty certificates were issued in the amounts of 320 acres for every three months of service, up to a year. Bounty Certificate #4420 to Edward Burleson, 14 November 1838, Fannin B-000117, Texas Land Grant Records, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[12] The San Jacinto Museum of History (accessed January 10, 2019).
[13] Handbook of Texas Online, Helen Burleson Kelso, “BURLESON, EDWARD,” accessed December 27, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbu40.
[14] Texas Legislators: Past & Present, “Edward Burleson,” Texas Legislative Reference Library, https://lrl.texas.gov/mobile/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=5286 (accessed December 5, 2019)
[15] Helen Burleson Kelso, “Burleson, Edward.”
[16] The San Jacinto Museum of History (accessed January 10, 2019).
[17] Helen Burleson Kelso, “Burleson, Edward.”
[18] Handbook of Texas Online, Paul F. Cecil and Daniel P. Greene, “HAYS COUNTY,” accessed December 27, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hch11.
[19] Helen Burleson Kelso, “Burleson, Edward.”
[20] Comptroller’s Office to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 28 January 1850, Austin City Lots 000402, Texas Land Grant Records, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[21] Texas State Cemetery brochure, “Texas State Cemetery History,” https://cemetery.tspb.texas.gov/tsc-brochure.pdf, accessed December 27, 2018.
[22] The San Jacinto Museum of History (accessed January 10, 2019).
[23] Handbook of Texas Online, “BURLESON, EDWARD, JR,” accessed December 27, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbu41.
[24] Handbook of Texas Online, “BURLESON, DAVID CROCKETT,” accessed December 27, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbu39.
