My Genealogy Hound

John A. Burton, one of the oldest and best known settlers of Ouachita County, Bridge Creek Township, was born March 3, 1825, in Spartanburg District, S. C, a son of Jesse and Lea (Bomer) Burton, natives of South Carolina. His father was a farmer by occupation, and moved to Henry County, Tenn., in 1826, where he lived until his death, which occurred about 1870, at the ripe old age of eighty years. He and wife were members of the Missionary Baptist Church. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a daughter of Reuben Bomer, and by her marriage with Mr. Burton, was the mother of twelve children, two of whom only survive. They are John A., the subject of this sketch, and Lemuel H., a mechanic of Dallas, Tex. Mr. Burton knows nothing of his parents’ history. Mr. Burton was reared in Tennessee on his father’s farm. In 1848 he came to Arkansas, locating in this county, where he entered a tract of wild land, on which he lived for three years. He then purchased a farm in this township and engaged in farming, and also owned and operated a saw and grist mill (water power), which was known and patronized throughout the township. In 1879 he moved to Columbia County, where he was engaged in the saw-mill business until 1884, when he came back here, and has since been living with his son, Jacob W. Burton. Mr. Burton was married January 3, 1844, to Miss Carolina Travis, a native of North Carolina, born in 1825, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Miller) Travis, and by this union has had seven children, five of whom are still living, viz.: Jacob W., (whose sketch immediately follows this), Mary L. (now Mrs. Smith, of this township), Thomas A. (owner of 200 acres of land), Jesse (a farmer of Columbia County, owning 200 acres of land), and John (also owning 200 acres and engaged in farming in Columbia County). Mr. and Mrs. Burton are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Socially, Mr. Burton is a member of the Masonic order, the I. O. O. F., and the County Wheel. Politically, he is a stanch Democrat, and takes an active interest in politics, as well as all work for the good of the community.