The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 232
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
his life, the man to whom Texas owed such a debt of gratitude
and money lived almost in poverty. He sold part of his prop-
erty to keep his beloved son in military college in Frankfort,
Kentucky. In October, 1856, his only man servant ran away,
and being sixty-eight years old and not physically able to culti-
vate his fields with only a negro girl to help him, he rented his
farm to a Mr. Tompkins for $125 a year, keeping only the house
and a few acres for himself. Two years later, on October 30,
1858, his wife died. He then left Oakland, his old home, for-
ever and went to live with his friend General Sidney Sherman.
On March 31, 1865, Burnet's only remaining child, William
Este Burnet, died at Spanish Fort near Mobile-a victim of
the Civil War. A short time after this Mrs. Sherman died, and
Burnet went to make his home with the Preston Perry family
in Galveston.
In September, 1865, he answered the call to go to Washington
to ask clemency of the President for the people of the South,
and also pardon for Jefferson Davis. Shortly after his return
from Washington he was sent back, this time as senator from
Texas. Burnet was feeble and sick and seriously considered not
going; but he had never refused the call of duty, and he did
not refuse this time. For a week and a half he and Senator
O. M. Roberts endeavored to get themselves seated, but without
avail.
Burnet left Washington just before Christmas and spent the
remainder of the winter with his relatives in Newark, New
Jersey. He came home and then decided to spend the rest of
his days in Ohio with friends and relatives. After a short
time there, however, he realized how dear his adopted state
and her people were to him, and he decided to come back to
Texas, his real home. He returned to Galveston and to the
Perry family, where on December 5, 1870, at the age of eighty-
two years, eight months, and one day, he quietly passed on.
The funeral services were held on December 6, with Dr. Bunting
as the officiating clergyman. The Masonic rites were performed
after the funeral.
Burnet was buried in the old Episcopal Cemetery in Galves-
ton, his grave occupying a "post of honor"; but on October 15,
1871, the Magnolia Grove Cemetery was dedicated by trans-
ferring his remains to that place, alongside his old friend Sidney
Sherman. Since that time, the remains of Burnet have been
removed to the State Cemetery at Austin.232
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/265/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.