Person:Thomas Burnett (11)

In June, 1876 Thomas B. Burnett settled in Gore Township, Sumner County, Kansas on 160 acres he had purchased two miles southeast of Littleton. The trip from his former home in Pee Dee, Iowa was made in two covered wagons accompanied by his wife Elizabeth and twenty month old daughter Alice Laverne, his wife's sister, Mary Alice Lightfoot, and an Iowa neighbor who drove one wagon. Their journey was interrupted for a few days at Eldorado County, Kansas when one of the mares gave birth to a colt. There was a dugout on the property when Burnett acquired it but when the family arrived they discovered the roof had fallen in, so until a house could be built they lived in a tent in the yard of Valentine Harwood whose farm was across the road. Another daughter Ruhama Esther, was born 25 Apr 1877.

T. B. as he was familiarly known, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, 9 Feb 1840, son of Isaac and Eliza Nixon Burnett of Irish descent. He was married 15 Oct 1868 in Iowa City, Iowa to Elizabeth N. Lightfoot. She was born 9 Feb 1844 also in Wayne County, Ohio, the daughter of Daniel and Susannah Arnsberger Lightfoot, and moved to Cedar County, Iowa in 1856. T. B.'s interests were many. He was a boot maker, sewed his own work clothes including overalls of brown denim and underwear of cotton flannel, cabinet maker, harness maker and blacksmith. His farm improvements included a blacksmith shop and a barn equipped with a grain mill run by an engine powered by a windmill located on the roof of the engine room. He was ever on the lookout for better methods of doing the task at hand and spent much time studying new material. He owned the first phonograph brought into the area. He was a generous, good natured man, friend to all, with a thirst for knowledge. His keen interest in horticulture prompted the planting of an extensive orchard and experimentation with new varieties. In search of better fruit growing conditions he moved his family to Arkansas in 1896 but returned to Sumner County [Kansas] within two years to spend the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Burnett died after a few days illness June 16, 1907 and T. B. on 17 Dec 1922. He had been a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge for fifty years and while living in Iowa a member of Golden Rule Lodge #24, getting his Master Mason degree 10 Apr 1876. ...

http://www.the-lightfoots.com/genealogy/lightfoot/d5.htm#i190

... (Source: from Phyllis Storey-Harrison, 1 Jun 2004)
To answer a few of your questions--Why they came to Kansas. They were looking for a warmer climate. At that time there was a lot of land available in Kansas and the general trend seemed to be to move from PA to IL or IA then on to MO and KS. I sometimes think my great grandfather Burnett had itchy feet as he and Luke Lightfoot went on to Arkansas a few years later looking for a better place to grow fruit. I think they lived there only a year and came back to Kansas. Grandpa Burnett did have a big orchard on his farm. Even though he died before I was born there were still lots of trees left. I can remember the peach and pear trees but they all perished during the Dirty Thirties except a couple of pear trees near the house. My grandparents lived on his farm until sometime in the 50's. After Grandpa Foudray died my mother's sister and her husband moved in to be with Granny. As for T.B's talents, I don't think there was much he couldn't do. He even made his own overalls. I have inherited a secretary he made in 1876. It's a pretty primitive piece of furniture but I treasure it.
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(Source: from Phyllis Storey-Harrison, 8 Jun 2004)
The Burnett farm remained in the family until just a few years ago. My grandmother sold it to one of my uncles on my dad's side of the house and they lived there, tore down the old house and built a new one, their son tore down the old barn, so there's nothing original left unless the windmill is still standing. The buildings were deteriorating and not needed. Today instead of a barn people need a machine shed and grain storage. They don't milk cows or raise chickens and pigs like we did 50 years ago. When I was growing up there was a shed where the cows were milked and feed was stored in half of it, by the windmill was a pig shed and a pen full of pigs and the chicken house had a bunch of old hens scratching and cackling. I think Granny's last old hen died of old age in the late 50's. ...

Thomas B. Burnett was born in Wayne County, Ohio, February 9, 1840 and died at his home near Mulvane, Kansas, December 17, 1922 at the advanced age of 82 years, 10 months, and 8 days. On October 15, 1858 [sic...should be 1868], he was married to Elizabeth N. Lightfoot at Iowa City, Iowa. Two children were born to this union - LaVerne, now Mrs. Charles Foudray and Esther, now Ms. John Newton. These, with three grand children, one great grand child, and one sister, Mrs. R. H. Blackman of Saint Petersburg, Florida, are his relatives left to mourn his departure. Father Burnett moved from Iowa to Kansas in June, 1876, and settled on the farm where he died. He had been a member of the I.O.O.F. lodge for 50 years. He was a good neighbor, a good citizen, a good friend, and a kind and loving father. Funeral services were conducted at his late home Tuesday afternoon by Rev. A. J. Rhodes, pastor of the Church of Christ, and the body was laid to rest in the Mulvane city cemetery with the beautiful burial ceremony of the I.O.O.F.