Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/500

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468
BURR
BURRILL

in 1794, Theodosia became mistress of her father's house and the companion of his leisure hours. On 2 Feb., 1801, she married Joseph Allston, a wealthy and talented young planter of South Carolina, who in after years became governor of his native state. The devotion of Theodosia to her father approached idolatry; through all the disasters of his career she clung to him with unshaken fidelity. She and her husband were cognizant of her father's scheme to become emperor of Mexico, her son was to be the heir to the throne, and when Burr was brought to trial at Richmond his daughter was there, and, by the power of her beauty and intellectual graces, did much to stay the torrent of popular indignation and secure a favorable verdict. Her eloquent letters to Mrs. Madison, Sec. Gallatin, and other old friends of Burr paved the way for his return to New York after four years of exile and poverty. Before his arrival Theodosia's son and only child died, in his eleventh year. In consequence of this blow she was prostrated by a nervous fever; but, eager to see her father once more, she embarked at Charleston for New York, 29 Dec., 1812, on a pilot-boat called the “Patriot.” A storm soon arose, and raged along the coast, in which the “Patriot” probably foundered off Hatteras. Nothing was ever heard of the vessel again. This event completed the tragedy of the Burr family. The accompanying portrait of Theodosia represents her at the age of nineteen. See “Life of Aaron Burr,” by Samuel L. Knapp (New York, 1835); “Memoirs, with Selections from his Correspondence” (2 vols., 1837-'8), and “Private Journal” during his residence abroad, with selections from his correspondence (2 vols., 1838), both edited by Matthew L. Davis; and “Life and Times of Aaron Burr,” by James Parton (New York, 1858).


BURR, Enoch Fitch, author, b. in Green's Farms, Fairfield co., Conn., 21 Oct., 1818. He was graduated at Yale in 1839, and spent several years at New Haven in theological and scientific studies. After a year spent in foreign travel, he became, in 1850, pastor of a Congregational church in Lyme, Conn. He has published " A Treatise on the Application of the Calculus to the Theory of Nep- tune " (New Haven, 1848) ; " Ecce Coelum " (Bos- ton, 1867) : " Pater Mundi " (1869) ; " Ad Fidem " (1871); "Facts in Aid of Faith" (New York, 1872); "Doctrine of Evolution" (Boston, 1873); " A Song of the Sea," an illustrated poem (1873) ; " Pasce Agnos " (1873) ; " Sunday Afternoons " (New York, 1874) ; " Thy Voyage " a poem (1874) ; " Toward the Strait Gate " and " Work in the Vineyard " (Boston, 1876) ; " From Dark to Day," a poem (1877) ; " Dio the Athenian " (New York, 1880); "Tempted to Unbelief" (1882); "Ecce Ter- ra" (Philadelphia, 1884); "Celestial Empires" (New York, 1885) ; and " Consensus of Faith " (1886). BURRALL, Jonathan, soldier, b. in 1753 ; d. in Goshen, N. Y., 18 Nov., 1834. In 1776 he joined the northern army under Schuyler. His talents soon procured him the appointment of assistant paymaster, and, at the close of the war, a place in the commission for settling the accounts of the commissary and quartermaster's departments. He was afterward assistant postmaster-general, cashier of the U. S. branch bank of New York, and manager of the New York state lotteries at a time when public confidence in them had been shaken.


BURRALL, William Porter, railroad official, b. in Canaan, Conn., in 1806 ; d. in Hartford, Conn., 3 March, 1874. He was graduated at Yale in 1826, studied law in Salisbury, Conn., and at the Litchfield law-school, and was admitted to the bar of Litchfield county in 1829. He practised law in his native town until October, 1839. when he was chosen president of the Housatonie railroad company, and removed to Bridgeport, Conn. This office he held for fifteen years, when he resigned in consequence of the pressure of other engage- ments. He was also connected with the New York and New Haven railroad during its construction and the earlier years of its operation, was treasurer, and afterward president, of the Illinois central railroad, vice-president, and afterward president, of the Hartford and New Haven railroad, and was finally vice-president of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad upon the consolidation of those companies. He removed to Salisbury, Conn., in 1859, subsequently represented that town several times in the general assembly, and was also a member of the state senate.


BURRIEL, Andres Marcos (boor-e-el'), Span- ish scholar, b. in 1719; d. in 1762. Twelve years before his death he was commissioned to make some archiBological explorations, which he effected with great success. Among his best works are " Prologo " on the travels of Jorge Juan and Anto- nio de Ulloa in Ecuador, " Paleografia Espaiiola," and " Noticia de la California, Cartas," etc.


BURRILL, Alexander M., legal writer, b. in 1807 ; d. in Kearney, N. J., 7 Feb., 1869. He was graduated at Columbia, in 1824, with the highest honors of the class, studied several years in the office of Chancellor Kent, and was admitted to the New York bar in 1828. He was remarkable for his scholarly precision and discrimination in the use of language. He published " Practice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York " (2 vols., 1840; 2d ed., 3 vols., 1846); "Law Diction- ary and Glossary " (2 vols., New York, 1850) ; " Law and Practice of Voluntary Assignments " (1853) ; and "Circumstantial Evidence" (1856). He also aided in compiling " Worcester's Dictionary."


BURRILL, James, statesman, b. in Providence, R. I., 25 April, 1772; d. in Washington, D. C, 25 Dec, 1820. He was graduated at Rhode Island college (now Brown university) in 1788, and, after studying law with Theodore Foster and David How- ell (both afterward U.S. senators), he was admitted to the bar in September, 1791. He was attorney- general of Rhode Island from 1797 till 1813, when the decline of his health caused his retirement from the bar. He was a member of the legislature in 1813, speaker in 1814, and chief justice of the state supreme court in 1816. He was chosen U. S. sena- tor in 1817, but died before the expiration of his term. He i)ore a distinguished part in the senate, especially in the debate on the Missouri compro- mise, to which he was inflexibly opposed.


BURRILL, Thomas Jonathan, naturalist, b. in Pittsfield, Mass., 25 April, 1839. He was graduated at the Illinois state normal university in 1865, where, in 1868, he was elected professor of botany and horticulture. From 1877 till 1884 he was dean