James E Burnet

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

James E Burnet

Biographical and Genealogical History of Morris County New Jersey. Illustrated. Vol. II., Lewis Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1899.

It is to the successful conduct of enterprising business interests that a community owes its prosperity and progress, and through the avenue of his mercantile affairs James E. Burnet has contributed not a little to the substantial growth and development of Madison, where he is now conducting a hardware store. He is one of the leading young business men of the town, and was born in this place, May 4, 1872, his parents being Henry and Emogene (Clark) Burnet. The former was likewise a native of Madison and belonged to one of the older families of the county. Of Norman origin, the Burnets emigrated to America from Yorkshire, England, Thomas Burnet probably being the original ancestor of all the representatives of the name in this county. A settlement was made on Long Island and Aaron Burnet afterward removed from Long Island to New York. He established a home at what was then known as Burnet Station, now Madison, and there spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1755, in his one hundredth year. Mathias Burnet, the great-great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Whippany, New Jersey, and passed away October 17, 1783, at the age of sixty years. His son, Mathias, born in Whippany, in 1749, married Phoebe Brookfield, daughter of Job Brookfield of the Laontaka valley. She was born May 17, 1750, and died December 10, 1828.

Mathias L. Burnet, the grandfather of our subject, was one of a large family and was born in Whippany, Morris county, April 13, 1798. He married Nancy Cook, a native of Madison, born in 1799, and a daughter of Benjamin Cook, whose father, Ellis Cook, came from Southampton, Long Island, and was among the pioneer settlers of Morris county, where he had Extensive real-estate holdings. In early life Mathias L. Burnet learned the wheelwright's trade, which he followed in connection with farming. He took an active interest in the educational advancement of the community and in the work of the Presbyterian church, to which he and his wife belonged. He was also a member of the Masonic fraternity. He died in 1882, aged ninety-two years, and his wife's death occurred April 13, 1S69. They were the parents of three children: Henry R. , father of our subject; Benjamin W., of Madison; and James Edgar, who died of yellow fever, in 1862, 'while in the government employ, on the United States ship Rhode Island.

Henry Burnet was reared and educated in Madison and became a gold-refiner. For many years he followed that business in New York city and won a gratifying competence. Later he retired to a farm at Madison, where he spent his declining days, his death occurring in 1888. He was well known throughout Morris county, and was a valued and enterprising citizen who gave his support to all measures for the public good. In politics he was a Democrat, but never sought office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests. Mrs. Burnet, who is a native of Utica, New York, still survives her husband and makes her home in Morris county. By her marriage she became the mother of two children: James E. and Mabel H. The latter is the wife of William H. Apgar, of Madison, and erected the Burnet block, which is one of the finest business blocks in the town.

The son, James E. Burnet, has spent his entire life in Madison, so that the place is endeared to him from the associations of 'his youth as well as those of mature manhood. One of the first business ventures in which he engaged was the taking of contracts for constructing and grading roads. The capable management which marked his undertakings made him very successful, and he carried on operations along that line for a number of years. In 1897 he opened a hardware store in the Burnet block—the largest store of the kind in Madison—and is now doing a good business. His honorable business methods and his earnest desire to please the public have secured to him a liberal patronage. In his political affiliations he is a Republican and takes an active interest in local matters, political and otherwise, withholding his co-operation from no movement which he believes will prove of public benefit.

Transcribed by Brianne Kelly-Bly