Matthias Burnet

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Matthias Burnet

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

One of the well improved farms of Hanover township, located near Whippany, is the property of Mr. BURNET, who ranks among the leading agriculturists of the community. He is enterprising, progressive and practical, and his energetic efforts have transformed his place into a highly cultivated and valuable property which well indicates his careful supervision.

Mr. BURNET is descended from one of the oldest families of Morris county. The Burnets are of Norman origin, and emigrated from Yorkshire, England, to America, taking up their residence on Long Island. Aaron BURNET removed from Long Island to New York, thence to Burnet Station, now Madison, New Jersey, and spent his last days there, dying in 1755, at the advanced age of one hundred years. Matthias BURNET, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Whippany, and died October 17, 1783, at the age of sixty years. His son Matthias was born in Whippany in 1749, married Phoebe BROOKFIELD, a daughter of Job BROOKFIELD, and reared a large family, including Job BURNET, the father of our subject. He wedded Mary, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (OSBORN) HEDGES.

Thus it will be seen that Mr. BURNET, of this review, represents a family whose ancestral connection with the history of Morris county covers a period of a century and a half. He was born and reared on the old home farm near Whippany and later learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed until after the commencement of hostilities between the north and the south. Feeling that his country needed his services, he enlisted, September 3, 1862, as a member of Company E, Twenty-seventh New Jersey Infantry, and served for nine months. He was assigned to the Ninth Corps, Army of the Potomac, under General Burnside, and participated in the battle of Fredericksburg and a number of skirmishes in Kentucky. On the 25th of February, 1865, he was drafted as a member of Company G, Fifteenth New Jersey Infantry, and the last engagement in which he participated was at Petersburg. At the close of the war he was mustered out, August 11, 1865, and returned to his home, since which time he has successfully carried on agricultural pursuits.

Mr. BURNET was married in 1874, to Miss Julia Ann WILLIAMS, a daughter of Robert WILLIAMS, a descendant of Captain Robert TROUP. They have three children:

Eleanor Troup,
Sarah Louise and
Marion Williams.

Mr. Burnet votes with the Republican Party and attends the Presbyterian church, in which he has served as trustee.

This biography was scanned and contributed by Catherine Smith DeMayo.