BURTON, Lewis (Rev.)
Husband of Agnes Jane "Nancy" nee WALLACE – m. 1841 in Cleveland
Son of John Burton
B. 1815 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co. OH
D. 9 Oct 1894 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co. OH
Burial – Oct 1894 in Lakewood Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co. OH

Lakewood Post, 8 Aug 1947
"Eliza Jennings Burton Reminisces Of Days When Lakewood Was Young" By Margaret Manor Butler
"I do not want you to see this picture" was the welcome greeting I received when I dropped in for a visit with Eliza Jennings Burton Backus (Mrs. A. M.) who will be 92 on Sept. 14. "Doesn't he have a fine face?" she continued. "He was one of the best loved men I ever knew."
She was referring to her father , who was lovingly called, "The Apostle of the West Side," and so our talk centered around Rev. Lewis Burton, D.D., who for 24 years--from 1847 to 1871--guided his parishoners from Parma to Rocky River, while he was rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, (the oldest church in the city--still standing at 2600 Church street). The population on the entire West side was less than 2,000 when he became rector. As comforter and advisor he became a well-known figure wherever he went.
Often during Civil War days she rode in the horse and buggy with him on his calls to Lakewood where he was welcomed as a member of the community. She remembers stopping at almost every house whether people there were Episcopalians or not. There were the sick to comfort, advice in family or civic problems, perhaps a letter to write and then the baptisms, marriages and funerals, and he was never above lending a helping hand with a chore if he were needed. Eliza J. sat in the buggy and waited for him during some of his visits, but where there were children, she too scrambled down for a visit.
She recalled the stops at Dr. Kirtland's (his home is still standing at 14013 Detroit) because they were so long. Rev. Burton and Kirtland had much in common and it was with difficulty that he tore himself away.
She remembered Lakewood when it was open country with vineyards and orchards paramount, and houses set back from the road. There were Sunday School picnics via the Dummy Railroad to Rocky River, and occasional dinners at Silverthorns.
After the cholera epidemic in 1850 which took its toll in Lakewood as well as Cleveland, Rev. Burton won the everlasting respect of hundreds. Ministers were in as great demand as doctors, when entire families were wiped out in a day or two. Civic authorities prohibited keeping bodies after death--which meant immediate burial. Many were the sleepless nights when he actually helped to bury the dead in the dark cemeteries illuminated by the feeble light of a torch, and then returned to sit the night out with distressed members of the family.
Rev. Burton was energy personified. After resigning from St. John's he organized three other churches: St. Mark's, All Saints and Lakewood's Church of the Ascension. Despite immense amounts of church work, he still found time to enjoy other things, keeping himself physically fit for any task. An entry in his journal of Aug. 18, 1877 says: "I sawed and split kindling. broke coal, bathed, wrote to Phebe and Jane, shelled beans for Amelia's succotash and rode with Lewis to the East side." Another entry in 1884: "Mowed the church yard--grass rank and thick--hard work to cut it."
He was devoted to his family all of whom found some outlet in religious activity. His wife Nancy took a vigorous interest in reforms and was instrumental in establishing "Friendly Inns" in the 1870's when morality was at a low ebb. She was also an active member of the Temperance society.
His son, the Rt. Rev. Lewis W. Burton became Bishop of Eastern Kentucky. One daughter, Mrs. H.G. Leslie (Amelia), became active in the early work of the YWCA winning recognition at an International Conference in Montreal in 1877 through her paper entitled: "Rescue of Fallen Women." She later became Secretary of the Women's auxiliary of the Diocese of Ohio.
The youngest daughter, the intended subject of this interview, Eliza J. (shown above as she looked on Commencement day, June, 1873, when she was graduated from Cleveland Female seminary), claims she was not as religious as the rest of her family who merited the main part of our conversation. She thinks she belongs to the new generation, and has a keen interest in what others are doing in this busy world. Unable to do much walking since a fall three years ago, she is still cheery, alert and surprisingly youthful, her skin creamy white, her eyes bright and her smile ready and winning.
After her graduation with honor from the Cleveland Female seminary in 1873, she helped her father with his mission work at the Church of Ascension on Detroit avenue near Grace, where she often played the organ. It was here she met Rev. Arthur Mann Backus, who later became her husband. At the time he was the young assistant rector from Trinity, but soon became the first full time rector of Ascension Church.
Their's was a happy but short marriage of 13 years due to his early death at the age of 46. After his death Mrs. Backus devoted [page torn] to her two daughters, but [page torn] more leisure came [page torn] in church work. She served [page torn] esident of the Women's [page torn] ary of the Diocese of Ohio [page torn] ten years and is still its [page torn] rary president. For thirty [page torn] she was treasurer and for [page torn] mber of years president of [page torn] Paul's Women's auxiliary. An endowment fund started through her efforts, has been given her name.
She toured Europe with her daughter Jean in 1906. Other trips on her own or with friends followed: Alaska, 1922; Cuba, 1928, and the Orient in 1931.
Mrs. Backus was named after her aunt, Eliza Jennings, who gave her home and her farm on Detroit avenue as an industrial home for underprivileged children and a home for aged women. They are now called the Eliza Jennings Home and the Children's Aid Society.
Mrs. Backus lives at 16105 Detroit ave. with her daughter Jean (Mrs. A.N. Dawson), her granddaughter Elizabeth (Mrs. Allan Barker, Jr.), and nine month old great-granddaughter, Barbara Jean Barker."