BURNETT, Stephen Fordham
Husband of Harriet nee DRAKE – m. 1827 in Green Co. PA
Son of Henry and Eunice Burnett
B. 15 Oct 1805 in NJ
D. 28 Jan 1892 in Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Burial – 31 Jan 1892 in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 8, Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Youngstown Vindicator, 29 Jan 1892, p. 1:3
"PASSING AWAY, One By One the Pioneers Fall Before Death, And Enter Into Eternal Rest,
Stephen F. Burnett the Next to Go the Way of All the Host."
"Stephen F. Burnett, a pioneer business man and one of the oldest residents of the city, died at 6 o'clock last evening at his residence on West Federal street, which he had occupied more than half a century. Few faces were more familiar on the street and none will be more sadly missed than the worthy pioneer who has been called away. Although he had lived much beyond the time ordinarily allotted to man, outdoor exercise had given him a hardy, vigorous constitution, and his health had continued good until stricken down with la grippe, followed by pneumonia, resulting in death.
Stephen Fordham Burnett was the oldest son of Henry Burnett and born in New Jersey, October 15, 1805. When eleven years of age his parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he learned the trade of gunsmith with his father and when seventeen years old he went to Cincinnati and worked for a time as engine finisher. Later he returned to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Harriet Drake in 1827. He resided in Clarksville, (Greene Co.) Pa., after his marriage until in 1831, when he removed to Austintown, and in May, 1832, became a resident of this city. Soon after his arrival here he resumed his occupation of a gunsmith and remained in the business many years securing a high reputation as a skilled mechanic. In 1836 he concluded to make a trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers disposing of merchandise, which proved very successful. Besides his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett carried a stock of groceries and produce, and in 1846 he established the first exclusively, hardware store in the city of Youngstown and for more than twenty years carried in the business on West Federal street.
Mr. Burnett was the senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co., later Fowler, Stambaugh & Co., and now known as the Stambaugh-Thompson Company. Shortly after the close of the war he retired from active business.
Soon after the incorporation of the town Mr. Burnett was elected mayor, and for ten years was an efficient member of the school board, serving most of the time as treasurer. For more than fifty years he was a member of Trinity M. E. church, and in the infancy of the church here his residence was used as a place of worship.
Mr. Burnett was a great hunter and for many years spent every season in Forest county, Pa., hunting deer, and always returned laden with game. Few men enjoyed fishing better than he did and he knew every place along the Mahoning river where the large specimen of the finny tribe could be found and no difficulty in securing a large string.
In connection with his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett became a skilled furrier and his success brought him a large amount of business in the line until he retired.
His estimable wife, who was only one year his junior, passed away several years ago. Eight children were born to the couple, Mrs. George Johnson, Mrs. Wm. Canfield, and John Burnett, of this city, and Mrs. Hattie, of Kansas, survive him.
The funeral will be held Sunday, the remains being taken from his late residence at 2 p.m. to Trinity M.E. church where services will be held."
Youngstown Telegram, Fri, 5 Feb 1892, 3:1
"THE LAST ONE
Pioneer Stephen F. Burnett Summoned to His Long Rest,
THE OLDEST GENERATION
Has Now Passed Forever From Earthly Scenes
HE WELCOMED DEATH
At the Close of a Useful and Honorable Career"
"Stephen F. Burnett, the pioneer merchant of this valley, died Thursday at 6 p.m., after a short illness with the grip.
He was taken ill on the 20th and hopes of his recovery were held until yesterday, when the sturdy old gentleman's constitution gave way, and death became a matter of only a few hours.
All through his long life of 86 years he had been one of those sincere, Christian men, who meet with acquiescence adversity, affliction and death as the workings of the Master's will, and when the dark enemy he had so long awaited was at hand it was conquered in the manner that the Nazarene taught.
Stephen F. Burnett was the oldest one of Henry and Eunice Burnett, and was born in New Jersey Oct. 15, 1805. Here his younger boyhood days were passed. The turmoil's and alarms of the war of 1812 were round about him. In 1816 his parents, attracted by alluring reports of prosperity in the far West, as Western Pennsylvania and Ohio were then called, started a covered wagon along the national road and through
The Mighty Wilderness
of the Alleghenies, to seek their fortune. The journey took many days and although its first stages were enlivened by teams and teamsters and now and then a rude log tavern, the way was filled with silence, dangers and privations. It was, no doubt, to this early life in the woods and the atmosphere of war that his undying love of woodcraft was due.
His father was a gunsmith and when a mere lad he also learned the trade. When 17 he accepted a position in Cincinnati, then a rough frontier town and worked as an engine finisher.
In 1827 he returned to Pennsylvania and married Harriet Drake, a young lady of English birth, with whom he had formed an early attachment. After this marriage he resided in Clarksville, Pa., until 1831, when, learning of the advantages of the Western Reserve, he moved to Austintown. After a short stay there he removed in May 1832 to Youngstown and established himself in the gunsmith business. In those early days there were no machine guns, and all guns were rifles. These were hand made. Everything, lock, stock and barrel had to be laboriously wrought out by hand. He had
A Wide Reputation
as a gun smith and maintained the excellency of his handcraft by winning unconditionally every shooting match in which he entered, and as his fame as a shot was known in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and this state he had contests without number.
His favorite test was to stand at 100 yards and drive a tack with his rifle bullet. The favorite delight of the neighboring crack shots was to go on a squirrel shoot. Sometime one, sometimes five or six would be pitted against Mr. Burnett, but regularly as the trial was made did the old gentleman come home at night with more squirrels than all the rest had shot combined.
In the fall of 1836 he made a trip in a trading boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This trip was followed as various intervals by half a dozen others. He would build the boat in the canal here, and stocking it up with his ware and shipping workmen for the manufacture of more on the journey, would
Float The 2500 Miles
and return by steamer. Enough anecdote of adventure and sport are connected with these voyages to fill a volume.
Up to the winter of 1845-6 he was engaged in various undertakings, besides manufacturing tinware. This winter he established the first exclusively hardware store in the valley. He conducted this business, increasing it with the growth of the town, for twenty years. During this time he took in partners and was senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co. Soon after the close of the rebellion he retired from active business, and the firm was known as Fowler & Stambaugh. Later it was changed to Stambaugh, Thompson & Co., and finally a few years ago was incorporated. Mr. Burnett was, therefore, the pioneer hardware merchant of the county.
In April 1852, shortly after the incorporation of the city he was
ELLECTED ITS MAYOR
and served one term. Later he served for ten years on the board of education, nine of which he was its treasurer.
The latter years of his life were passed in quiet retirement. He was an ardent lover of fishing and hunting. His woodcraft was of the old-fashioned "Natty Bumpo" kind one reads about in Cooper. His gun was the old-styled, long-barreled muzzle-loading rifle. All the mysteries of the woods were plain as sunlight to him. He was a practical naturalist.
Every season, up to within one or two years of his death, he hunted deer and whipped the mountain streams for trout. His fame as a fisherman in this valley is well known. His familiar figure, "slipping along," as he would say, up or down the town path was a welcome sight to all and will long be remembered.
He was the oldest member of Trinity M.E. church. For 60 years he has been a faithful member, never missing attendance unless prevented by sickness.
Many years ago the little congregation was struggling under what, for those days, was a heavy mortgage. The time came when it must be paid and no money was in the treasury. Ruin stared the church in the face. Mr. Burnett, in his quiet way, talked to some of the members, and influenced by his noble project of self-sacrifice, one night after services, unbeknown to the rest, there gathered with him four others about the old-fashioned stove and in silence they threw
INTO THE ROARING FIRE
the mortgage their personal notes had purchased. Few members of Trinity church know how much they owe to this noble gentleman.
Recently he subscribed to the canceling of the church debt $200. Being short of funds when the subscription came due, he resumed his avocation of late years, that of collecting and gathering furs, and walked all over this county, fifteen and twenty miles in a day, that the necessary amount might be at hand. He paid the debt and had $200 to $300 left as the result of his labors. This shows his great power of endurance. A year before his death he could out walk half the young men in the city.
Ever since the organization of the party he was a Republican.
He leaves four children to mourn his loss. They are Mrs. Ann Johnson, Miss Lizzie Canfield, of this city; Mrs. Hattie Garver, who lives at Salem, Kas., and is ill, and John D. Burnett of the soldiers' home, Sandusky. Mrs. Johnson with whom the deceased lived, is ill with grip."
Husband of Harriet nee DRAKE – m. 1827 in Green Co. PA
Son of Henry and Eunice Burnett
B. 15 Oct 1805 in NJ
D. 28 Jan 1892 in Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Burial – 31 Jan 1892 in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 8, Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Youngstown Vindicator, 29 Jan 1892, p. 1:3
"PASSING AWAY, One By One the Pioneers Fall Before Death, And Enter Into Eternal Rest,
Stephen F. Burnett the Next to Go the Way of All the Host."
"Stephen F. Burnett, a pioneer business man and one of the oldest residents of the city, died at 6 o'clock last evening at his residence on West Federal street, which he had occupied more than half a century. Few faces were more familiar on the street and none will be more sadly missed than the worthy pioneer who has been called away. Although he had lived much beyond the time ordinarily allotted to man, outdoor exercise had given him a hardy, vigorous constitution, and his health had continued good until stricken down with la grippe, followed by pneumonia, resulting in death.
Stephen Fordham Burnett was the oldest son of Henry Burnett and born in New Jersey, October 15, 1805. When eleven years of age his parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he learned the trade of gunsmith with his father and when seventeen years old he went to Cincinnati and worked for a time as engine finisher. Later he returned to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Harriet Drake in 1827. He resided in Clarksville, (Greene Co.) Pa., after his marriage until in 1831, when he removed to Austintown, and in May, 1832, became a resident of this city. Soon after his arrival here he resumed his occupation of a gunsmith and remained in the business many years securing a high reputation as a skilled mechanic. In 1836 he concluded to make a trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers disposing of merchandise, which proved very successful. Besides his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett carried a stock of groceries and produce, and in 1846 he established the first exclusively, hardware store in the city of Youngstown and for more than twenty years carried in the business on West Federal street.
Mr. Burnett was the senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co., later Fowler, Stambaugh & Co., and now known as the Stambaugh-Thompson Company. Shortly after the close of the war he retired from active business.
Soon after the incorporation of the town Mr. Burnett was elected mayor, and for ten years was an efficient member of the school board, serving most of the time as treasurer. For more than fifty years he was a member of Trinity M. E. church, and in the infancy of the church here his residence was used as a place of worship.
Mr. Burnett was a great hunter and for many years spent every season in Forest county, Pa., hunting deer, and always returned laden with game. Few men enjoyed fishing better than he did and he knew every place along the Mahoning river where the large specimen of the finny tribe could be found and no difficulty in securing a large string.
In connection with his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett became a skilled furrier and his success brought him a large amount of business in the line until he retired.
His estimable wife, who was only one year his junior, passed away several years ago. Eight children were born to the couple, Mrs. George Johnson, Mrs. Wm. Canfield, and John Burnett, of this city, and Mrs. Hattie, of Kansas, survive him.
The funeral will be held Sunday, the remains being taken from his late residence at 2 p.m. to Trinity M.E. church where services will be held."
Youngstown Telegram, Fri, 5 Feb 1892, 3:1
"THE LAST ONE
Pioneer Stephen F. Burnett Summoned to His Long Rest,
THE OLDEST GENERATION
Has Now Passed Forever From Earthly Scenes
HE WELCOMED DEATH
At the Close of a Useful and Honorable Career"
"Stephen F. Burnett, the pioneer merchant of this valley, died Thursday at 6 p.m., after a short illness with the grip.
He was taken ill on the 20th and hopes of his recovery were held until yesterday, when the sturdy old gentleman's constitution gave way, and death became a matter of only a few hours.
All through his long life of 86 years he had been one of those sincere, Christian men, who meet with acquiescence adversity, affliction and death as the workings of the Master's will, and when the dark enemy he had so long awaited was at hand it was conquered in the manner that the Nazarene taught.
Stephen F. Burnett was the oldest one of Henry and Eunice Burnett, and was born in New Jersey Oct. 15, 1805. Here his younger boyhood days were passed. The turmoil's and alarms of the war of 1812 were round about him. In 1816 his parents, attracted by alluring reports of prosperity in the far West, as Western Pennsylvania and Ohio were then called, started a covered wagon along the national road and through
The Mighty Wilderness
of the Alleghenies, to seek their fortune. The journey took many days and although its first stages were enlivened by teams and teamsters and now and then a rude log tavern, the way was filled with silence, dangers and privations. It was, no doubt, to this early life in the woods and the atmosphere of war that his undying love of woodcraft was due.
His father was a gunsmith and when a mere lad he also learned the trade. When 17 he accepted a position in Cincinnati, then a rough frontier town and worked as an engine finisher.
In 1827 he returned to Pennsylvania and married Harriet Drake, a young lady of English birth, with whom he had formed an early attachment. After this marriage he resided in Clarksville, Pa., until 1831, when, learning of the advantages of the Western Reserve, he moved to Austintown. After a short stay there he removed in May 1832 to Youngstown and established himself in the gunsmith business. In those early days there were no machine guns, and all guns were rifles. These were hand made. Everything, lock, stock and barrel had to be laboriously wrought out by hand. He had
A Wide Reputation
as a gun smith and maintained the excellency of his handcraft by winning unconditionally every shooting match in which he entered, and as his fame as a shot was known in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and this state he had contests without number.
His favorite test was to stand at 100 yards and drive a tack with his rifle bullet. The favorite delight of the neighboring crack shots was to go on a squirrel shoot. Sometime one, sometimes five or six would be pitted against Mr. Burnett, but regularly as the trial was made did the old gentleman come home at night with more squirrels than all the rest had shot combined.
In the fall of 1836 he made a trip in a trading boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This trip was followed as various intervals by half a dozen others. He would build the boat in the canal here, and stocking it up with his ware and shipping workmen for the manufacture of more on the journey, would
Float The 2500 Miles
and return by steamer. Enough anecdote of adventure and sport are connected with these voyages to fill a volume.
Up to the winter of 1845-6 he was engaged in various undertakings, besides manufacturing tinware. This winter he established the first exclusively hardware store in the valley. He conducted this business, increasing it with the growth of the town, for twenty years. During this time he took in partners and was senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co. Soon after the close of the rebellion he retired from active business, and the firm was known as Fowler & Stambaugh. Later it was changed to Stambaugh, Thompson & Co., and finally a few years ago was incorporated. Mr. Burnett was, therefore, the pioneer hardware merchant of the county.
In April 1852, shortly after the incorporation of the city he was
ELLECTED ITS MAYOR
and served one term. Later he served for ten years on the board of education, nine of which he was its treasurer.
The latter years of his life were passed in quiet retirement. He was an ardent lover of fishing and hunting. His woodcraft was of the old-fashioned "Natty Bumpo" kind one reads about in Cooper. His gun was the old-styled, long-barreled muzzle-loading rifle. All the mysteries of the woods were plain as sunlight to him. He was a practical naturalist.
Every season, up to within one or two years of his death, he hunted deer and whipped the mountain streams for trout. His fame as a fisherman in this valley is well known. His familiar figure, "slipping along," as he would say, up or down the town path was a welcome sight to all and will long be remembered.
He was the oldest member of Trinity M.E. church. For 60 years he has been a faithful member, never missing attendance unless prevented by sickness.
Many years ago the little congregation was struggling under what, for those days, was a heavy mortgage. The time came when it must be paid and no money was in the treasury. Ruin stared the church in the face. Mr. Burnett, in his quiet way, talked to some of the members, and influenced by his noble project of self-sacrifice, one night after services, unbeknown to the rest, there gathered with him four others about the old-fashioned stove and in silence they threw
INTO THE ROARING FIRE
the mortgage their personal notes had purchased. Few members of Trinity church know how much they owe to this noble gentleman.
Recently he subscribed to the canceling of the church debt $200. Being short of funds when the subscription came due, he resumed his avocation of late years, that of collecting and gathering furs, and walked all over this county, fifteen and twenty miles in a day, that the necessary amount might be at hand. He paid the debt and had $200 to $300 left as the result of his labors. This shows his great power of endurance. A year before his death he could out walk half the young men in the city.
Ever since the organization of the party he was a Republican.
He leaves four children to mourn his loss. They are Mrs. Ann Johnson, Miss Lizzie Canfield, of this city; Mrs. Hattie Garver, who lives at Salem, Kas., and is ill, and John D. Burnett of the soldiers' home, Sandusky. Mrs. Johnson with whom the deceased lived, is ill with grip."
BURNETT, Stephen Fordham
Husband of Harriet nee DRAKE – m. 1827 in Green Co. PA
Son of Henry and Eunice Burnett
B. 15 Oct 1805 in NJ
D. 28 Jan 1892 in Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Burial – 31 Jan 1892 in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 8, Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Youngstown Vindicator, 29 Jan 1892, p. 1:3
"PASSING AWAY, One By One the Pioneers Fall Before Death, And Enter Into Eternal Rest,
Stephen F. Burnett the Next to Go the Way of All the Host."
"Stephen F. Burnett, a pioneer business man and one of the oldest residents of the city, died at 6 o'clock last evening at his residence on West Federal street, which he had occupied more than half a century. Few faces were more familiar on the street and none will be more sadly missed than the worthy pioneer who has been called away. Although he had lived much beyond the time ordinarily allotted to man, outdoor exercise had given him a hardy, vigorous constitution, and his health had continued good until stricken down with la grippe, followed by pneumonia, resulting in death.
Stephen Fordham Burnett was the oldest son of Henry Burnett and born in New Jersey, October 15, 1805. When eleven years of age his parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he learned the trade of gunsmith with his father and when seventeen years old he went to Cincinnati and worked for a time as engine finisher. Later he returned to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Harriet Drake in 1827. He resided in Clarksville, (Greene Co.) Pa., after his marriage until in 1831, when he removed to Austintown, and in May, 1832, became a resident of this city. Soon after his arrival here he resumed his occupation of a gunsmith and remained in the business many years securing a high reputation as a skilled mechanic. In 1836 he concluded to make a trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers disposing of merchandise, which proved very successful. Besides his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett carried a stock of groceries and produce, and in 1846 he established the first exclusively, hardware store in the city of Youngstown and for more than twenty years carried in the business on West Federal street.
Mr. Burnett was the senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co., later Fowler, Stambaugh & Co., and now known as the Stambaugh-Thompson Company. Shortly after the close of the war he retired from active business.
Soon after the incorporation of the town Mr. Burnett was elected mayor, and for ten years was an efficient member of the school board, serving most of the time as treasurer. For more than fifty years he was a member of Trinity M. E. church, and in the infancy of the church here his residence was used as a place of worship.
Mr. Burnett was a great hunter and for many years spent every season in Forest county, Pa., hunting deer, and always returned laden with game. Few men enjoyed fishing better than he did and he knew every place along the Mahoning river where the large specimen of the finny tribe could be found and no difficulty in securing a large string.
In connection with his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett became a skilled furrier and his success brought him a large amount of business in the line until he retired.
His estimable wife, who was only one year his junior, passed away several years ago. Eight children were born to the couple, Mrs. George Johnson, Mrs. Wm. Canfield, and John Burnett, of this city, and Mrs. Hattie, of Kansas, survive him.
The funeral will be held Sunday, the remains being taken from his late residence at 2 p.m. to Trinity M.E. church where services will be held."
Youngstown Telegram, Fri, 5 Feb 1892, 3:1
"THE LAST ONE
Pioneer Stephen F. Burnett Summoned to His Long Rest,
THE OLDEST GENERATION
Has Now Passed Forever From Earthly Scenes
HE WELCOMED DEATH
At the Close of a Useful and Honorable Career"
"Stephen F. Burnett, the pioneer merchant of this valley, died Thursday at 6 p.m., after a short illness with the grip.
He was taken ill on the 20th and hopes of his recovery were held until yesterday, when the sturdy old gentleman's constitution gave way, and death became a matter of only a few hours.
All through his long life of 86 years he had been one of those sincere, Christian men, who meet with acquiescence adversity, affliction and death as the workings of the Master's will, and when the dark enemy he had so long awaited was at hand it was conquered in the manner that the Nazarene taught.
Stephen F. Burnett was the oldest one of Henry and Eunice Burnett, and was born in New Jersey Oct. 15, 1805. Here his younger boyhood days were passed. The turmoil's and alarms of the war of 1812 were round about him. In 1816 his parents, attracted by alluring reports of prosperity in the far West, as Western Pennsylvania and Ohio were then called, started a covered wagon along the national road and through
The Mighty Wilderness
of the Alleghenies, to seek their fortune. The journey took many days and although its first stages were enlivened by teams and teamsters and now and then a rude log tavern, the way was filled with silence, dangers and privations. It was, no doubt, to this early life in the woods and the atmosphere of war that his undying love of woodcraft was due.
His father was a gunsmith and when a mere lad he also learned the trade. When 17 he accepted a position in Cincinnati, then a rough frontier town and worked as an engine finisher.
In 1827 he returned to Pennsylvania and married Harriet Drake, a young lady of English birth, with whom he had formed an early attachment. After this marriage he resided in Clarksville, Pa., until 1831, when, learning of the advantages of the Western Reserve, he moved to Austintown. After a short stay there he removed in May 1832 to Youngstown and established himself in the gunsmith business. In those early days there were no machine guns, and all guns were rifles. These were hand made. Everything, lock, stock and barrel had to be laboriously wrought out by hand. He had
A Wide Reputation
as a gun smith and maintained the excellency of his handcraft by winning unconditionally every shooting match in which he entered, and as his fame as a shot was known in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and this state he had contests without number.
His favorite test was to stand at 100 yards and drive a tack with his rifle bullet. The favorite delight of the neighboring crack shots was to go on a squirrel shoot. Sometime one, sometimes five or six would be pitted against Mr. Burnett, but regularly as the trial was made did the old gentleman come home at night with more squirrels than all the rest had shot combined.
In the fall of 1836 he made a trip in a trading boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This trip was followed as various intervals by half a dozen others. He would build the boat in the canal here, and stocking it up with his ware and shipping workmen for the manufacture of more on the journey, would
Float The 2500 Miles
and return by steamer. Enough anecdote of adventure and sport are connected with these voyages to fill a volume.
Up to the winter of 1845-6 he was engaged in various undertakings, besides manufacturing tinware. This winter he established the first exclusively hardware store in the valley. He conducted this business, increasing it with the growth of the town, for twenty years. During this time he took in partners and was senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co. Soon after the close of the rebellion he retired from active business, and the firm was known as Fowler & Stambaugh. Later it was changed to Stambaugh, Thompson & Co., and finally a few years ago was incorporated. Mr. Burnett was, therefore, the pioneer hardware merchant of the county.
In April 1852, shortly after the incorporation of the city he was
ELLECTED ITS MAYOR
and served one term. Later he served for ten years on the board of education, nine of which he was its treasurer.
The latter years of his life were passed in quiet retirement. He was an ardent lover of fishing and hunting. His woodcraft was of the old-fashioned "Natty Bumpo" kind one reads about in Cooper. His gun was the old-styled, long-barreled muzzle-loading rifle. All the mysteries of the woods were plain as sunlight to him. He was a practical naturalist.
Every season, up to within one or two years of his death, he hunted deer and whipped the mountain streams for trout. His fame as a fisherman in this valley is well known. His familiar figure, "slipping along," as he would say, up or down the town path was a welcome sight to all and will long be remembered.
He was the oldest member of Trinity M.E. church. For 60 years he has been a faithful member, never missing attendance unless prevented by sickness.
Many years ago the little congregation was struggling under what, for those days, was a heavy mortgage. The time came when it must be paid and no money was in the treasury. Ruin stared the church in the face. Mr. Burnett, in his quiet way, talked to some of the members, and influenced by his noble project of self-sacrifice, one night after services, unbeknown to the rest, there gathered with him four others about the old-fashioned stove and in silence they threw
INTO THE ROARING FIRE
the mortgage their personal notes had purchased. Few members of Trinity church know how much they owe to this noble gentleman.
Recently he subscribed to the canceling of the church debt $200. Being short of funds when the subscription came due, he resumed his avocation of late years, that of collecting and gathering furs, and walked all over this county, fifteen and twenty miles in a day, that the necessary amount might be at hand. He paid the debt and had $200 to $300 left as the result of his labors. This shows his great power of endurance. A year before his death he could out walk half the young men in the city.
Ever since the organization of the party he was a Republican.
He leaves four children to mourn his loss. They are Mrs. Ann Johnson, Miss Lizzie Canfield, of this city; Mrs. Hattie Garver, who lives at Salem, Kas., and is ill, and John D. Burnett of the soldiers' home, Sandusky. Mrs. Johnson with whom the deceased lived, is ill with grip."
Husband of Harriet nee DRAKE – m. 1827 in Green Co. PA
Son of Henry and Eunice Burnett
B. 15 Oct 1805 in NJ
D. 28 Jan 1892 in Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Burial – 31 Jan 1892 in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 8, Youngstown, Mahoning Co. OH
Youngstown Vindicator, 29 Jan 1892, p. 1:3
"PASSING AWAY, One By One the Pioneers Fall Before Death, And Enter Into Eternal Rest,
Stephen F. Burnett the Next to Go the Way of All the Host."
"Stephen F. Burnett, a pioneer business man and one of the oldest residents of the city, died at 6 o'clock last evening at his residence on West Federal street, which he had occupied more than half a century. Few faces were more familiar on the street and none will be more sadly missed than the worthy pioneer who has been called away. Although he had lived much beyond the time ordinarily allotted to man, outdoor exercise had given him a hardy, vigorous constitution, and his health had continued good until stricken down with la grippe, followed by pneumonia, resulting in death.
Stephen Fordham Burnett was the oldest son of Henry Burnett and born in New Jersey, October 15, 1805. When eleven years of age his parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he learned the trade of gunsmith with his father and when seventeen years old he went to Cincinnati and worked for a time as engine finisher. Later he returned to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Harriet Drake in 1827. He resided in Clarksville, (Greene Co.) Pa., after his marriage until in 1831, when he removed to Austintown, and in May, 1832, became a resident of this city. Soon after his arrival here he resumed his occupation of a gunsmith and remained in the business many years securing a high reputation as a skilled mechanic. In 1836 he concluded to make a trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers disposing of merchandise, which proved very successful. Besides his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett carried a stock of groceries and produce, and in 1846 he established the first exclusively, hardware store in the city of Youngstown and for more than twenty years carried in the business on West Federal street.
Mr. Burnett was the senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co., later Fowler, Stambaugh & Co., and now known as the Stambaugh-Thompson Company. Shortly after the close of the war he retired from active business.
Soon after the incorporation of the town Mr. Burnett was elected mayor, and for ten years was an efficient member of the school board, serving most of the time as treasurer. For more than fifty years he was a member of Trinity M. E. church, and in the infancy of the church here his residence was used as a place of worship.
Mr. Burnett was a great hunter and for many years spent every season in Forest county, Pa., hunting deer, and always returned laden with game. Few men enjoyed fishing better than he did and he knew every place along the Mahoning river where the large specimen of the finny tribe could be found and no difficulty in securing a large string.
In connection with his gunsmith trade Mr. Burnett became a skilled furrier and his success brought him a large amount of business in the line until he retired.
His estimable wife, who was only one year his junior, passed away several years ago. Eight children were born to the couple, Mrs. George Johnson, Mrs. Wm. Canfield, and John Burnett, of this city, and Mrs. Hattie, of Kansas, survive him.
The funeral will be held Sunday, the remains being taken from his late residence at 2 p.m. to Trinity M.E. church where services will be held."
Youngstown Telegram, Fri, 5 Feb 1892, 3:1
"THE LAST ONE
Pioneer Stephen F. Burnett Summoned to His Long Rest,
THE OLDEST GENERATION
Has Now Passed Forever From Earthly Scenes
HE WELCOMED DEATH
At the Close of a Useful and Honorable Career"
"Stephen F. Burnett, the pioneer merchant of this valley, died Thursday at 6 p.m., after a short illness with the grip.
He was taken ill on the 20th and hopes of his recovery were held until yesterday, when the sturdy old gentleman's constitution gave way, and death became a matter of only a few hours.
All through his long life of 86 years he had been one of those sincere, Christian men, who meet with acquiescence adversity, affliction and death as the workings of the Master's will, and when the dark enemy he had so long awaited was at hand it was conquered in the manner that the Nazarene taught.
Stephen F. Burnett was the oldest one of Henry and Eunice Burnett, and was born in New Jersey Oct. 15, 1805. Here his younger boyhood days were passed. The turmoil's and alarms of the war of 1812 were round about him. In 1816 his parents, attracted by alluring reports of prosperity in the far West, as Western Pennsylvania and Ohio were then called, started a covered wagon along the national road and through
The Mighty Wilderness
of the Alleghenies, to seek their fortune. The journey took many days and although its first stages were enlivened by teams and teamsters and now and then a rude log tavern, the way was filled with silence, dangers and privations. It was, no doubt, to this early life in the woods and the atmosphere of war that his undying love of woodcraft was due.
His father was a gunsmith and when a mere lad he also learned the trade. When 17 he accepted a position in Cincinnati, then a rough frontier town and worked as an engine finisher.
In 1827 he returned to Pennsylvania and married Harriet Drake, a young lady of English birth, with whom he had formed an early attachment. After this marriage he resided in Clarksville, Pa., until 1831, when, learning of the advantages of the Western Reserve, he moved to Austintown. After a short stay there he removed in May 1832 to Youngstown and established himself in the gunsmith business. In those early days there were no machine guns, and all guns were rifles. These were hand made. Everything, lock, stock and barrel had to be laboriously wrought out by hand. He had
A Wide Reputation
as a gun smith and maintained the excellency of his handcraft by winning unconditionally every shooting match in which he entered, and as his fame as a shot was known in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and this state he had contests without number.
His favorite test was to stand at 100 yards and drive a tack with his rifle bullet. The favorite delight of the neighboring crack shots was to go on a squirrel shoot. Sometime one, sometimes five or six would be pitted against Mr. Burnett, but regularly as the trial was made did the old gentleman come home at night with more squirrels than all the rest had shot combined.
In the fall of 1836 he made a trip in a trading boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This trip was followed as various intervals by half a dozen others. He would build the boat in the canal here, and stocking it up with his ware and shipping workmen for the manufacture of more on the journey, would
Float The 2500 Miles
and return by steamer. Enough anecdote of adventure and sport are connected with these voyages to fill a volume.
Up to the winter of 1845-6 he was engaged in various undertakings, besides manufacturing tinware. This winter he established the first exclusively hardware store in the valley. He conducted this business, increasing it with the growth of the town, for twenty years. During this time he took in partners and was senior member of the firm of Burnett, Fowler & Co. Soon after the close of the rebellion he retired from active business, and the firm was known as Fowler & Stambaugh. Later it was changed to Stambaugh, Thompson & Co., and finally a few years ago was incorporated. Mr. Burnett was, therefore, the pioneer hardware merchant of the county.
In April 1852, shortly after the incorporation of the city he was
ELLECTED ITS MAYOR
and served one term. Later he served for ten years on the board of education, nine of which he was its treasurer.
The latter years of his life were passed in quiet retirement. He was an ardent lover of fishing and hunting. His woodcraft was of the old-fashioned "Natty Bumpo" kind one reads about in Cooper. His gun was the old-styled, long-barreled muzzle-loading rifle. All the mysteries of the woods were plain as sunlight to him. He was a practical naturalist.
Every season, up to within one or two years of his death, he hunted deer and whipped the mountain streams for trout. His fame as a fisherman in this valley is well known. His familiar figure, "slipping along," as he would say, up or down the town path was a welcome sight to all and will long be remembered.
He was the oldest member of Trinity M.E. church. For 60 years he has been a faithful member, never missing attendance unless prevented by sickness.
Many years ago the little congregation was struggling under what, for those days, was a heavy mortgage. The time came when it must be paid and no money was in the treasury. Ruin stared the church in the face. Mr. Burnett, in his quiet way, talked to some of the members, and influenced by his noble project of self-sacrifice, one night after services, unbeknown to the rest, there gathered with him four others about the old-fashioned stove and in silence they threw
INTO THE ROARING FIRE
the mortgage their personal notes had purchased. Few members of Trinity church know how much they owe to this noble gentleman.
Recently he subscribed to the canceling of the church debt $200. Being short of funds when the subscription came due, he resumed his avocation of late years, that of collecting and gathering furs, and walked all over this county, fifteen and twenty miles in a day, that the necessary amount might be at hand. He paid the debt and had $200 to $300 left as the result of his labors. This shows his great power of endurance. A year before his death he could out walk half the young men in the city.
Ever since the organization of the party he was a Republican.
He leaves four children to mourn his loss. They are Mrs. Ann Johnson, Miss Lizzie Canfield, of this city; Mrs. Hattie Garver, who lives at Salem, Kas., and is ill, and John D. Burnett of the soldiers' home, Sandusky. Mrs. Johnson with whom the deceased lived, is ill with grip."
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