Confederate Army.
Note: if you go to mem#9431280, there is a story on John there by "Bev"∼John Henry Burkett

b. 5 Jan 1833 Old Mexican Municipality, Coahuila y Tejas
d. 8 Mar 1894 ColemanCo, TX

Married first 17 Aug 1852 DeWittCo, TX Elizabeth Caroline Leazer (1834-1883) then 14 Feb 1893 in DeWittCo, TX Sarah Elizabeth Mahaffey (d. 1894).

John H. and Caroline Burkett had 11 children.

John Henry, along with three brothers, enlisted in the Army of the CSA in LavacaCo in 1862. With brothers Isaiah (in some records Isaac) and Bartholomew, John Henry Burkett joined the 24th Regiment of the Texas Dismounted Cavalry in LavacaCo on 16 Mar 1862 under Capt. B.F. Fly. He was captured with his brother Isaiah along with most of the regiment in TN. John Henry escaped, but was recaptured in Arkansas, spent time in prison at Little Rock and on 23 Jun 1864 was shipped to the Rock Island Barracks, Rock Island, IL. He was sent to New Orleans in 1865 to be exchanged for Union prisoners at Red River Landing, LA. Overall he was imprisoned there for 3 years. His brother Isaiah died in the IL prison of pneumonia due to exposure. After the death and burial of John H. Burkett in 1894. Son David erected a fence around the private plot where several Burketts are buried.
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John Henry Burkett (5 Jan 1833 Old Mexican Municipality, Coahuila y Tejas-8 Mar 1894 ColemanCo, TX) married first 17 Aug 1852 DeWittCo, TX Elizabeth Caroline Leazer (1834-1883) then 14 Feb 1893 in DeWittCo, TX Sarah Elizabeth Mahaffey (d. 1894). John H. and Caroline Burkett had 11 children.
The family ranched their inherited land, then sold 216.25 acres in LavacaCo, TX on 29 Jul 1882 to M. Novak for $2800 and moved to ColemanCo. Daughter Nancy Eudora Burkett wrote in 1960 from DeLeon, Texas

I was only seven years old when Dad sold out and left South Texas. He was surrounded by Bohemians and sold to one M. Novak. Their customs were strange to the settlers from the States, and few of them spoke English. He bought sheep, goats and horses and loaded two wagons. Dad drove one, Mother drove the other one. He shipped the furniture to Coleman. Then we took off. It was a slow go as the sheep had to eat as we went along. Dad would go ahead and pitch camp and Mother would prepare the meals on an outside fire and wait for the boys to bring up the herd and bed them down. It took three months to make the trip. We finally got to our place and pitched camp west of present Burkett. Dad and brother Dave hauled lumber twenty miles to build our house. Dad was a carpenter by trade. We landed in August, and a cousin. Joseph, son of Uncle Barth, that came with us took down with typhoid fever and Mother took care of him till he died. Then Mother, Dave and Kate all took down with it. Mother was buried on Christmas Day on the coldest day they ever saw, in the Cousin Bill Wesley Cemetery in Coleman County. Her gravestone reads: Elisabeth C. Burkett. (Might have been New Years Day instead of Christmas Day).

On 29 Aug 1882, John Burkett bought 1280 acres of land from Max Mass in ColemanCo for $1408, $704 in cash and the balance on credit. This plot was 20 miles northeast of Coleman and 3 miles southeast of Burkett on the south side of Pecan Bayou. As mentioned above in 1883, typhoid fever struck the family taking cousin Josiah Burkett who planned to travel back to his home in LavacaCo and Elizabeth Caroline Burkett who nursed him and others. Sons Arthur David and Kate (Catherine) recovered.
In 1893, John Henry returned to DeWittCo, TX to marry the widow of Gid Mahaffey, a school teacher with 3 children. ColemanCo records indicate she left John Henry Burkett before his death and was not mentioned in his estate. The Cemetery referred to above by Eudora became to be known as the Burkett Cemetery after the death and burial of John H. Burkett in 1894. Son David erected a fence around the private plot where several Burketts are buried. In 1976 the site was on the Knox Ranch, also known as the Will Gould Place, at the west end of Sunset or Burkett Road. Information used with permission by David Burket-Index | DeWitt Colony Expansion | Burket Land Grant
SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS
Wallace L. McKeehan, All Rights Reserved