Evidence exists in the hands of the WILLIAM JENNINGS BURGIN (son of CHARLES BURNICE BURGIN) line that CHARLES MITCHELL BURGIN helped construct the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. That side of the family retains a lease between CHARLES MITCHELL and the Biltmore Lumber Company for a cottage. This indicates he lived in what is now the historic "Biltmore Village", which was indeed originally used as lodging for construction workers who built the Biltmore House. This evidence is slightly problematic, however, because it is dated 1896, a year after work completed on the structure. Was this one in a series of leases he held in Biltmore Village? Or was he there only at the tail end of the project? Without additional documentation, we just don't know. What seems somewhat clear from Biltmore Estate archives is that the Biltmore Lumber Company was heavily involved with the Biltmore Estate Forestry Department, long after the completion of the House itself. It is therefore possible that CHARLES MITCHELL may have been more involved with the maintenance of the considerable acreage of the estate than the actual construction of the building. One known project of the Biltmore Lumber Company in 1896 was the creation of wooden frames for the Market Garden greenhouses.
Whatever his actual function, though, CHARLES MITCHELL BURGIN had a hand in building the largest private residence in the United States, and one of the finest examples of French Renaissance architecture in the world.
From Asheville, he appears to have moved to Raleigh. It's unclear, now, why he might have done this. But he definitely moved to Raleigh sometime in the early part of the new century. Birth records for FRANK MITCHELL, at the very least, place the family in the state capitol by 1904.
At some point, possibly after Raleigh, he worked for the railways. Details are sketchy, but are based upon the the fact that his wife, SALLIE GETTYS, had free or reduced passage on the trains in and around Western North Carolina. FRANK BURGIN'S children have recalled inexpensive train trips with SALLIE GETTYS after CHARLES MITCHELL'S death.
Any attempt at defining his railroading responsibilities from the distance of the 21st century would be conjecture. He's too young to have been a part of the team which actually constructed the railway from Old Fort to Asheville in the 1870s. But he's of the right age to have helped with the movement of Andrews Geyser in 1911 — something that was privately funded, but an ancillary project of the railway. Indeed, the carpentry skills he would have amassed in Asheville would have undoubtedly been useful to this technically challenging, lumber-intensive, undertaking. But he's also of the right age to have actually been on the everyday operational staff of the Western North Carolina Railroad, or of Southern Railways after it took over operations on the line in 1896. Whatever the case, his railroading role, if indeed it existed, must account for the fact that he was not known to have left North Carolina for any substantial periods of time.
SALLIE GETTYS' final federal tax returns might reveal railroad retirement benefits that accrued to her as a result of his service, if they could be consulted.
[County of birth verified by the delayed certificate of birth registration for FRANK MITCHELL BURGIN. He married IDA MCDONALD in North Carolina on 25 December 1893, then married SALLIE GETTYS on 15 November 1896. It's at present unknown what happened to IDA MCDONALD, but death is presumed.]
Whatever his actual function, though, CHARLES MITCHELL BURGIN had a hand in building the largest private residence in the United States, and one of the finest examples of French Renaissance architecture in the world.
From Asheville, he appears to have moved to Raleigh. It's unclear, now, why he might have done this. But he definitely moved to Raleigh sometime in the early part of the new century. Birth records for FRANK MITCHELL, at the very least, place the family in the state capitol by 1904.
At some point, possibly after Raleigh, he worked for the railways. Details are sketchy, but are based upon the the fact that his wife, SALLIE GETTYS, had free or reduced passage on the trains in and around Western North Carolina. FRANK BURGIN'S children have recalled inexpensive train trips with SALLIE GETTYS after CHARLES MITCHELL'S death.
Any attempt at defining his railroading responsibilities from the distance of the 21st century would be conjecture. He's too young to have been a part of the team which actually constructed the railway from Old Fort to Asheville in the 1870s. But he's of the right age to have helped with the movement of Andrews Geyser in 1911 — something that was privately funded, but an ancillary project of the railway. Indeed, the carpentry skills he would have amassed in Asheville would have undoubtedly been useful to this technically challenging, lumber-intensive, undertaking. But he's also of the right age to have actually been on the everyday operational staff of the Western North Carolina Railroad, or of Southern Railways after it took over operations on the line in 1896. Whatever the case, his railroading role, if indeed it existed, must account for the fact that he was not known to have left North Carolina for any substantial periods of time.
SALLIE GETTYS' final federal tax returns might reveal railroad retirement benefits that accrued to her as a result of his service, if they could be consulted.
[County of birth verified by the delayed certificate of birth registration for FRANK MITCHELL BURGIN. He married IDA MCDONALD in North Carolina on 25 December 1893, then married SALLIE GETTYS on 15 November 1896. It's at present unknown what happened to IDA MCDONALD, but death is presumed.]
Evidence exists in the hands of the WILLIAM JENNINGS BURGIN (son of CHARLES BURNICE BURGIN) line that CHARLES MITCHELL BURGIN helped construct the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. That side of the family retains a lease between CHARLES MITCHELL and the Biltmore Lumber Company for a cottage. This indicates he lived in what is now the historic "Biltmore Village", which was indeed originally used as lodging for construction workers who built the Biltmore House. This evidence is slightly problematic, however, because it is dated 1896, a year after work completed on the structure. Was this one in a series of leases he held in Biltmore Village? Or was he there only at the tail end of the project? Without additional documentation, we just don't know. What seems somewhat clear from Biltmore Estate archives is that the Biltmore Lumber Company was heavily involved with the Biltmore Estate Forestry Department, long after the completion of the House itself. It is therefore possible that CHARLES MITCHELL may have been more involved with the maintenance of the considerable acreage of the estate than the actual construction of the building. One known project of the Biltmore Lumber Company in 1896 was the creation of wooden frames for the Market Garden greenhouses.
Whatever his actual function, though, CHARLES MITCHELL BURGIN had a hand in building the largest private residence in the United States, and one of the finest examples of French Renaissance architecture in the world.
From Asheville, he appears to have moved to Raleigh. It's unclear, now, why he might have done this. But he definitely moved to Raleigh sometime in the early part of the new century. Birth records for FRANK MITCHELL, at the very least, place the family in the state capitol by 1904.
At some point, possibly after Raleigh, he worked for the railways. Details are sketchy, but are based upon the the fact that his wife, SALLIE GETTYS, had free or reduced passage on the trains in and around Western North Carolina. FRANK BURGIN'S children have recalled inexpensive train trips with SALLIE GETTYS after CHARLES MITCHELL'S death.
Any attempt at defining his railroading responsibilities from the distance of the 21st century would be conjecture. He's too young to have been a part of the team which actually constructed the railway from Old Fort to Asheville in the 1870s. But he's of the right age to have helped with the movement of Andrews Geyser in 1911 — something that was privately funded, but an ancillary project of the railway. Indeed, the carpentry skills he would have amassed in Asheville would have undoubtedly been useful to this technically challenging, lumber-intensive, undertaking. But he's also of the right age to have actually been on the everyday operational staff of the Western North Carolina Railroad, or of Southern Railways after it took over operations on the line in 1896. Whatever the case, his railroading role, if indeed it existed, must account for the fact that he was not known to have left North Carolina for any substantial periods of time.
SALLIE GETTYS' final federal tax returns might reveal railroad retirement benefits that accrued to her as a result of his service, if they could be consulted.
[County of birth verified by the delayed certificate of birth registration for FRANK MITCHELL BURGIN. He married IDA MCDONALD in North Carolina on 25 December 1893, then married SALLIE GETTYS on 15 November 1896. It's at present unknown what happened to IDA MCDONALD, but death is presumed.]
Whatever his actual function, though, CHARLES MITCHELL BURGIN had a hand in building the largest private residence in the United States, and one of the finest examples of French Renaissance architecture in the world.
From Asheville, he appears to have moved to Raleigh. It's unclear, now, why he might have done this. But he definitely moved to Raleigh sometime in the early part of the new century. Birth records for FRANK MITCHELL, at the very least, place the family in the state capitol by 1904.
At some point, possibly after Raleigh, he worked for the railways. Details are sketchy, but are based upon the the fact that his wife, SALLIE GETTYS, had free or reduced passage on the trains in and around Western North Carolina. FRANK BURGIN'S children have recalled inexpensive train trips with SALLIE GETTYS after CHARLES MITCHELL'S death.
Any attempt at defining his railroading responsibilities from the distance of the 21st century would be conjecture. He's too young to have been a part of the team which actually constructed the railway from Old Fort to Asheville in the 1870s. But he's of the right age to have helped with the movement of Andrews Geyser in 1911 — something that was privately funded, but an ancillary project of the railway. Indeed, the carpentry skills he would have amassed in Asheville would have undoubtedly been useful to this technically challenging, lumber-intensive, undertaking. But he's also of the right age to have actually been on the everyday operational staff of the Western North Carolina Railroad, or of Southern Railways after it took over operations on the line in 1896. Whatever the case, his railroading role, if indeed it existed, must account for the fact that he was not known to have left North Carolina for any substantial periods of time.
SALLIE GETTYS' final federal tax returns might reveal railroad retirement benefits that accrued to her as a result of his service, if they could be consulted.
[County of birth verified by the delayed certificate of birth registration for FRANK MITCHELL BURGIN. He married IDA MCDONALD in North Carolina on 25 December 1893, then married SALLIE GETTYS on 15 November 1896. It's at present unknown what happened to IDA MCDONALD, but death is presumed.]
