A prominent citizen and well-known enterprising planter of White County, and resident of the Twelfth Civil District , was born in White [later Putnam] County Auguest 24, 1830. He is the son of Charles and Margaret (McBride) Burgess. His father was of Irish descent, a native of North Carolina, born in that State in 1806 and died in Putnam County December 6, 1886. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits, and made life a fair success. He was a member of the Christian Church, and died in that faith. Mr. Burgess' mother ancestors cam from Scotland. She was a native of White county, born in 1808. She is still living, a resident of Putnam County. Mr. Burgess is the second of thirteen children. He secured a common-school education, which was supplemented by extensive reading. At the age of twenty-one, he went West with the intention of going to California, but when he reached the Missouri, unfavorable news of the Pacific Coast caused him to stop in that State. He was one of the first settlers of Kansas. For three years he gave his attention to farming in Kansas and Missouri. In 1854 he returned to his father's home, and purhased a farm in White County, where he lived five or six years. In the Fall of 1862 he enterd the Confederate States Army, and joined the Eighth Regiment of Cavalry, commanded by General Dibrell. He served with credit the remainder of the war with this general, and took part in many of the battles and skirmishes fought. December 1864 he was captured while on a scouting expedition, and kept prisoner of war until the Battle of Nashville. In the Spring of 1865, after an abasence of three years, he returned home and resumed farming. Mr. Burgess has been an active business man. He began with nothing but an honest heart and strong will will, and now owns 1,200 acres of land in White County.