How The Burbridge's Began

The Burbridge name can be found in England well before the 1700s; however, we will start our history with the first of our Burbridges in the United States. All of this information was provided to us by a family member who found this information in various documents and word of mouth. This family member put together a small book, pictures of which can be found below.

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Ezekiel Burbridge (Our Great- x8 Grandfather) and his brothers (William and Unknown) were the first of our family to step foot on American soil. They arrived in the colony of Virginia in 1736; Ezekiel was seven years old. There is no mention of the boy's parents. Ezekiel later got married (His wife's name was not provided) and fathered three children: Thomas, Roland (Our Great- x7 Grandfather), and Julia. Julia married a man named Grant. No other information was provided.

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Roland moved from Virginia to Kentucky around 1785. He fathered 11 children. His sons were: Thomas (Our Great- x6 Grandfather); who died in Missouri, Joseph; he died in Missouri, Benjamin; he died in Missouri, James; He was a Christian preacher and died in Illinois, John;, who died in Kentucky, Robert; who died in Illinois, records show that he had a granddaughter named Laura Burbridge, William; he died in Indiana, Jessie; he was taken prisoner in the War of 1812 and taken to Canada and later exchanged. He died at a young age of exposure; his place of death was not provided. Roland's daughters were Polly Burbridge Jackson, who lived in Missouri; Betty Burbridge Underwood, who lived in Missouri; and Patsy Burbridge Mitts, who lived in Illinois.

This information was taken from a letter written by Margret Burbridge to C. W. Burbridge. Margret was the daughter of Roland's brother, Thomas Burbridge.

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Our history continues with Roland's son, also named Thomas Burbridge. Thomas was born in Virginia in 1748. He moved to Kentucky in 1783. He later moved to either Big Miami or Little Miami River, Ohio, where he died at the age of 73. He and his wife, Christina Underwood, raised eight children together; Three sons and five daughters. Their sons were: William (Our Great-x5 Grandfather), Thomas, and Robert. Their daughters were: Elizabeth (Betsey), Nancy, Jane, Martha, and Mary (Polly). Two of Mary's daughters, Lucinda Wilson Wycoff and Mrs. Eliza Patterson, sent information to C. W. Burbridge; the above information was among that provided to him. 

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William Burbridge was born either July 22, 1770, or July 23, 1779 (We know... that makes absolutely no sense, but that's the information we have...). He married Elizabeth Burkhart in 1803, and together they raised 11 children. Their eight sons names were Thomas (Our Great- x4 Grandfather), Jacob, Roland, Andrew Jackson, John Madison, William Harrison, George Washington, and Robert. Yes, they named four of their sons after presidents. Their three daughters' names were Eliza Ann (Died in infancy), Nancy (Died in infancy), and Jane (Later Jane Burbridge Smith Hay). William and his family lived in Kentucky, where they farmed, until 1825, when they moved to Illinois. William died in 1826 in Springfield, Illinois.

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Thomas Burbridge was born September 1, 1804, in Pennsylvania. A year after his brother's birth, the Burbridges moved to Kentucky, where the rest of his siblings (9 in total) were born. They then moved to Illinois. He married Anna S. M. Hathaway (Sophia) in 1842, and they had five sons. Their names were Charles W. (C. W., Our Great- x3 Grandfather), Abram E. B., Samuel George, James R. M., and John A. Thomas and Sophia also had a daughter they adopted. Her name was Janet E. Thomas, and his eldest son C. W. were the first of our family to come to Colorado! Unfortunately, Sophia died before she could join them; she passed in 1864 in Illinois. Thomas died on May 16, 1875, and is buried in the Burbridge Cemetary in Gowanda, Weld County, Colorado. 

C. W. Burbridge was born in Galena, Illinois, on March 19, 1843. He always had a pioneering spirit, and at the age of 17, he and his father, Thomas, set off for the West. They arrived in Denver, Colorado, in the spring of 1860. One of their biggest incentives to stay in Colorado was the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. More about this story on the Chapter 2. In Colorado page. C. W. married Ms. Harriet C. Thatcher in the spring of 1870. Together, they raised three sons: A. T., Charles ( C. W. Jr., Our Great - Great Grandfather), and Edgar W. C. W.  made it to the ripe old age of 93 before his passing on August 1, 1936, in Longmont, Colorado. 

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This wraps up the story of how the Burbridges came to be. If you made it this far you get a gold star and an A+. We have enjoyed the research part of this project, and we are really proud to share our history with all of you! In all of this research, we have found a lot about how our family started ranching and learned where we got our work ethic from. Thank you for being here to share in our proud history! Check out our next chapter here --> 

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