Andrew Jackson Burke    

ANDREW JACKSON BURKE, HOUSTON. The death of this respected citizen and pioneer Texas merchant occurred at Houston at 4 o’clock p. m., March 22, 1903, after a brief illness. On March 6th he was run over on Main street and, while that was not the immediate cause of his death, the shock sustained probably hastened it. The funeral occurred at 3 p. in, March 23d. from the residence of his son-in-law, George R. Bringhurst, 2716 Milam street, Houston, Rev. William Hayne Leavell, of the First Presbyterian Church, officiating; interment in Glenwood Cemetery.

Mr. Burke was born October 10, 1813, near the site of the present town of Elton, Giles county, Tennessee. His parents, Benjamin and Mrs. Drucilla Burke, moved to that section, from Fairfield district, South Carolina, about the year 1805.

His boyhood was passed upon his parents’ farm.

Upon the death of his father, in 1830, he determined to make an effort to carve out for himself such a place in the world as he could, and with that end in view went to Vicksburg, Miss., where, after he had. almost despaired of being able to secure employment, he obtained a position in the store of a merchant at a small salary. Fidelity and capability soon won for him the confidence of the excellent gentleman with whom he was associated, and in November, 1832, he was sent with a small stock of goods to the village of Amsterdam, twenty miles from Vicksburg. At the expiration of two years, he successfully embarked in business upon his own account, with means he had saved from his earnings. In the spring of 1837 he sold his stock of goods at Amsterdam and went to San Augustine, Texas.

September 26, of that year, he married in Shelby county, Texas, Miss Eloise Lusk, daughter of George V. Lusk, who had moved to the Republic a year previous. Mrs. Burke was born and reared in Pickens county, Alabama. She died February 18, 1886. Thirteen children were born to them, of whom the three following are now living: Hon. Frank S. Burke, a prominent member of the Houston bar; Edmund L. Burke, a railway conductor, and Mrs. Annette Bringhurst.

Mr. Burke located in the new town of Houston in November, 1837, and in the spring of 1838 opened a mercantile business in a small building on the south side of Main street, about midway of the block between Preston and Congress avenues. From that time until he retired from active pursuits in 1876, he was one of the leaders in the constantly expanding commercial life of the city.
He was at one time a member of the board of directors of the Houston & Texas Central Railway. He was twice elected and served as a member of the county commissioners court and was for one term mayor of Houston. He had no desire for public office, and, with the exceptions mentioned, declined to be a candidate for or accept such honors.

Early in life he became a member of the Presbyterian church, and from June 22, 1845, was an elder of the First Presbyterian church of Houston.

He became a mason in 1844 and was one of the oldest members of the fraternity in Texas.

His residence in Houston extended over a period of sixty-six years.

Year Book for Texas: party conventions, election returns, inauguration of Governor Lanham and Lieutenant-Governor Neal, legislative work, public officials and current reports of departments and state institutions, important events, obituaries of distinguished dead, industrial development, statistics, biographical sketches, and historical manuscripts never before published. Raines, Cadwell Walton, Austin, Tex.: Gammel-Statesman Pub. Co., 1903, pages 43-44. View image of this page on line.  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1920s Texas History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Try the family history collection for free for 14 days!