Information Sheet

 

 

R         Denney family.

353                  Burnett and Denney families, papers, 1864‑ca. 1985.

                                    Six folders.

 

 

 

This collection includes correspondence, business papers, genealogical material, and photo­graphs of the families of Ensign Burnett (1833‑1912) and Tyre Denney (1828‑1873) of Dade, Linn, and Webster counties in Missouri.  Included are photographs of Burnett School in Webster County, and miscellaneous items pertaining to the communities of Linneus, Lock­wood, and Sey­mour in Missouri .

The Burnett family came to America from Germany in the late 1700s, residing first in New York.  Philip Burnett (1790‑1853) moved to Ohio in the 1830s.  His son, Ensign Burnett (1833‑1912), brought his family to Linneus, Linn County, Missouri, in 1867, and then moved to Sey­mour in southern Webster County in 1887.  He retired to Lockwood in Dade County in 1908, where he remained until his death in 1912.  Ensign’s son, Orie Hulet Burnett (1882‑1907), mar­ried Florence Denney of Webster County in 1904.

The Denney family originated in Ireland.  They came to America during the late 1700s, set­tling in Virginia and Kentucky.  Ben Denney (1790‑1842) moved his family from Kentucky to a homestead on Finley Creek in what became Webster County, Missouri, in the fall of 1836.  His son, Tyre Denney (1828‑1873), lived in Webster County until his death.  Tyre's son, Charles Denney (1866‑1948), married Ensign Burnett’s daughter, Mary Belle Burnett, in 1895, consti­tut­ing the first part of a double connection between the families.

Mahala Denney (1897‑  ) is the daughter of Charles and Mary Belle Denney.  She was born on the family farm near Seymour.  She was a schoolteacher, beginning her career at Burnett school, which she had also attended.  During the 1930s, Miss Burnett taught Indian students at Fort Totten, North Dakota.  She retired to Springfield, Missouri.  She is a benefactor of South­west Mis­souri State University, and is the donor of the family papers to the University of Mis­souri Western His­torical Manuscript Collection.

The papers of the Burnett and Denney families include a miscellaneous assemblage of ma­te­rials pertaining to both families, and ephemera from some of the communities in which they lived.  The individuals most often noted are Ensign Burnett, Tyre Denney, and Charles Denney.  The collection includes photographs, receipts and financial papers, correspondence, and genea­logical materials assembled by Mahala Denney.  The genealogical information on the families also in­cludes material on the Harvey family, which is connected to the Burnetts through Sarah Harvey (1843‑1910), who married Ensign Burnett in 1864.  There is also data for the Johnston family, connected to the Denneys through Mahala Johnson, wife of Tyre Denney.

The Burnett School in Webster County is well represented in the collection by “souvenirs” given out by the teachers and by class photographs.  Other photographs in the col­lection are those of the International Order of Odd Fellows Lodge at Seymour, a school group at Finley Falls in Webster County, the Burnett family home near Lockwood, and a postcard view of the courthouse and square in Lamar, Missouri.

 

 

 

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