Theodosia Bartow Burr

The New Netherland Ancestors of

THEODOSIA BARTOW BURR,

the wife of JOSEPH ALSTON



- for Joseph Alston

Governor, State Assembly




	   __Rev. Aaron Burr1
	  |
      __AARON BURR1
     |    |
     |    |     __JONATHAN EDWARDS1
     |    |    |
     |    |__Esther Edwards1
     |         |
     |         |     __James Pierpont1,7
     |         |    |
     |         |__Sarah Pierrepont1
     |              |
     |              |     __Samuel Hooker7
     |              |    |
     |              |__Mary Hooker1,7
     |                   |
     |                   |     __Thomas Willet8
     |                   |    |
     |                   |__Mary Willett7
     |                        |
     |                        |__Mary Brown8
     |
THEODOSIA BARTOW BURR1
the wife of JOSEPH ALSTON
     |
     |     __Theodosius Bartow1,3
     |    |
     |__THEODOSIA BARTOW1,2
	  |
	  |               __Nicholas Stillwell6
	  |              |
	  |          __Richard Stillwell5
	  |         |    |
	  |         |    |     __Robert Hopton6
	  |         |    |    |
	  |         |    |__Abigail Hopton6
	  |         |         |
	  |         |         |__(__)6
	  |         |
	  |     __Richard Stillwell, Jr.4
	  |    |    |
	  |    |    |     __John Cook5
	  |    |    |    |
	  |    |    |__Mary Cook5
	  |    |         |
	  |    |         |__Sarah (__)5
	  |    |
	  |__Anne Stillwell1,3
	       |
	       |     __Samuel Sands4
	       |    |
	       |__Mercy Sands4
		    |
		    |__Dorothy Ray4



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Biography of JOSEPH ALSTON

 
Joseph Alston was born in 1778, probably in All Saints Parish, South Carolina, a son of William Alston and Mary Ashe. He studied law in the office of Edward Rutledge and was admitted to the bar, but shortly thereafter he abandoned the legal profession for a career in politics. In 1802 he entered the lower house of the State Legislature and served as its Speaker from 1805 to 1809. Three years later he ran for Governor and, after a bitterly contested campaign, was elected to that office. His administration was marked for its support of measures to prosecute the War of 1812 then in progress. His politcal career, naturally, was influenced by that of his celebrated father-in-law. On 2 February 1801 in Albany, New York, he married Theodosia Bartow Burr. She was generally acknowledged as being one of the most beautiful and accomplished women of her time. She was carefully educated under the direct supervision of her father, and became proficient in Latin, Greek, French, and German. Besides the other usual accomplishments she was familiar with the best works of ancient and modern writers. At the age of fourteen she presided as mistress over her father's mansion on Richmond Hill in New York, New York, and there entertained her numerous and distinguished guests with charming grace and dignity. In July 1812, after her father's return from abroad, she planned to visit him in New York, New York, but was unable to undertake the trip at that time due to poor health and grief brought on by the death of her ten year old son. On 30 December 1812, she sailed aboard the Patriot from Georgetown, South Carolina, accompanied by "a gentleman with some medical knowledge;" this arrangement had been made by her father as a press of official duties prevented her husband from making the trip with her. Neither she nor the ship reached their destination or were heard from again. Joseph Alston died 10 September 1816 in Charleston, South Carolina, and was buried with his son in the Alston tombs at Brookfield Gardens near Georgetown, South Carolina.
 

 


Biography of THEODOSIA BARTOW BURR

 
Richard N. Côté has kindly informed me that he has written a book about Theodosia Burr entitled Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy which is scheduled to be published in September 2002 by Corinthian Books. He also has an informative web page entitled Theodosia which contains an excellent summary of the life of Theodosia Burr.
 

 

Notes and Sources


   1.  Smith, Elizur Yale, "The Descendants of William Edwards Colonist of
       Connecticut Colony, 1639," The New York Genealogical and Biographical
       Record, 71 (1940):  216-224, 323-333; 72 (1941):  56-61, 124-132,
       213-220, 320-331; 73 (1942):  173-189, 251-254; 90 (1959):  193-197; 91
       (1960):  6-16, 110-118, 153-166, 233-235; 92 (1961):  23-34, 80-88,
       141-152, 221-226; 93 (1962):  13-21, 106-113, 143-148, 221-225; 94
       (1963):  15-26, 75-83, 148-154.
   2.  Stillwell, John E., The History of Captain Richard Stillwell, Son of
       Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, and His Descendants.  New York:  privately
       published, 1930.  (101 or 102) - 109.  My source material was missing
       pages 101 and 102.  Fortunately Smith's article on William Edwards filled
       in the gaps.
   3.  Ibid., p. 49.
   4.  Ibid., p. 17-21.
   5.  Ibid., p. 1-13.
   6.  Stillwell, John E., The History of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell,
       Progenitor of the Stillwell Family in America with some Notices of the
       Family in the Kingdom of Great Britain..  New York:  privately
       published, 1930.  35-90.
   7.  Willett, Albert James, Jr., The Willett Families of North America,
       Volume I.  Easley:  Southern Historical Press, Inc., 1985.  15.
   8.  Ibid., p. 1-15.

 

First uploaded 11 October 2001

Last Modified  Saturday, 08-Sep-2018 18:03:15 MDT

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