White County INGenWeb

COUNTIES OF WHITE AND PULASKI, INDIANA, HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, Published by F.A. Battey & Co, Chicago, 1883, pg 429

PETER BURNS was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1828; is the youngest of the four children born to Lawrence and Ann Burns, and was left an orphan when but three years old. . He was reared by an aunt until he reached his teens, and was then employed until twenty-two, mostly at farm labor. In 1850, he came to the United States and settled at La Fayette, Ind., where for a few months he was employed on what is now the C., C. &I. Railroad, and afterward on a farm until October, 1861, when he enlisted in Company E, Thirty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out in December, 1864, having taken part in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca, the Atlanta campaign, and many other engagements of lesser importance. After his return, he farmed on shares in Benton, Warren and White Counties, until April, 1878, when he bought 160 acres of land in this township, his present home. September 13, 1867, he married Margaret M. Clark, a native of Scotland, and daughter of James and Mary (Fie) Clark, her father being one of the earliest settlers of Tippecanoe County. To Mr. and Mrs. Burns have been born ten children, of whom four boys and three girls are still living. In politics, Mr. Burns is a Democrat, and he and wife are members of the Catholic Church.

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