One Township's Yesterdays Chapter XXIX  

BURKETT

It was about seventy-five years ago, or around 1860, that HENRY BURKETT brought his family on from Ohio and settled near Burr Oak. From Fremont, Ohio, they came: Henry and his wife, whose maiden name had been KATHERINE HOUTS, and their nine children.

Of unusual interest is the fact that, of these nine Burkett children, all the boys married OVERYMYER girls, and all the girls except one married OVERYMYER boys. The marriage record runs thus:

Levi married AGNES OVERYMYER

The oldest son of LEVI BURKETT still living is Henry Burkett of Culver, who was eighty years of age on January 30, 1935.
Amanda

the wife of PHILIP SICKMAN, was a daughter of LEVI BURKETT
Lucas

a bachelor son of LEVI BURKETT, is living with Pete Doll, near Burr Oak.

George

married, the first time, MATILDA BAKER, and the second time, RACHEL OVERYMYER
ULYSSES S. BURKETT, a resident of Culver, is a son of George. He was born November 26, 1865, just after the close of the Civil War
Ephraim married AMANDA OVERYMYER

The family of EPHRAIM Burkett is mostly gone now. Those remaining live in the vicinity of Richland Center.

Dan

married RACHEL OVERYMYER and died in Pulaski County when still a young man, then George married the widow after Dan's death
William married MARTHA JANE OVERYMYER, had four boys.

Isaah, is in Culver now
James, is in Culver now
Wesley, reside near Burkett Station, southeast of Argos
Elmer, reside near Burkett Station, southeast of Argos

Susanna married FRANK OVERYMYER

Susanna, the wife of FRANKLIN OVERYMYER, was born near Lindsey, Sandusky County, Ohio, October 18, 1833, and was married in 1853. She was Franklin OVERYMYER's first wife. With her husband, she left the place of her birth in March, 1859, settling at Kewanna in Fulton County. After two years _ residence there, they came up to this section, which, excepting for a period of two years preceding 1863 in Starke County, continued to be her home. Susanna was a member of the Evangelical Church and, later in life, the United Brethren Church. In the summer of 1903 she went West with her husband to attend the National G. A. R. encampment, and it was during this trip that she died, at Los Angeles, California, August 22, 1903, at the age of sixty-four years. She was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery. Ten sons and one daughter survived her. Another daughter, aged four, preceded her in death.
To this union were born eleven children. In the order of birth, they were:

Harvey is living in Rochester married CATHARINE WISE
Jeremiah is dead married Minerva SHOCK
Samantha died in '68 at the age of four
Sherman is living at Richland Center married IDA SICKMAN
Franklin

'Frank' is dead, preceded their father in death and the family lives in Chicago married Flora VOREIS

Albert is dead, preceded their father in death and rests at North Union
Edward is living in Argos and is a widower married ALICE MILLER
Lewis is living at Burr Oak GRACE HUMBERT
Alice married NORMAN BEATTY, now deceased, and lived near Burr Oak
George W. resides on the Burr Oak Flats. ORPHA L. MCFARLAND
J. A. Garfield
Samantha

Mary married LUCAS OVERYMYER
Rebecca married MICHAEL OVERYMYER
Lucinda (to be different) married JOHN WORKING.

Was there ever two families more consistently joined?

The BURKETTs owned considerable land in the 'seventies. The greater part of it was in the Burr Oak region.

• West of Burr Oak was the HENRY BURKETT homestead property of close to 162 acres.
• West of it, M. BURKETT had 37 acres.
• Below Houghton's and Moore's ponds, G. M. BURKETT (probably Guy) had 41.35 acres.
• On the Starke County line, northwest of these ponds, H. BURKETT owned 70.30 acres.
• GEORGE H. BURKETT's eighty acres were southeast of the Sickman school.