Jonathan Coleman Burnett
Constitutional Delegate. Born: March 19, 1825, Morristown, Vermont. Married: Anna Mary Fiske, December 27, 1852. Died: July 2, 1899, Wichita, Kansas.
Born on March 19, 1825, in Morristown, Lamoille County, Vermont, Jonathan C. Burnett studied law and commenced the practice of his profession in his home county. On December 27, 1852, he married Anna Mary Fiske of Morrisville, Vermont, and they moved to Kansas in the spring of 1857. In Leavenworth, with seven other Vermonters, he organized the "Vermont Colony" and set out for Bourbon County, where in May they founded the town of Mapleton and he identified with the Free State Party. At the Wyandotte Convention, Burnett represented Bourbon, McGee, and Dorn counties, served on the ordinance and public debt and the amendments and miscellaneous committees, and took a relatively active role throughout the proceedings. Burnett was a land office register at Humbolt, a member of the last territorial legislature, and held a seat in the first Kansas state senate. He received appointment as register (or receiver) of the Fort Scott (also located at Humboldt and Mapleton) land office in April 1861, a position he held until March 1865. The Burnetts subsequently lived in Lawrence, where Jonathan Burnett worked as a director and land commissioner for the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad. He then engaged in farming and livestock and lived for a time in Russell County. He died in Wichita, Kansas, on July 2, 1899, and was buried at Lawrence.
Entry: Burnett, Jonathan Coleman
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: June 2011
Date Modified: January 2013
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
