Do you know LeRoy Burr?

Question:
Do you know LeRoy Burr?

Answer:
LeRoy Burr (possibly "Leroy Burr") is shown in one of our photographs posing with a horse. Either he, or the horse he is posing with, had the nickname of "Sonny Boy."

After some searching, we did find a Burr family related to our own Phillips family in Nebraska. It turns out that Verna Pearl Phillips (daughter of Francis "Frank" Eugene Phillips) married James Newton Burr. They had two or three children together, Mabel, Claris, and Eleanor (it appears Mabel died at a young age). According to our internal notes, James Burr was born on April 9, 1889, but after further research, that appears to be Pearl's birthday. James was born in 1882. He married Pearl in 1907 and died in 1943. Pearl died on June 14, 1970 (the date of death could be 1910, but we doubt it). Our notes also say he was a "Sand hill, Nebraska cattle rancher. 30 miles north of Whitman, Nebr."

Based on our rough calculations, a ranch 30 miles north of Whitman, would be in Cherry County.

We found a few other interesting items in our research of the Burr family. In 1910, they had one daughter, Mabel (age 1). By 1920, Mabel was missing from the census, and two other children appear, Claris (age 8) and Eleanor (age 6). And all four are still present in the 1930 census.

In 1910, the Burr family lived in Buffalo Lake (Cherry County, Nebraska). In 1920, they moved from Buffalo Lake to Mullen (Hooker County, Nebraska). To be more specific, they moved between January 17th and February 9th of 1920. Why? Because they appear in the 1920 census in both locations with only one variation. James turned 37 during the move. By 1930, they had moved again to Twin Falls, Idaho.

But things get even more interesting. There is a Cleavenger family in Mullen. That name is linked to another side of our family tree, the McCoig family. Odder still is the Phillips family is present as well as the Yaryans and the Piesters, all related to our ancestors and all living in Cherry or Hooker Counties with the Burrs.

Despite all of this research, we still cannot find out how LeRoy Burr fits in. We feel comfortable assuming that he is related to the Burr family of Cherry County (or Hooker County or both), but we could not find a link. We do have some queries out, but nothing has been returned yet that mentions LeRoy. So if you know LeRoy Burr, please contact us.

Photos:
LeRoy Burr "Sonny Boy"


James Burr and Verna Pearl Phillips


Claris Burr, Verna Pearl (Phillips) Burr, and Eleanor Burr


References:
- 1910 United States Federal Census.
- 1920 United States Federal Census.
- 1930 United States Federal Census.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.