Burel Family - Pennsylvania>Union County, SC>Gwinnett County, GA

Yesterday, we left the Burel family living in Germantown, Pennsylvania. While still living in Pennsylvania, Dr. Burel and Patience Bird Burel had six children, all born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These children were: Louis Burrell, b. June 25, 1786; James P. Burrell, b. about 1790; Elizabeth "Betsy" Burrell, b. about 1792; John Honore Burell, b. about 1794; Thomas H. Burrell, b. about 1800; Margaret Epps Burrell, b. Aug. 1, 1804.

By 1812, Dr. Burel, who had now anglicized his name to John Burel, had moved his family to Union County, South Carolina, where they settled in Goshen Hill. Little is known about why and how the family migrated to South Carolina, but like so many others during the early 1800's, John Burel may have gone to South Carolina to claim land opened up by the U. S. government for settlement. Union County, South Carolina deed records show that John Burel was already in the county on December 2, 1812 when he sold a tract of land on the Enoree River to James Flanagan of Newberry County. Patience Hannah Burel, wife of John, released her dower rights to the land on the same day. (Union County Deed Book "N," p.94
Shortly after the Burel family's arrival in South Carolina, Louis Burel, the oldest son, married Sarah Margaret Jenkins, born about 1800, and the daughter of Deborah Elizabeth Darby and Randel Randolph Jenkins, another landowner and resident of Goshen Hill. John Burel's connection to Randolph Jenkins is evidenced in Jenkins's will, which stated that "John Burel to live where he now lives for five years from the time he went there to live he is to cultivate and clear as much land as he pleases in the coarse (sic ) of five years but not to rent or lease it to no person I do (not) nominate." In 1829, Randolph Jenkins, the son of Randolph who mentioned John Burel in his will, was appointed the administrator of the estate of John Burel. Although Dr. Burel's exact date of death and place of burial is unknown, he likely died in 1829 and was buried in Union County, South Carolina.

After their father's death, several of the Burel children sold their Union County land and moved with their families to Gwinnett County, Georgia, settling in the Hog Mountain area. Louis Burel, however, must have remained in South Carolina until at least 1840, as he was enumerated in the U. S. Census of 1840 as still living in the county.

John Burel's widow, Patience Hanna Bird Burel, was still living in the Union District of South Carolina in 1848, when she applied for a widow's pension based on Jean/John Burel's service in the Revolutionary War. In that application she declared that she "is the widw of Dr. John Burelle who was a surgeon in the French Army & Navy in America under Major General Lafayette & served in that capacity with the Allied forces from the time he entered the service in 1778 until the French Army was discharged at the close of the War, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to the Allied forces of France and America under General Washington and General LaFayette & other French officers at Yorktown." She enclosed a certificate of her marriage and John's French medical license, which prove that Jean Baptiste Elzeard Burel of Ollioules Frances and John Burel of Goshen Hill were the same individual. According to those who have written about Jean Burel's life and history, the certificate and license are in the archives of the Veterans' Administration.

James P. Burel, married Nancy Elizabeth Darby, a relative of Deborah Elizabeth Darby, in 1815. Nancy was born about 1792 in South Carolina. Their children were John "Jack" Berry Burel, born 1819 in South Carolina, William Riley Burel, and Isabella Abilla Burel. Around 1848, James and his family migrated to Mississippi.

About 1834, Thomas H. Burel married Margaret Greely, born about 1811. In the 1850's, after spending some time in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Thomas and his wife, followed his brother James B. Burel, to Mississippi, where Margaret died in 1878.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Burrell, the third child born to Patience and John Burel, allegedly ran away to marry a stagecoach driver, B. B. Turner.

John Honore Burel married Vasti Darby, born about 1808, and John died on September 16, 1844 in Abbeville, South Carolina. Burel researchers have written that Vasti Darby may have been the illegitimate daughter of Deborah Darby Burel's sister, who may have been renting ahouse owned by Samuel Jenkins, who lived nearby.

Margaret Epps Burrell, was married twice, first to James Hunter about 1825. Hunter, born about 1781, died in 1846. Later that same year, she married Jesse Rogers, who was born about 1804. Rogers died about 1891, and Margaret died November 21, 1879, in Union, South Carolina.

Sometime after 1840, Louis (known also as " Lewis") and his wife, Sarah Margaret Jenkins Burel, moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia, where they operated Hog Mountain House and Trading Post, a stagecoach stop on the mail route that went through that area. Louis/Lewis Burel died in January 1872, and Sarah Jenkins Burel died in 1895. Before his death, Louis donated land to the old Hog Mountain Baptist Cemetery, near Lawrenceville, Georgia, where two of his grandchildren, Martha and Mary Teagle, who died on September 10, 1843, were among the first buried. Louis and his wife, Sarah, were later buried in the same cemetery where their young daughters had been buried years earlier.

Children of Louis Burel and Sarah Margaret Jenkins Burel were Nancy E. Burel Teagle, Sara Ann Burel Glover, John Louis Burel, Randel Jefferson Burel, Samuel Burel, Drucilla Burel Waldrop, Frances Burel, Patsey Burel, Lucy Burel Davis, Charlotte Burel Waycaster, Polly Burel Hughey, and William Burel.

Recently, I read a post on a GenWeb message board from Pat Garrison, who volunteered copies of cemetery pictures of Burel family members who were buried in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Thanks to Pat, I now have photos of Burel family grave stones located in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Beginning today, I will be posting some of these pictures on my other blog, Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek, and I invite you to stop by and view the pictures.
Monday: The Burell/Burrell Family in Mississippi


References:

Sloan, E. D., privately published paper: "Jean Baptiste Elzeard Burel (Dr. John Burel): His Life, Ancestry, and Descendants."
Paquet, Bertrand: "Burel-Burrel-Burrell," published 2005