I referenced a photo I found of my grandmother Edna Jean (Burt) McKenzie standing next to a sign for "The Witness Tree", in a previous blog post called Road Trip Through Our Family History. In today's blog post, I will provide additional details about William Burt and explore a possible family connection.
First, let make a correction to a statement I made in my earlier post. The Witness tree does not stand testimony to the work of William Austin Burt, but instead his son William Burt.
William Burt was born in Mt. Vernon, Macomb County, Michigan, on October 31, 1825, and is the son of William Austin Burt and Phoebe (Cole) Burt. William Burt grew up as a young boy in the county where he was born and acquired his education in a log schoolhouse situated in the neighborhood. He spent his boyhood on a farm and continued to follow agricultural pursuits and land surveying as a means of work until he had reached the age of forty years. He learned the business with his father and older brothers, experts in that line, and at the age of twenty began the work for himself. He aided in surveying a greater part of the Upper Peninsula, coming to Marquette area with his father and brothers in 1846. On the 23rd of March, 1847, he was appointed United States Deputy Surveyor.
Often a surveyor would use, what is called a witness tree, to serve as a reference point to establish the corner line in a survey. A mark was sometimes cut into the trunk and the location of the witness tree was noted in the surveyor’s field report.
William Burt, the deputy surveyor for the state, marked a witness tree. The tree is a red pine and stands in what is now Pigeon River Forest. The tree is located on the quarter section corner between Section 15 and 16 of Township 32 North Range 1 West. This is one of two trees marked on the corner. When he first marked the tree, it's diameter was only eight inches around.
If you remember this question was raised after I found the photo of my grandmother, Edna Jean (Burt) Mckenzie, pointing to the "Original Witness Tree" Sign. The story had always been that we were related to William Burt. Obviously, this is the same story that my grandmother was told.
Well, after several hours of research, I have to admit, I have not found a connection between my Burt family line and the family line of William Burt. Although the two families seemed to have immigrated from England to Massachusetts around the same time and were often found living near each other, a connection has not been found.
As it turns out, I am not the first to come to this conclusion. In "Early days in New England : life and times of Henry Burt of Springfield and some of his descendants, genealogical and biographical mention of James and Richard Burt of Taunton, Mass., and Thomas Burt, M.P., of England" Written by Henry Martyn Burt and Silas Wright Burt in 1893, the same conclusion was reached.
