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Below is a family biography included in The History of Fayette County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Wilson L. Burnett, an active farmer of Fayette County, Tenn., was born in Iredell County, N. C., September 27, 1832, and is a son of Jeremiah and Mary F. (Ellis) Burnett. The father was a native of Spartanburg County, S. C., and the mother of Iredell County, N. C., both of Scotch-Irish descent. The father was born September 18, 1807, and is now a resident of Fayette County. The mother was born January 20, 1810; they were married in 1831 in North Carolina, and moved to Tennessee in 1849, settling nine miles south of Somerville. The father was a successful farmer, and with his wife a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Our subject is the oldest of ten children. He was quite young when he moved to Fayette County with his parents, and has since then made it his home. In 1857 his father gave him the farm where he now lives, and he has since added to it, owning now over 800 acres of good land in Fayette County and 960 acres in Pontotoc County, Miss. December 22, 1852, he married Miss Ellen J. Tomlinson, born in Iredell County, N. C., in 1834. Fourteen children were born to this marriage—seven sons and seven daughters—one son and four daughters are dead. Mr. Burnett has always been a true Democrat, and with his wife and five children belongs to the Methodist Church and freely responds to all calls for money for the church or for charity. In August, 1862, he entered the Confederate Army; was first in Outlaw’s battalion, but soon joined Gen. Forrest’s forces in the Fourteenth Tennessee Regiment of Cavalry, the colonel being Col. Jack Neely. Mr. Burnett remained until the battle of Franklin, Tenn., and was in many battles. In 1864, after an absence of over two years, he was paroled at Memphis and took the oath of allegiance, then returned home and resumed farming. He is a good neighbor, an upright man, liked and trusted by all.

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This family biography is one of 77 biographies included in The History of Fayette County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed.  The History of Fayette County was included within The History of Fayette and Hardeman Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Fayette and Hardeman Counties, Tennessee

View additional Fayette County, Tennessee family biographies here: Fayette County, Tennessee

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