Peter Hutchison Burt 1847-1939

BURT, DAVIS, ANDERBERG, CHRISTOPHER, LARSEN, LARSON, MACARTHUR

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 8/29/2014 at 00:17:47

P. Burt Pioneer Is Dead
Took Up Homestead in Emmet County in 1865; Funeral to be Held This Wednesday
Peter H. Burt, 91, Emmet county pioneer, and father of Roy Burt of this city, passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Martin Anderberg of Armstrong yesterday morning.

Mr. Burt was born in Scotland in 1847 and came to America with his parents when six years of age, settling in Pennsylvania. In 1865 he homesteaded in Emmet county, living in this vicinity ever since.

He was secretary of the creamery in Armstrong for a number of years and an active democrat in his earlier days.

He is survived by four sons and two daughters, George, Joseph D., and Mrs. John Christopher of Grand Rapids, Minn.; Allan D. of Minneapolis, Mrs. Martin Anderberg of Armstrong and Roy Burt of Estherville.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 1:30 at the home and at 2 o’clock at the Presbyterian church in Armstrong. Burial will be in the Armstrong cemetery. (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, January 3, 1939)

Peter H. [Hutchison] Burt, Emmet County Pioneer, Dies
Peter H. Burt, 91, pioneer resident of Emmet county, died Monday in Armstrong at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Martin Anderberg. Funeral services were held this afternoon in the Presbyterian church at Armstrong. The Rev. R.R. Irwin officiated and burial was in Armstrong Grove cemetery. Mr. Burt was the father of Roy Burt of Estherville.

Pallbearers were Ralph Miller, John Thorson, Frank Van Dorston, Joe Haisman, Walter Richmond, and Fred Robinson.

Mr. Burt’s Survivors
Mr. Burt is survived by four sons, Roy of Estherville, Joseph of Grand Rapids, Minn., Alvin of Minneapolis, and George of Grand Rapids, Minn.; two daughters, Mrs. Martin Anderberg of Armstrong and Mrs. John Christopher of Grand Rapids, Minn.; and a brother, Andrew, of Armstrong. His wife died in 1909.

Mr. Burt was born in Scotland in 1847, the eldest of nine children. He came to America with his parents in 1852 and settled near Pittsburgh, Penn.

At the close of the Civil war the family moved to Iowa, settling on a homestead in Seneca township, Kossuth county. In 1870 he moved to a homestead in Armstrong Grove township. During his residence there he held many township offices.

On Feb. 26, 1877, he was married to Miss Annie E. Davis of Algona in a ceremony performed at Algona. They had seven children, all of whom are living except Robert, who was drowned in Puget Sound in June, 1916.

Mr. Burt had been a member of the I.O.O.F. and at the time of his death was a Mason. He also was a member of the Congregational church. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, January 4, 1939)

Peter H. Burt, Aged Pioneer of County, Died at Armstrong
Came To Emmet County In ’65 Died At Age 91
Peter H. Burt, the oldest and one of the very few remaining of the early settlers of eastern Emmet county, after a brief illness with the flu, passed away January 2, 1939, in Armstrong, Iowa at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mratin Anderberg. He was born in Kelty Fifeshire, Scotland, March 16, 1847, and was the eldest of a family of nine children of Joseph and Helen Burt and came with his parents in April, 1852, to America, where his people settled in the coal mining regions in and about Pittsburgh, Pa., and there, as a young lad he worked in the coal mines with his father and brothers. During the civil war his father was engineer at the outside shafts of the mines and here too he assisted his father. At the close of the war his family came with the moving tide of westward immigration to find homes on the rich prairies of Iowa. In the autumn of 1865 they came from Sowellville, Ohio, near Pittsburgh, Pa., to Fort Dodge, Iowa and here they were met by his uncle Tom MacArthur, who took them to his home near Algona, Iowa. Leaving their families, he and his father, who had filed for a homestead the spring of 1865, went on to start building on the homestead in Seneca township, Kossuth county. While doing this work they lived in the southeastern part of Armstrong Grove township with James Thompson, another settler, who came with them from Ohio.

For many winters during the next decade he either went to work in the coal mines near Boone or attended school at a small frame school house in Emmet county or a sod one in Kossuth county.

In September of 1870 he filed at Fort Dodge, Ia., for a homestead in Armstrong Grove township. This is the place now tenanted by Erick Rasmussen and in retaining this he was the last original homesteader of this township. During his long years of residence upon this homestead he held many township offices, township clerk, school director and justice of the peace, which was about the only law court of those early settlers. He assisted in the literary work of the old time country school house and for many years later was secretary of the Farmer’s Cooperative Creamery company of this township. He did carpenter work and blacksmithing for the neighbors.

On February 26, 1877, he was united in marriage at Algona, Iowa, to Miss Annie E. Davis of that place. To this union were born seven children, Ethel, Robert, George, Roy, Annie, Joseph and Allan, all of whom are living except Robert, who was drowned from a fishing boat in the waters of Puget Sound in June, 1916. His good wife departed this life on May 14, 1909 and his faithfulness and respectful reverence to her while she was living as well as to her memory are commendable traits of his character.,

He was a lover of nature, music and poetry. Burns was his favorite poet and he composed many verses, metered after those of Burns and in Scottish dialect. He played the Scottish bagpipes and at one time played them for the Calandonian club of Fort Dodge when they gave Burns’ anniversary program in Des Moines. His earlier music on both the bag pipes and violin was played by ear and at the age of about 60 years he learned to study written music. At 70 years while his youngest son was in the World war in France he began the study of the German language and mastered the language to the extent of reading German newspapers and Hans Anderson’s Classics and others.

Since 1909 he lived most of the years with one of the other daughters, except for eight years when he lived along in Hill City, Minn., near relatives and some of his children. He has been with his eldest daughter at Armstrong, Iowa, almost all of the past eight or nine years.

He was ever a home man, honest of intention, a keen observer of human nature, terse in his remarks, a man of sensitiveness and a very observant student of whatever he chose to master. About some 35 years ago he wrote an early history of eastern Emmet county, which was printed both in the Armstrong Republican and an Estherville paper and which was reprinted in the Armstrong Journal eight or 10 years ago.

He was at one time a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Bancroft, Iowa, later transferred to the Armstrong lodge, wherein he did much ritualistic work. He was at the time of his death still a member of the Masonic order at Armstrong, of which lodge he was a secretary in 1911. In his younger manhood he united with the Congregational church at Algona.

His funeral was held in the Presbyterian church at Armstrong, Wednesday, January 4th at two o’clock. The funeral sermon was given by Rev. R.R. Irwin of that church and interment was made in the Armstrong cemetery.

Those of his family present at the funeral were Mrs. Annie Christopher, George V., Joseph D., of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Allan D. of Minneapolis, Roy A. of Estherville, Iowa, Mrs. Ethel Anderberg of Armstrong, also one brother, Andrew Burt, Armstrong, Iowa and two grandchildren, Edwin Burt, Mrs. Eloise Larsen of Estherville, Ia., and many other relatives.

There are 22 grand children and 11 great grandchildren. He has one brother, Joseph Burt of Port Stanley, Washington, a sister, Mrs. Mary Davis of Bellingham, Washington, who were not present.

The pallbearers were Ralph Miller, John Thorson, Frank Van Dorston, Joe Haisman, Walter Richmond and Fred Robinson. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, January 5, 1939)