General John Walker Burney

General Burney buried with his wife in Baptist Church Cemetery in Monticello, GA.

[From A SKETCH OF THE BURNEY FAMILY by Thos. J. Burney] "My brother John was sent from home when not more than 12 years of age to live with our uncle Henry Walker at Monticello, who was then Clerk of the Superior Court of Jasper county. He (John) continued to write in the clerk's office until he grew nearly to man's estate, when he studied law in the office Owen H. Kenan, and commenced the practice about 1822. No young man ever commenced a professional career under more auspicious circumstances. His practice rapidly increased, and he would doubtless have reached a high eminence at the bar had not his attention and time been diverted from his profession by politics, which for many years so entirely engrossed him that his professional business was neglected and finally given up... He represented Jasper county in both branches of our State Legislature a number of times, and notwithstanding the high political excitement then prevailing, always possessed the respect and confidence of all good men. After the death of my father in 1822,thi sdear brother became the guardian and took charge of the younger brothers who continued to find a home in his house, enjoying his protection and council until they entered upon the business of life... We owe to him and his devoted and affectionate wife a debt of gratitude we can never repay. No one ever possessed in a higher degree the respect and confidence of all who knew him. His last days were troubled and harrassed by the late civil war between the North and the South, and it is believed that his death, which occurred in December 1864, was hastened by his extreme anxiety on the subject."