Page 8 - Jan 2023 News On 7

HAZZARD'S HISTORY NOTES

by Grant Ketcheson

ROBERT BURNSIDE
Of all the stories hidden in Hazzard's Cemetery, that of Robert Burnside (1821-1881) is perhaps the most dramatic. The son
of William and Mary Robinson Burnside, Robert was born on Boa Island, County Fermanagh, Ireland.
According to an Irish history book, on the 19th of March in 1841, Robert Burnside was one of a group of seven young men
rowing, in the dark of night, from Boa Island to a smaller island in Loch Erne. When still 200 yards from shore, the boat
hit a rock and quickly sank. Sadly, all the young men drowned except the only one who could not swim! Robert Burnside
clung to an oar and drifted safely to shore. The story goes that they might have been on a night-mission involving the
production of poteen (illegally distilled whiskey) or perhaps that is just a fable.
Shortly after his near-drowning, Robert Burnside, now known by some as “Robert of the oar,” married fifteen-year-old
Mary Johnston from Tievemore, County Donegal. Records show that their first child was born in Ireland in 1844. Since
their next child was born in Canada in 1850, the Burnside family made the perilous journey across the sea to Canada
sometime between 1844 and 1850. As this period was the height of the potato famine in Ireland, we can guess that they
may have journeyed on one of the infamous “coffin ships” that carried tens of thousands of starving or displaced Irish
peasants to Canada. From the moniker given to these ships, we know that scores of passengers did not survive the
journey.
Robert and Mary settled on Lot 13, Concession 10 in Huntingdon Township (east of White Lake) where their second and
third children were born. Mary Johnston Burnside died in 1852 at the age of only twenty-six, leaving Robert with three
children between one and eight years of age.
Robert later married Harriet Francis, also an Irish immigrant, with whom he had seven children. In 1864 the Burnsides
purchased a farm just south of Hazzard's Corners, where their three youngest children were born. The 1878 Belden's
Atlas lists Robert Burnside as a “farmer and road builder.” According to family stories, many of the roads and bridges in
Madoc township and beyond were the handiwork of Robert and his crew.
While Robert passed away in 1881, just before he turned sixty, the family carried on the farm for three more generations.
Members of the Burnside family are to this day strong supporters of Hazzard's Corners Church. One member serves on
the trustee board and recently a fifth-generation granddaughter chose to be married at Hazzard's. As well, one of the
Burnside family operates a Christmas tree farm and provides a free tree to Hazzard's Corners Church each year.
Robert Burnside, his wife Harriet, and many members of succeeding generations have been laid to rest in Hazzard's
Cemetery.