Aaron Columbus Burr

Aaron Columbus Burr, born Aaron Burr Colombe[1] (September 15, 1808 – July 27, 1882), was the adopted son of American politician Aaron Burr.

Early life

Aaron Columbus Burr was born in Paris on September 15, 1808, purportedly the son of Count Verdi de Lesle. Historians Nathan Schachner and Milton Lomask maintain that Aaron Columbus Burr was Aaron Burr's son by a Frenchwoman and was born during Burr's period of exile in France.[2][3][4] The boy sailed to New York in 1816 under the guardianship of Aaron Burr, who adopted him.

Career

The younger Burr moved to the United States and was adopted by Aaron Burr. He was a goldsmith and silversmith, and engaged in the diamond and jewelry business in New York City. He retired in about 1862.[5]

In August 1860 Burr received a letter from James Grant of British Honduras (known today as Belize), offering land for sale in the Stann Creek District. During the American Civil War, Burr and Anna Ella Carroll lobbied Abraham Lincoln to fund what they proposed to call "the Lincoln Colony" for freedmen. This colony, to be located in British Honduras, would have been similar to colonies established in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Africa by Great Britain in Sierra Leone and by the American Colonization Society in Liberia. The colonization plan failed, but Burr and Grant successfully founded the American Honduras Company to harvest and export mahogany as a trade product.[2] This tropical hardwood became widely used in fine furniture.

Burr died in New York City on July 27, 1882. He was buried at Coutant Cemetery in New Rochelle.

Aaron C. Burr was married to Mary Coutant (1788-1851). From her marriage to John Sneden she was the mother of Mary Ann, Susan Emily, and John G Sneden. From her marriage to Burr she was the mother of Elizabeth C., Eleanor F., and Aaron Hippolyte Burr.

References

  1. ↑ Isenberg, Nancy. Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr, New York, 2007, pp. 396–397
  2. 1 2 Coryell, Janet L. "The Lincoln Colony: Aaron Columbus Burr's Proposed Colonization of British Honduras", Civil War History 43 (March 1997): 5–16
  3. ↑ Nathan Schachner, Aaron Burr: A Biography (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1961), p.513. Quote: Schachner described Aaron Columbus Burr as "the product of a Paris adventure," conceived presumably during Aaron Burr's exile from the United States between 1808-14.
  4. ↑ Milton Lomask, Aaron Burr: The Conspiracy and Years of Exile, 1805-1836 (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1982), pp. 387-88
  5. ↑ "New York Times July 28, 1882, Page 5" (PDF). The New York Times. July 28, 1882.
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