Created by Brian

Albert Burrows

Birth

20 Feb 1837

Mooresville, Morgan County, Indiana, USA

Death

30 Apr 1896 (aged 59)

Bellevue, King County, Washington, USA

Burial

Burial Details Unknown

Memorial ID

5225543

Residence Montezuma IA; 25 years old.

Enlisted on 8/14/1862 as a Private.

On 10/1/1862 he mustered into "B" Co. IA 40th Infantry

He was Mustered Out on 8/2/1865 at Fort Gibson, CN

Promotions:

* 3rd Corpl 11/26/1863

* 2nd Corpl 7/18/1864

* Corpl 3/1/1865

 

Note: Interviews with his direct relative Roddy Burrows indicate that he was buried close to were he lived at Burrows Landing in Bellevue WA.

Several cemeteries are located near Burrows Landing in Bellevue, WA, with the closest being Sunset Hills Memorial Park (1575 145th Place SE) just 1.4 miles away, offering funeral and memorial services. Other nearby options in the Bellevue area include Bellevue Memorial Park and Cedar Lawns Memorial Park (5.4 miles away in Redmond).

Burrows Landing

Albert S. Burrows (1839-1896) was one of the first settlers in the Bellevue area, arriving in the area in 1882. In 1894 he was called to public office, becoming a member of the state legislature, and served for one term. He was a man of prominence in his district, and Burrows Landing, now a community dock, was named in his honor. This 0.25 acre park features a dock which can be used as a non-motorized watercraft launch site. 

• Address: SE 15th Street & 96th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004
• Phone: (425) 452-6885

https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/parks/burrows-landing

The Burrows Cabin: The Legacy of Bellevue Pioneer Albert Burrows

Written by Grant Frechtling

2024

The Burrows Cabin, located in Chism Beach Park, is Bellevue's oldest surviving structure and a testament to the city's rich history. The cabin is also the legacy of one of Bellevue's earliest pioneers, Albert Burrows.  

Albert Burrows was born in Morgan County, Indiana in 1837. Not much is known about his early life. But in 1857, at the age of 20, he moved to Des Moines, Iowa. There, he would meet his wife, Martha James, and have four children: Calanthia, Lillian, Maud, and Albert S. (Selden).  

Married life was soon disrupted, as in 1861, tensions between the North and South would escalate into the Civil War, where Burrows served in the Union Army. Once the war ended, Burrows returned to his homestead in Iowa until his wife, Martha Burrows, died in 1876.  

After her tragic passing, Albert Burrows decided to make the move westward where he would be entitled to 160 acres of land for homesteading as a Civil War veteran. In 1882, after a short stop in Sacramento, Burrows and his four children would arrive in Seattle, Washington, where he would get a job working at a sawmill.  

In Seattle, Burrows would meet George Miller, who had settled in the present-day Beaux Arts area with his family. Intending to establish a school with other families, Miller convinced Burrows to settle nearby on the east side of Lake Washington, in what is now present-day Bellevue.  

Once settled on his land in 1883, Burrows would first build a log cabin, now known as the Burrows Cabin. He would also build a house at the lake end of present-day SE 15th, where Burrows homesteaded a mile of waterfront. Also in 1883, Albert Burrows would donate land on which he and George Miller would build a one-room schoolhouse, a 10x12 log cabin. This would be the first public school in the Killarney area and was built on the west side of 108th Ave SE, north of SE 25th Street.  

In 1892, Burrows, along with other pioneers in the Killarney area, would help build the two-room Main Street School on the SE corner of 100th and Main Street. This school was built with Bellevue's first bond issue shortly after Washington had been established as a state. 

Burrows' daughter Calanthia would be Bellevue's first schoolteacher in the 1883 log cabin, instructing seven students, the five Miller children and two Burrows children, receiving $40 for three months' work. Albert Burrows would serve in the Washington State Legislature before passing away from Bronchitis in 1896. 

Burrows served in the Washington House of Representatives for the 43rd district from 1895 to 1896. He lived 59 years, born February 20, 1837 in Morgan County, Indiana and died April 30, 1896 in Bellevue, Washington. He was elected in 1894. Burrows Landing is a 0.25-acre park south of Chism Beach Park. Burrows Landing, now a community dock, was named in his honor. 

The Burrows cabin has had a long history and has been moved several times over the years. The cabin had remained in its original spot on SE 15th, close to Lake Washington, until the 1930s at which point the cabin was moved to Bellevue, near where Bellevue Square now stands.  

The cabin would not remain there for long. In 1946, an expanding city required the cabin to be moved yet again, this time to a private area off 112th Ave NE. At this point, the cabin was owned by Rody Burrows, the grandson of Albert Burrows. Rody made a few additions in 1956, doubling the size of the cabin.  

In 1956, ownership of the cabin would transfer to the Thorpes family after Rody sold it to them, where it would be treated as a rental residence for a while. The cabin went through several accidents, starting with an interior fire in the early 1960s, and then a second interior fire in the 1970's, at which time the original windows were replaced with more modern glass pane windows.  

In 2016, the land which the cabin stood on was sold by Ty and Terry Thorpe, who decided to donate the cabin to the City of Bellevue, contributing $10,000 to the preservation of the cabin along with $150,000 that the Bellevue City council had voted to allocate to the relocation of the cabin in June.  

It was decided that the cabin would be moved from its former spot to the current location: Chism Beach Park, which was actually very close to the cabin's original location. In late August 2016, the cabin was moved to Chism Beach Park on the upper lawn near the parking lot for its third and final relocation.  

According to the City of Bellevue, moving the cabin required a series of steps, including the following: removing the cabin from the foundation, removing the roof, placing both the cabin and the roof on a trailer, and transporting the cabin to Chism Beach by semi-truck. At Chism Beach Park, the roof was reattached, and the building was placed on a new foundation. There is a link to a video below that shows the assembly of the cabin at Chism Beach Park. 

Today families can visit the Burrows cabin at Chism Beach Park and learn all about the history of the cabin while admiring Bellevue's oldest surviving structure. The cabin serves as a reminder of one of Bellevue's earliest pioneers and the roots of Bellevue, which has evolved into the city that we know today. 

Sources: 

https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/parks/chism-beach-park/burrows-cabin 

https://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/its-something-tangible-of-our-history-bellevues-oldest-building-finds-new-home/ 

https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/parks/burrows-landing 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Burrows 

https://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/bellevue-biographies-albert-burrows-heritage-center/ 

https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv97479 

In 1882, Albert Burrows — a Civil War veteran — built a 14 x24 cedar log cabin and this land was part of the Homestead Act. The area became known as Burrows Landing, just south of Chism Park. In the 1930s, the cabin was moved to Bellevue Way, near Bellevue Square, and later, in 1946, to a site on 112th Ave. NE. It remained a private residence until 2016 when it was transported to Chism Park.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1u6C-Jyh0m/?hl=en

Burrows-Warren photograph collection, circa 1884-1935

Biographical Note

In 1882, Albert Burrows (1837-1896) moved his family from Des Moines, Iowa, to Seattle, Washington, where he got a job in a sawmill. He met George Miller, who had homesteaded with his family at Beaux Arts (area of present-day Bellevue) in 1883 and was looking for other families to settle nearby in order to organize a school. As a Civil War veteran, Burrows was entitled to a homestead, and Miller led him to the 160 lakefront acre homestead at Killarney (area of present-day Bellevue), where Burrows built a cabin and later a more substantial house. Albert Burrows served in the 1894 state legislature and died of bronchitis in 1896.

His son, Albert Selden Burrows (b.1871), graduated from University of Washington and taught in area schools, including Bellevue, beginning in 1898. He became King County superintendent of schools in 1905. Burrows married the daughter of homesteader Jesse B. Warren and settled on 80 acres south of the Miller farm. His aunt (Albert Sr.'s sister), Calanthia Wyoming Burrows, had been Bellevue's first schoolteacher in 1884. Her seven pupils were the five Miller and two Burrows children. Calanthia married Charles Meyers and moved to Capitol Hill. She died in 1930.

Just to the east of the Burrows farm, Jesse B. Warren (1839-1913) purchased 25 acres at present-day 100th Avenue & NE 8th Street. Warren was born in Northern Ireland. He brought his family to Bellevue via the Dakotas in 1890 where he farmed and raised an orchard. His daughter married Albert Selden Burrows. The Warren property was to become Bellevue Square Shopping Center in 1946.

Historical Background

The first schoolhouse in Bellevue was a cabin at Killarney ( at 108th Avenue and SE 25th Street, Bellevue) built by Albert Burrows and George Miller. The location of the school moved several times to accommodate homesteading families. With statehood in 1889, tax levies were permitted to raise funds for the construction of the schoolhouse. The initial Bellevue school board consisted of Albert Burrows, Jesse Warren, and A.H. Sheehy, who passed a construction bond for $1,500. The two-room house with bell tower stood at Main Street and 100th Avenue SE. It was fed by the Clyde Hill, Beaux Arts, Medina, and Bellevue areas. The school operated there till 1930. The building was demolished in 1969.

Ferry service between Seattle and Bellevue began in 1885 with stops at Meydenbauer Bay. In the beginning, ferries stopped when hailed by passengers on shore. A regular schedule developed with the 1892 arrival of the 78-ft. steamer C.C.Calkins .

https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv97479

Buried at CWV CREMATED BURIALS & UNKNOWN BURIALS