Samuel Burnell
From Black Hawk Slept Here
Samuel Burnell (born ca. 1808, died January 7, 1889) was one of the veterans of the Black Hawk war who had been invited to the 1882 meeting of the St. Joseph County (MI) Pioneer Society, and who accepted the invitation.
However, he is not listed in LeRoy Barnett's roster of those who served in the Michigan militia, nor in Carrie Loftus's roster of the Indiana militia. So it is not certain whether he served in the Michigan or the Indiana forces, or whether he was even a militia member at all in the usual sense. He could easily have been involved in the events of The Gage and Langdon War in LaGrange county, but there is no known mention of the word "militia" in connection with the scare and fort building there.
Burnell was a native of England. He came to White Pigeon in 1829. He entered land on or near English Prairie in Greenfield Township, LaGrange County, Indiana, in Sections 29 and 23. There were also two other Burnells who entered land in that township, Thomas and William. Thomas lived in Michigan temporarily before settling on English Prairie[1], and it is possible that Samuel did the same. But he maintained a Michigan connection at least to the extent of becoming one of the founding members of the St. Joseph County Pioneer Society, and being active in that society for some years. [1]
According to the 1850 census, he was a farmer living in East Greenfield Township, and had been born around 1808. He was married to He was married to Mary A, age 36. They had three children: Helen A (age 10), John (8) and Jane (1). Both Samuel and Mary A were born in England.
He died in 1889. He and his wife, Mary, are buried in a cemetery near Lima (present-day Howe), Indiana.[1]
