Thomas S. Burell
Thomas
S. Burell, an enterprising planter of the Fifth District, (James County), was
born in Towns County, Ga., March 3, 1849. He is the second of five children born
to Butler and Malinda (Hooper) Burell. The father was born about 1818 in South
Carolina. He was a successful farmer, but lost his property by the late war. He
was a stanch Democrat, and a prominent member of the Baptist Church. He was
killed instantly by a shot at the battle of Seven Pines, in 1863. He belonged to
the South Carolina troops, and was first lieutenant of his company. The mother
was born in 1819, in Towns County, Ga., where she now resides, a respected
member of the Baptist Church. Our subject received his education in the common
schools of his native county. At the age of
fourteen he was bereft of a father, and left almost penniless. He
engaged as a farm hand. In 1872 he went to Kansas, where for eight months he
served in same capacity on the farm of John Maddox for $15 per mouth. In March,
1873, he came to Tennessee, and settled in James County, where he continued
farming. July 18, 1878, he married Miss Eliza Russell, a native of Hamilton
County. She owned 217 acres of land, to which our subject has added 380, making
a total of 597 acres. He is an industrious, energetic man, and a Democrat. He is
not connected with any church, but is a firm believer in religion, and has a high
moral character. Mrs. Burell is the daughter of James and Mary (David) Russell.
Her father was born in North Carolina, July 6, 1780, and was reared in
Washington County, Va. Her mother was born in Campbell County, Va., November 19,
1794, and was reared in Rockingham County, N. C. They were married in
“Goodspeed’s History
of East Tennessee,”