Robert Burson

Black male, born about 1900 in Alabama. He was 21 years old and single at the time of his death in Pensacola, FL on 13 Feburary 1921. He died at the Escambia County Poor Farm while a resident there, of heart disease, mitral insufficiency, and aortic stenosis. The informant on his death certificate was the Poor Farm, and there is no personal information given other than that he was born in Alabama. He was buried at the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery by F.R. Pou.

The 1920 U.S. Census for Pensacola shows Robert living with his brother, Louis Burson, and Louis’ wife, Josephine. They lived at 1000 West La Rua Street, in a house Louis rented. Louis was 47, was not literate, and worked as a bolter at a shipyard. He was born in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama. Josephine was 31 and she was literate, though had no occupation. Robert was 19, could neither read nor write, and worked as a helper at the shipyard. Also sharing the household was 24-year-old Missouri Walker, enumerated as the sister-in-law of Louis.

Other than the 1920 census, I can find no trace of this family, either before or after Robert’s death. It would not surprise me to learn that Robert became unable to work for wages as his heart condition worsened, thus his residency at the Poor Farm, but where his family went without him is a mystery. While J.H. Bickerstaff signed the death certificate as physician, there is no indication on the certificate that he treated Mr. Burson for the heart condition at any time before his death. This leads me to believe Robert was not at the Poor Farm for very long before he died.

FAMILY:

Brother: Louis Burson

SOURCES:

Florida Certificate of Death for Robert Burson (No. 1351), Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.