Burt, Reuben W.

Born: 1822-05-20 Windsor, Vermont

Died: 1897-05-23 Atlanta, Illinois

Flourished: Atlanta, Illinois

Reuben W. Burt was a businessman and merchant. Burt received his education at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire. He moved to Massachusetts at the age of twenty-one. In December 1848, Burt married Ann M. Messinger, with whom he had one child. In October 1854, Burt moved to Atlanta, Illinois, where he operated a mercantile establishment. In 1860, he owned real property valued at $1,000 and had a personal estate of $200. Burt was a Republican. Abraham Lincoln represented Burt in two legal cases, presided as judge in two of his lawsuits, and represented those suing Burt in one case.

George Wm. Montague, comp., History and Genealogy of the Montague Family of America (Amherst, MA: J. E. Williams, 1886), 207; Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915 15 December 1848, Canton (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2013); History of Logan County, Illinois (Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd, 1878), 428; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Atlanta, Logan County, IL, 11; The Weekly Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 28 May 1897, 5:2; For Lincoln’s cases involving Burt, search Participant, “Burt, Reuben W.,” Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis, et al., eds., Title: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition , 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; Gravestone, Atlanta Cemetery, Atlanta, IL.