Samuel Asbury Burnette

Samuel Asbury Burnette, son of Thomas Terrell Burnette and Elizabeth Jones, was born in Greene County, Georgia on November 18, 1912. He was the 12th child of 13—Luther Terrell Burnette, Eva Drucilla Burnette, Floria Mae Burnette, Twin Burnette, Jesse Burnette (twin), Willie Lloyd Burnette, Prince Albert Burnette, Claudia Burnette, Maudie Burnette, Henry T. Burnette, Eleanor Estelle Burnette, Samuel Asbury Burnette, and Julia Virginia Burnette. He was most likely given the name Samuel to honor his paternal grandfather, Samuel Pride Burnett. He went by Sam and was my great-uncle. Our nearest common relatives are his parents.

Samuel A. Burnette in the middle. Others unknown.

Sam’s maternal grandmother, Millicent Virginia Overton Burnette, died on January 10, 1916. She was buried at Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Loganville, Walton County.

On February 13, 1920, the Burnette family lived in the Walker District of Greene County. Sam was enumerated as Sammie. His father worked as a farmer on a general farm. With the exception of Sam and his four-year-old sister Julia, all the children worked as laborers on the home farm. Sam’s widowed grandfather Samuel P. Burnett, mentioned above, lived in the home with the family. Sam’s oldest brother Luther and his wife Etta Bell lived next door. At age seven, Sam was apparently not attending school and was unable to read or write. Sam’s grandfather Burnette died in Monroe, Walton County, Georgia on September 2, 1926. He was buried beside his wife at Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery.

On April 14, 1930, Sam, his parents, brother Henry, and sister Julia lived on Greensboro Road in the Walker District. Luther and his family, now with daughters Hazel and Francis, still lived next door. Sam’s father was a general farmer, assisted by Henry. At age 17, Sam was unemployed, not attending school, and now able to read and write. 

Sam’s father died from chronic myocarditis in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia on February 6, 1940. He was buried at Walker United Methodist Church Cemetery in Greensboro. 

Sometime after the 1930 census was taken and prior to 1935, Sam married Kittie Lorene Askew, daughter of William Clarence Askew and Adaline Ruth Mullins. I estimate this time period because on April 24, 1940, the enumerator checked the box that Sam and Lorene had been living in the same house since at least 1935. The house was a rental home on the road to Eatonton in the Walker District. I haven’t found a marriage record to pinpoint the date though. In 1940, Lorene’s parents and aunt Kitty Askew lived next door. Her brother Griffin Askew lived five houses away. Sam was working a 50-hour week as a laborer on his father-in-law’s farm in Greene County. On October 16, 1940, Sam, now 27 years old, registered for the World War II draft in Greensboro. This registration card is the only record I have found that lists his middle name vs. a middle initial. Sam listed Lorene as the person who would always know his address. He was 5’11”, weighed 152 pounds, had gray eyes, brown hair, and a dark complexion. 

Samuel's World War II draft registration card

On April 7, 1950, Sam, Lorene, and their sons Hale and Terry lived in Greene County on alternate Route 44 from Greensboro to Eatonton. The census enumerator noted Sam’s occupation as “saws, nails, and planks” in the carpenter industry where he worked a 40-hour week. The highest-grade Sam had attended in school was the sixth, although he didn’t finish it. Sam was the sole bread winner in the home and never served in the military. 

Sam’s mother died in Greensboro on December 2, 1956. She was buried beside his father at Walker United Methodist Church Cemetery. 

The paper trail then goes dark until January 12, 1983 when Sam died in Clarke County, Georgia. At the age of 70, he was buried in a plot beside his parents.

My daddy remembered his uncle Sam as a kind, quiet man, and said he was a little hen pecked (his comment, not mine). Daddy said his uncle and aunt seldom visited their house when he was growing up but he remembered that Sam didn’t do anything without consulting Lorene first. He said Lorene was good to her husband.

References

• Personal visit to Walker United Methodist Church Cemetery, Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia.
• Samuel A. Burnette, Georgia Deaths, 1919–98.
• Samuel Asbury Burnette, U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1898–1929.
• U.S. Federal Census, Walker District, Greene County, Georgia, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950.