Private Burril Boone
Pvt. Burril Boone
The military records for Pvt Buril Boone indicated that he was born in Franklin County, Virginia, c 1842. Pension files obtained from the National Archives provided a deposition from his father confirming that his family was enslaved in Virginia. Slave schedules suggest that Boone may have been purchased and enslaved by John Boone of Roanoke, VA at the age of 18 to work in the fields.
Burril Boone was the only one the Franklin County-born USCT soldiers to actually enlist in Virginia. He enlisted on January 9th, 1865, at Norfolk, to serve for three years with the 37th USCT Infantry, Company E. Military records described him as 24 years old, 5’7” tall with a black complexion, black eyes and black hair. His occupation was listed as farmer. Pvt Boone was promised a $300 bounty and was paid $100 at his enlistment. Records indicated he was still due $200 in August 1865.
Pvt Boone mustered in at Newport News on the same day he enlisted. It is possible that he was involved in the Union’s capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, only days later.
He likely participated in the Campaign of the Carolinas from March 1-April 26, including an advance on Kinston and Goldsboro in March 6-21; Cox's Bridge March 23-24; an advance on Raleigh April 9-14; and the occupation of Raleigh on April 14. He would also have been present in Durham, NC when Confederate General Joseph Johnston and Union Major-General W.T. Sherman negotiated the surrender of southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. It was the largest troop surrender of the Civil War. The 37th USCT was then stationed at various points in North Carolina before Burril fell ill and was hospitalized.
Burril died at Fort Fisher Hospital in Wilmington, NC, on Nov. 5, 1865, from “congestive intermittent fever.” Illness took far more lives than bullets or bayonets, among both Union and Confederate soldiers.
In 1890, Buril’s father, Elva Boone, about 80 years old and living in Isle of Wright County, Virginia, filed for a dependent father’s pension. Elva said he had a “slave marriage” with Burril’s mother (undocumented and not legally recognized), but she died in 1842 in Nansemond County, Virginia, now part of Suffolk, and near Norfolk. We wonder about the circumstances that led to Buril’s mother’s death shortly after his birth. Why were his parents near the eastern shore and Buril in western Virginia? Marriages between enslaved persons were not legally recognized, and enslaved parents had no legal rights to their own children.
However, Burril and his father, Elva, did have a relationship, because Burril was in Norfolk, where he enlisted, and his father knew of his enlistment, his service, and his death.
Research compiled by Macie Alford, Eric Anspaugh and Cathie Cummins
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