History Of Delaware County Indiana Illustrated T.B. Helm 1881                                                                                                           HON. JOHN W. BURSON            To none ofthe many enterprising men once residents of Muncie is this city more indebted for substantial encouragement than to Mr. Burson.  Through a life of honest industry he advanced from moderate circumstances to opulence, and dispensed his bounty for the improvement of the town, and to ameliorate the condition of those to whom fortune had been less kind than to himself, instead of hoarding his gains and adding to a fortune already ample. By the course he pursued in life he endeared himself to all who knew him, and his record as a business man, a friend, and a Christian gentleman is stamped indelibly upon the memories of all, while the benefits of the public enterprises to which he lent his exit are felt and appreciated by those who survive him. Mr. Burson was born August 21, 1820, at the Burson homestead in Springfield Township, Bucks Co., Penn., within five miles of the town of Bursonville. His parents were Dr. Edward and Jemima (Stroud) Burson, who removed from Bursonville to Stroudsburg, Penn., and subsequently to Wilmington,Ohio. His father was a very able physician, and practiced both in Pennsylvaniaand Ohio. He died at Waynesville, Ohio, in 1852. His mother died at Richmond,Ind., in 1863. His paternal grandparents were David and Lydia (Williams)Burson. Lydia Williams was one of a numerous family of the same name who settled near the Delaware River, above Bristol, and not far from Irvina. David Burson’s father was a native of Wales., and settled in America about the middle of the eighteenth century. The maternal grandparents of our subject were Col.Jacob and Elizabeth (McDowell) Stroud. Jacob was the founder of Stroudsburg,now a flourishing and beautiful village, situated above the Delaware Water-Gap,on a fine plateau, between a spur of the Allegheny and Pocono Mountains, and atthe confluence of Brodhead’s and Pocono streams. In the campaign of the English against the French, Col. Stroud, although a young officer, served on the staff of Gen. Wolf, and was present at the death of his General at the storming of Quebec.                               In early life the subject of this memoir sustained aninjury, which kept him in feeble health for several years until he outgrew theeffects of it. His early education was such as the times afforded, which, atbest, was indifferent. He had a studious mind, however, and  learned much that was beyond the prescribedcourse of study. In 1832, he removed with his parents to Stroudsburg, Northampton(now Monroe) County, Penn. During this time he was placed under theinstructions of a Mr. Hubbard, who was employed as a teacher and became aninmate of the family. Under his guidance young Burson received a goodintellectual training, and at a later date was sent to West Town BoardingSchool, then one of the leading educational institutions of the Friends in theUnited States—being outranked only by Haverford College. In the year 1837, Mr. Burson accompanied  his father’s family to Clinton County, Ohio,where, for seven years, his time was employed in conducting and superintendinga farm near Wilmington. Subsequently  helearned the carpenter’s trade, and worked at that trade in Ohio and afterwardat La Porte, Ind. Returning from the latter city to Ohio, he engaged inmercantile pursuits with the means saved from his earnings  as a mechanic. He possessed the qualities ofa successful business man, more as the endowment of nature than as the resultof education, and, in 1848, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was electedTeller of the Eaton Branch of the old State Bank of Ohio, where he remained forabout four years. It was during this period that he formed the acquaintance ofhis devoted wife, Miss Mary E. Wilson, to whom he was united in marriageFebruary 19, 1851.          In 1853, he left the Eaton Branch Bank, and with John Huntfounded the Cambridge City Bank, at Cambridge City, Ind. In the great financialcrisis of a few years later, this was one of the few banks that with stood theshock. In 1856, he came to Muncie and founded the Muncie Branch of the StateBank of Indiana with a capital of $100,000, which was soon increased to$150,000.  In 1865, this bank wasre-organized under the capital of $200,000; and, a surplus sum of  $100,00 and Mr. Burson was its Cashier. In1871, the capital increased to $300,000 the surplus remaining as before. Theestablishment of this bank aided materially in developing the resources of thecounty and building up the city of Muncie, and for its establishment at thisplace the citizens owe their thanks to Mr. Burson’s efforts, as some of theheaviest stockholders of the old State Bank were at first      opposed to this place for the locationof the Branch. For a number of years, Mr. Burson was a Director of the “BeeLine” Railway, and a Director of the La Fayette, Muncie & BloomingtonRailway at the time of his decease. Said one of his friends “The best guaranteeour people had that this last-named road would be completed was the fact thathe was determined it should be” He was           prominent in various other public enterprises, and allmeasures for improving the city or county received his support andencouragement .  In polities he wasa  Republican, and served as a member ofthe State Central Committee from this district from 1868, to the time of hisdemise.  He was unremitting in hislabors for the success of the party, but not ambitious for personalrecognition. Only once did he permit himself to become a candidate for office.This was in 1870 , when he was elected State Senator from the district composedof the counties of Delaware and Madison.    After an illness ofthree weeks, and with his mind fully reconciled to his approaching dissolution,Mr. Burson  passed  peacefully away September 21, 1872. Thefuneral obsequies took place on the 24th, and a Masonic specialtrain draped in mourning carried the Masonic Order of neighboring cities,together with a large number of friends to morn the loss of the deceased.Business was suspended in Muncie, and the entire county was in mourning. Thefuneral services were conducted according to the rites of the Masonic Order,and the corpse was in charge of the mandery, and the members of the ScottishRite Order, from Indianapolis, were also in attendance.  Every one united in paying homage to the memoryof the distinguished dead, and over five thousand persons joined the funeralprocession.