History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1342

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

ance and sanitarium tickets," replied the superintendent. "What? Me?"
said Bill. "Not on your life. I think I see myself selling insurance."
The superintendent discreetly dropped the subject but a fortnight later
when Bill's stump was almost healed he got leave to visit friends in
Jackson, and the sanitarium boss handed him ten tickets. "I don't want
you to ask any one to buy them," he said, "but if any of your friends
want one, you make a dollar and a half out of every sale."
Bill came home and in two days he had sold the ten tickets, had
written the sanitarium for one hundred more-and has been doing business with them ever since. He has also sold real estate, fire insurance,
loaned money, and just now is director of the Central State Bank, president of the Jackson Brass Foundry Company, president of the Jackson
Real Estate Board, director of the Chamber of Commerce, and has
honestly made a very tidy pile.
That is how it came to pass that when Bill Wright opened the door
of opportunity it slammed shut and clipped off his right hand. If he
hadn't lost his hand he would have continued as a brakeman and might
have ultimately become a conductor on a fast freight. But he remains
just the same old Bill Wright that he was when he was shoveling clinkers
and wiping grease, except for clothes. His name is William but he is
called Bill. Without quotation marks. He's square, is Bill, and is a
good friend who has made his way without trade, schooling, or a dollar's
worth of assistance from anybody since he arrived at the mature age of
nine years. Fate forced him to labor with his head instead of with his
hands, and he has no quarrel with fate or with any mortal man.
DR. WILLARD M. BURLESON. While the professional career of Dr.
Burleson has been spent in the city of Grand Rapids, his family was
first identified with the northeastern section of the state, principally in
Saginaw county. The Burlesons were among the early settlers in Rhode
Island and Connecticut, and the descendants of the original emigrants
are now very numerous and found in most if not all the states of the
Union. Many have attained prominence in the professions, in business,
and in public affairs.
The lineage of Dr. Burleson back to the first American ancestor lacks
one link of complete authenticity, but from the best information available he is a descendant from John Burles, who came to America in
i632 in the ship Blessing. He settled in Rhode Island, and it is believed
that one of his sons, Edward, took the name of Burleson, instead of
Burles. Edward Burleson married Sarah, and one of their children was
John Burleson, born in I677. John became the father of John, who
was born in 1701. In the next generation is Edward Burleson, who was
born in 1737. Edward was the father of John Burleson, who was born
at West Greenwich, Rhode Island, June 8, 1I776. He was the greatgrandfather of Dr. Burleson, and migrated west from New England and
became one of the early settlers in Chenango county, New York. Grandfather Alfred Burleson, who was born at Greene in Chenango county,
New York, in I8II, learned the trade of shoemaker at a time when all
shoes were made to order, and often by traveling cobblers, who went
through the country and stopped long enough at each house to make all
the boots and shoes needed by the family for the next six months.
Alfred Burleson set up a shop and did a considerable business as a
manufacturer of custom shoes. When a young man he started west,
lived a few years at Steuben county, New York, and in I840 set out for
the new state of Michigan. After a brief residence at Pontiac, where
he followed his trade, he went on to the still newer country of Shiawassee county, where he bought land and settled down to the occupation of