Burr-Purkitt Family Papers (MSS022), 1784-1938 | MSS Manuscripts

The Burr family correspondence begins with that of Theodosia Stillwell Bartow. (circa October 1746 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, NJ - 1794), daughter of Theodosius Bartow and Anne Stillwell, who in 1763 married Col. James Marcus Prevost of the British Army (1736 in Geneva, Switzerland - 1779 in West Indies) in New York City. Col. Prevost died in 1799 while serving in the West Indies, leaving his wife and five children, John Bartow, Sally, Anne Louisa, Mary Louisa, and Augustine James Frederic. On July 2, 1782, Theodosia Bartow Prevost married Aaron Burr, (1756-1836), then commander of the troops in Westchester County, New York, at the Hermitage, Hopperstown, Bergen Co., NJ. A daughter, Theodosia Bartow Burr, was born in 1783 in Albany , NY. She married Joseph Alston, Governor of South Carolina, in 1801; Aaron Burr Alston was born in 1802. In the Spring of 1812 this son died. On December 30, 1812, Mrs. Alston set sail on the ship Patriot to visit her father in Charleston, and was not heard from again.

This collection includes a series of letters, bulkin 1800-1812, from Theodosia Bartow Burr Alston to her half-brother, Augustine James Frederick Prevost (1767 in NY - 1842). Although information about Augustine is incomplete, we surmise that he married Prudence Lockwood, and had at least three children, Augustine J. Frederic, Theodosia and Charlotte. Augustine served in the British Army, later became an American citizen and then served in Aaron Burr's law office.

Henry Purkitt, Sr., (March 18, 1755 - March 3, 1846), was a participant in the Boston Tea Party and served under Washington in the Revolution. He later lived in Boston. His grandson, Caleb Strong Purkitt (January 1, 1820 in Boston - April 20, 1896 in St. Louis), graduated in 1846 from Missouri Medical College, later associated with Washington University. Caleb was the son of Henry Purkitt, Jr. (circa 1783 - ). He married Charlotte Antoinette Prevost (May 16, 1824 in Westford, Otsego Co., NY - September 10, 1897 in Carondelet, St. Louis) in Madison, IL on December 24, 1846. Charlotte was daughter of Augustine James Fredric Prevost and Prudence ____. Augustine James Frederick Prevost was the son of James Marcus Prevost and Theodosia Stillwell Bartow who later married Aaron Burr.