Burgess, Thomas (b. 1744, d. 9 MAR 1826)

Note: Note: Thomas and Mary were first cousins.

Note: Read Chapter 10, "History of Windham County" for more on this man ... at least the chapter serves to explain why finding surviving church records for this family has been near impossible.

MILLS LOCATED ON CHESTNUT HILL (Killingly Hist Society in Danielson) (aka East Killingly) By Natalie L. Coolidge

Burgess Sawmill - The site of this mill lies underwater behind the Old Killingly Pond Dam. It is believed that in 1801, a crude dam was constructed several hundred feet above the present one. Built by Thomas Burgess, this dam supplied enough power to run his small sawmill that was one of the earliest uses of water power in the area. The dam was built at the outlet of the Chaubaumaug (aka "Old Killingly") Pond.


1790 Killingly census:
Burges, Thomas
Free white males of 16 years and upward, including heads of families: 2
Free white males under 16 years: 2
Free white females, including heads of families: 5
1790 Killingly census:
Burges, William
Free white males of 16 years and upward, including heads of families: 1 ... William
Free white females, including heads of families: 2 .... wife, Hannah & daughter Betsey


Property: 18 March 1788
Deed recorded in Danielson Town records: for $1700.00 bought 150 acres. Land was originally owned by Wm West ... 1773.
bounded by lots owned by Benjamin Brown (east of Thos Burgess lot), adjacent lot of Steven Brown, Peter Bellows; ".... to the pond thence along the pond to the CT state line"

property recorded 9 May 1801:
7 lots of the " Cedar Swamp Purchase"
1. P. Mason
2. Capt James Wescott
3. Nathan Williams
4. Wm Durfee
5. Jos Pray & Thos Burgess ... about 5 acres each
6. Nathan Williams
7. Nathan Williams

Note: 1850 Census shows a Nancy Bush residing with the family. Possibly Maragret's mother?

1900: Census, Pennsylvania, Somerset, Somerset Borough, ED #193, widow, living alone, beside son Ross, born sept 1819, had 8 children, 3 living

Source: (Name)
Title: GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged
Note: ABBR GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged

Data:
Text: 4 DEC 2002

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Somerset County, Somerset PA

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Somerset Borough, Somerset, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Somerset, Somerset, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1880
Place: Somerset Borough, Somerset, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1900
Place: Somerset Borough, Somerset, Pennsylvania

Note: Currently in Washington PA nursing Home.

Name: Franklin L Siffrinn
Birth Year: 1913
Race: White, citizen
Nativity State or Country: Kansas
State: Pennsylvania
County or City: Mc Kean

Enlistment Date: 19 Aug 1943
Enlistment State: Pennsylvania
Enlistment City: Erie
Branch: No branch assignment
Branch Code: No branch assignment
Grade: Private
Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life

Education: Grammar school
Civil Occupation: Electrician, Automotive* (Automotive electrician. ) or Automobile Mechanic* or Automobile Body Repairman* or Motorcycle Mechanic* or Automobile Radiator Man* (Radiator repairman.) or Tractor Mechanic or Motor Inspector An asterisk (*) appearing after a jo
Marital Status: Married
Height: 00
Weight: 000

Source: (Name)
Title: GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged
Note: ABBR GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged

Data:
Text: 4 DEC 2002

Census: Date: 1920
Place: Olean Ward 7, Cattaraugus, New York

Note: Burgess, Ichabod, Rochester. List of men dated April 17, 1780; reported served 3 years in Capt. Charles Church's co. and then re-enlisted for during war in Col. Vose's regt.

Inherited the estate of his cousin Thomas Burgess 1714 - 1792

Source: (Name)
Title: GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged
Note: ABBR GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged

Data:
Text: 4 DEC 2002

Census: Date: 1920
Place: Eldred, McKean, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1930
Place: Eldred, McKean, Pennsylvania

Event: Type: Pension
Date: 13 APR 1818

Note: Served in the Revolutionary war

Note: South Pond Cemetery, Long Pond Road, Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360, is located in the South Plymouth section of the town.

The cemetery was established at least as early as 1793.

In memory of
WILLIAM BURGESS
born May 8, 1762
died Jan.y 25, 1836
aged 73 Y.rs
and 8 mon
A Husband kind & Parent dear
A Neighbour just & Friend sincere
While we on earth our loss deplore
We view him safe on cannans shore.
footstone: W.B.

Fought in the Revolutionary War

Note: He deliver groceries for Anderson Groceries before the going into the service.

Name: Charles J Siffrin
Inducted From: Pennsylvania
Rank: Private First Class
Combat Organization: 339th Infantry 85th Division
Death Date: Apr 12 1944
Monument: Sicily & Rome, Italy
Last Known Status: Buried
U.S. Awards: Purple Heart Medal

The 85th Infantry Division was the second all-draftee infantry division to see combat in World War II. The division was named after George Armstrong Custer, a native of Michigan where the division was activated in 1917 for service during World War I. Re-activated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi in May 1942 the division trained at Camp Shelby, in nearby DeSoto National Forest, in the swamps of Louisiana, and at Camps Coxcomb and Pilot Knob at the Desert Training Area in California. In December 1943 and January 1944 the Custer Division was shipped overseas and landed in North Africa where the division went into further training in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and then at the Invasion Training Center on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In March 1944, the division's forward elements arrived in Italy and went into the line near Minturno. The division was officially in action as a complete unit on April 14, 1944. From that point on, the 85th Infantry Division was one of Fifth Army's premier fighting divisions and contributed directly to the capture of Rome, the destruction of the
German "Gothic Line" in the North Apennines, and the closure of the Brenner Pass in the Italian Alps. At the close of hostilities, the Custer Division performed redeployment duties in Italy until ordered to return to the United States where it was deactivated on August 26, 1945.

The General Anderson docked in Casablanca, North Africa on January 6, 1944. From there, the Polar Bears were shipped by train featuring the old French "40 and 8" boxcars to a bivouac at St. Denis du Sig in Algeria. The remainder of the division eventually consolidated here before beginning training in the Atlas Mountains. The Algerian Mountains were cold during the nights and the raining was rugged. There were no amenities at this remote camp and Arab natives followed the GI's everywhere they went. "You could not go into a hole to relieve yourself," one Polar Bear remembered, "without looking up and seeing four or five of them looking down at you."

On February 7th, the 339th Infantry arrived at the Invasion Training Center at Port Aux Poules, Algeria for amphibious training. Amphibious landings on the African coast proved to be a new and difficult experience. The soldiers trained in climbing down cargo nets burdened with up to 80 pounds of equipment on their backs and weapons lung over their shoulders. The first real landing exercise began with calm seas that quickly turned rough with a gusty wind that rocked the small assault boats and whipped men on the sides of the ships as they descended the cargo nets. Several GI's hands were so badly battered that they were pulled from the landing crafts. The first landing crafts near the shore struck a sand bar and men foundered in the rough surf. A following wave of men, some wearing bulky overcoats against the frigid winds, also foundered and young men began calling for help. Polar Bears already ashore stripped off equipment and clothing to dive into the surf to rescue their buddies. The exercise ground to a dismal conclusion with many lessons learned. Luckily the next landing exercise went more smoothly and in much calmer waters. Concluding the three weeks at Port Aux Poules, the 339th Infantry had returned to St. Denis du Sig and prepared to return to mountain training when orders arrived March 6th for immediate movement to Oran. The 339th Infantry was headed for Italy.

The main allied effort in Europe during the latter months of 1943 was concentrated in Italy, the race being to take advantage of "the soft underbelly of the axis" as Winston Churchill put it. The Italian Campaign was undertaken in some of the most difficult terrain and terrible weather conditions which the United States Army faced during the war. Events in Italy were stalemated through the winter of 1943-44 despite heavy fighting at the southern base of the Liri Valley at Cassino. As spring approached, the allied efforts were renewed with the re-enforcement of the Anzio beach head and a renewed allied drive to take Rome. Troops and reinforcements were needed for Fifth Army and in the midst of the continuing allied effort was the 85th Division and the "Polar Bears" of the 339th Infantry. Four days after returning to St. Denis du Sig, the regiment moved to Oran where they set sail aboard the H.M.S. Letitia. On March 14, the 339th Infantry landed in Naples, Italy just in time to experience one of the last major Luftwaffe night raids on the allied port. Explosions lit up the city skyline as the GI's loaded into trucks or marched out of the city's limits. Most of the Polar Bears believed that they would have some time off for training. Little did they know that they would be in the front line the very next day!

After dark on March 16, 1944, the GI's of the 339th Infantry moved up into the front line between the two tiny villages of Castelforte and San Lorenzo, northeast of Minturno. The night sky was overcast, adding to the gloom and inky darkness. Each man held onto the pack strap of the individual in front as they slogged up narrow, muddy trails in a drizzling rain. Engineer's tapes marked the trails for the area had not been cleared of mines. The sudden report of a battalion of dug-in tank destroyers made everyone jump. "We were s******* in our pants," recalled one A Company GI. "We didn't know what we were getting into." Eventually reaching the front line positions, the men slipped into foxholes and bunkers held by the 349th Infantry of the 88th Infantry Division though the 3rd Battalion occupied positions held by British troops. Within the first few hours, two soldiers from E Company- Pfc. Carl Terry and Pfc. Ralph Frederick- were taken prisoner by a German patrol. These were the first casualties for the 339th Infantry in combat. Nerves were on edge that first night and fear of the unknown made for a sleepless couple of hours until dawn. The enemy positions were on higher ground and German artillery observers made life miserable calling in random mortar fire and artillery rounds throughout the next day.

The first battle death occurred on 20 March 1944 when Pfc. Charles Warner was mortally wounded in action while directing artillery fire against on a German patrol probing the E Company positions. Warner and another soldier were manning an outpost when an enemy patrol attempted to enter the company positions. Though wounded by mortar fire, Warner dragged his equally wounded buddy to safety and returned to his position to call in artillery directions. He was struck again by a mortar blast adjacent to his foxhole and died within minutes. Warner was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.

After a week in the line, Colonel Matthews was hospitalized and ordered to be transferred. The aging officer cared deeply for his men and the strain of combat, his age, and a severe infection proved to be too much for him. After ten days in the line, the Custermen were relieved by troops from the 88th Infantry Division. As they marched down from the mountain in a driving snowstorm, the aged Colonel Matthews stood by the roadside and shook the hands of those men who passed by. With the relief of Matthews, Colonel Brookner Brady assumed command of the 339th Infantry. Brady was a combat tested veteran of the 3rd Infantry Division, and would face the tough assignment of leading his combat team into the hills above Minturno.

The Bradford Era (Bradford, Pennsylvania) > 1946 > July > 3

PFC Charles J Siffrinn, husband of Mrs. Pauline Siffrinn, 21 Burnside Avenue, killed in action in Italy, Apr 12, 1944.

Source: (Name)
Title: GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged
Note: ABBR GEDCOM File : ~ATF1.ged

Data:
Text: 4 DEC 2002

Census: Date: 1930
Place: Olean, Cattaraugus, NY

Note: South Pond Cemetery, Long Pond Road, Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360, is located in the South Plymouth section of the town.

The cemetery was established at least as early as 1793.

In memory of
JOHN BURGESS
died May 25, 1850
in his 85th Y'r
Unshaken as the sacred hill
And firm as mountains be
Firm as a rock the soul shall rest
That leans, O Lord, on thee.
footstone: J.B.

Served in the Revolutionary War