Aaron Columbus Burr, born Aaron Burr Colombe, (September 15, 1808 – July 27, 1882), was the son of the 3rd U.S. vice president

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

. He worked as a goldsmith and silversmith, and was engaged in the diamond and jewellery business in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Early life

Aaron Columbus Burr was born in

on September 15, 1808, purportedly the son of Count Verdi de Lesle. Historians Nathan Schachner and Milton Lomask maintain that Aaron Columbus Burr was Aaron Burr's son by a mistress in New York City and was born during Burr's period of living there. The boy sailed to New York in 1816 under the guardianship of

, who adopted him.

Career

The younger Burr moved to the United States after living in Florida and was adopted by Aaron Burr. He was a goldsmith and silversmith, and engaged in the diamond and jewellery business in

. He retired in about 1862. In August 1860, Burr received a letter from James Grant of British Honduras (known today as

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

), offering land for sale in the

Stann Creek District Stann Creek District is a district in the south east region of Belize. According to the 2010 census, the district had a population of 32,166 people. Its capital is the town of Dangriga, formerly known as "Stann Creek Town." Stann comes from "stan ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Burr and

Anna Ella Carroll Anna Ella Carroll (August 29, 1815 – February 19, 1894) was an American political activist, pamphleteer and lobbyist. She wrote many pamphlets criticizing slavery. She played a significant role as an adviser to the Lincoln presidential cabine ...

lobbied

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

to fund what they proposed to call "the Lincoln Colony" for

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

. This colony, to be located in British Honduras, would have been similar to colonies established in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Africa by Great Britain in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and by the American Colonization Society in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. The colonization plan failed, but Burr and Grant successfully founded the American Honduras Company to harvest and export

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

as a trade product.Coryell, Janet L. "The Lincoln Colony: Aaron Columbus Burr's Proposed Colonization of British Honduras"
''Civil War History'' 43 (March 1997): 5–16 This tropical hardwood became widely used in fine furniture.

Personal life

Aaron C. Burr was married to Mary Coutant (1788–1851). From her marriage to John Sneden, she was the mother of Mary Ann Sneden, Susan Emily Sneden, and John G Sneden. Aaron and Mary had two daughters and a son: *Elizabeth C. Burr *Eleanora F. Burr (May 30, 1831–November 16, 1831) *Aaron Hippolyte Burr, an artist. (August 7, 1828–August 5, 1898) Aaron C. Burr died in New York City on July 27, 1882. He was buried at Coutant Cemetery in New Rochelle and three years later was joined by his second wife, Adelia M. Burr (January 20, 1815–December 15, 1885).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burr, Aaron Columbus 1808 births 1882 deaths Aaron Columbus American people of English descent Businesspeople from New York City Burials in New York (state) Children of vice presidents of the United States