Edward Burd (February 5, 1749July 24, 1833) was a Revolutionary War officer in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and later a

Prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme ...

Life

Burd, the son of Colonel

James Burd James Burd (March 10, 1725 – October 5, 1793) was a colonial American soldier in the French and Indian War, during which he played an important role in fortifying the Pennsylvania frontier. Early life Born in Ormiston, near Edinburgh, Scotland, ...

and Sarah (Shippen) Burd, was born February 5, 1749, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He studied law with his uncle, Pennsylvania Chief Justice

Edward Shippen Edward Shippen (1639, Methley, West Yorkshire, England – October 2, 1712, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was the second mayor of Philadelphia, although under William Penn's charter of 1701, he was considered the first. Early life Edward was bor ...

, whose daughter Elizabeth he married on December 13, 1778. He was a member of the

Berks County Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River ...

Bar, and had a law practice in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

. Upon the outbreak of the Revolution, Burd volunteered and eventually rose to major in Colonel Henry Haller's Pennsylvania Battalion of the

Flying Camp A Flying Camp was a military formation employed by the Continental Army in the second half of 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. History After the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776, General George Washington met with members o ...

. During the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

(1776), Burd was in command of an American pickets stationed at the Red Lion Inn, in the early morning hours of August 27, 1776 after an initial exchange of gunfire with British advance troops, he was taken prisoner along with 16 other Americans under his command. After his release, ill health prevented him from reentering military service, and he returned to his legal practice in Reading. He was appointed as Prothonotary of the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...

on September 1, 1778, and served with great distinction until his resignation December 29, 1805. Elected in 1785, Burd was a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. From 1790 to 1791, Burd served as a trustee of

The Academy and College of Philadelphia The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of Philadelphia began as a ...

, which became the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1791. He continued as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania from 1791 until his death. In 1820, Burd sat for a portrait by

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

. Peale gave the portrait as a wedding present to Burd's niece, Eliza Burd Patterson, who was married in March 1820 to Peale's son,

Rubens Peale Rubens Peale (May 4, 1784 – July 17, 1865) was an American museum administrator and artist. Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of artist-naturalist Charles Willson Peale. Due to his weak eyesight, he did not practice painting seriously until ...

. It was exhibited at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.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 ...

Ormiston

Burd built a house in Philadelphia on the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

, which he named

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...

after the birthplace of his father."History of Ormiston"

''ormistonrhs.org''. Royal Heritage Society of the Delaware Valley. Retrieved December 5, 2017.

Death

Edward Burd died July 24, 1833, in Philadelphia, where he was interred in

Christ Church Burial Ground Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush, ...

References

*Sellers, Charles Coleman. "Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale." ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'' 42:1 (1952), 44.

External links

Biography - University of Pennsylvania
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burd, Edward 1751 births 1833 deaths Politicians from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state court judges University of Pennsylvania people Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia