Micajah Burnett (13 May 1791 – 10 January 1879) was an American

Shaker Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cock ...

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builder Builder may refer to: * Construction worker, who specializes in building work * Carpenter, a skilled craftsman who works with wood * General contractor, that specializes in building work ** Subcontractor * Builder (detergent), a component of moder ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, and

town planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

Early life

Burnett was born on 13 May 1791 in

Patrick County Patrick County is a county located on the central southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,608. Its county seat is Stuart. It is located within both the rolling hills and valleys of the Pi ...

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. He was the oldest of four children, the others being Charity, Andrew, and Zachiah. By the mid-1790s, his family had settled in Wayne County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. In 1808, his parents converted to Shakerism and joined the Pleasant Hill Shaker Society with their four children. Burnett was 17 at the time.

Adulthood and architecture

Trustees' Building stair at Pleasant Hill

At the age of 22, Burnett changed the original layout of Pleasant Hill, much of which was on a north-south axis. He reoriented the main road to run east-west, and designed and oversaw the construction of three new dwelling houses along it. The first two were brick structures home to the East and West Families, built in 1817 and 1821, respectively. The third, construction of which began in 1824 and ended ten years later, was the dwelling of the Center Family. Built of white limestone, the building is 55 by 60 feet with an ell of 34 by 85 feet. Besides the three dwellings, Burnett designed the Pleasant Hill Shakers' Meeting House in 1820. A white

clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

structure, it is 60 by 44 feet. Shakertown Trustees House 2005-05-27

During the early 1830s, Burnett directed the construction of the first public waterworks west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. Part of the project included the erection of Pleasant Hill's water tower, which Burnett designed. Completed in 1831, the tower holds a

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

tank with a capacity of 4,400 gallons of water. The tower allowed every dwelling, shop, and barn in the Shaker village to have access to

running water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

. Burnett's expertise in engineering and designing waterworks was such that he was consulted by Shakers at the South Union Shaker Society when they were designing their own waterworks. While Burnett's many designs and completed buildings awarded him renown both among Shakers and outside groups, his most famous project was that of the Pleasant Hill Trustees' House. A large brick building, it was built from 1839–1840 and is best known for its twin

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

s, which have the appearance of standing unsupported. In addition to his design and construction work, Burnett also had the important job of trustee, which took him to markets across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

area selling Shaker good including

seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

brooms A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

medicinal herbs Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection a ...

raw silk Raw Silk was an American dance band, which originated in New York. History Raw Silk first signed to West End Records, which was once a popular garage label, where they recorded moderate hits. Their songs were remixed by post-disco/ R&B product ...

, and

fruit preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method ...

. To provide better access to the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

from Pleasant Hill, he designed and oversaw the construction of a new road. In his later years, he also designed and oversaw the construction of the Pleasant Hill West Family's wash house, the West Family Sisters' Shop, the East Family Brethren's Shop, and the Pleasant Hill

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

. In 1872, because of his old age, Burnett was released from his trustee duties. He died on 10 January 1879 at the age of 87.

Gallery

File:Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Photographer August 24, 1940 VIEW FROM NORTHEAST - Shaker West Family Dwelling House (Second), North side of Village Road, North HABS KY,84-SHAKT,17-2.tif File:Shakertown Water Tower 2005-05-27.jpeg File:Center Family Meeting Room Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky.JPG

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Micajah 1791 births 1879 deaths Architects from Kentucky 19th-century American engineers American surveyors 19th-century American mathematicians Amateur mathematicians American urban planners Shaker members People from Patrick County, Virginia People from Wayne County, Kentucky People from Mercer County, Kentucky 19th-century American businesspeople