Mills Olcott Burnham (September 8, 1817 – April 17, 1886) was a Florida settler and member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

from St. Lucia County.

Early life

Mills Olcott Burnham was born September 8, 1817, in

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, the son of Timothy Burnham, and Catherine Young. He was raised in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, and served an apprenticeship in the Watervliet Government Arsenal, learning gunsmithing.

Florida settler at Susanna

He moved to Florida for health reasons in 1837, and brought his wife and two children in August 1839. They originally settled in Garey's Ferry, near

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. With the

Armed Occupation Act The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 () was passed as an incentive to populate Florida. The Act granted of unsettled land south of the line separating townships 9 and 10 South (an east–west line about three miles (5 km) north of P ...

, he filed a claim to settle in the area now known as Ankona, just south of present-day

Fort Pierce Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...

, which was then called Susanna. He introduced

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

cultivation, which would later prove to be a significant crop for the area. He was the first sheriff of what was then St. Lucia County in 1847. In order to supplement his income, he purchased a schooner, which he named "The Josephine" which he used to become a commercial fisherman. He harvested

green sea turtles The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

, and sold them in Charleston. He took good care of his cargo during shipping, and developed a reputation for quality goods. Burnham also raised

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

Political career

Burnham was a member of the

from 1847 to 1851.

Florida settler at Canaveral

After hostilities with natives, in August 1849, the Burnham's and most of the other settlers left the colony and fled to safety in St. Augustine. He and his family which now included three more daughters, moved to

Canaveral Canaveral may refer to: * Cape Canaveral, a headland in Brevard County, Florida, USA which is the site of the Kennedy Space Center *Cape Canaveral, Florida, a city in Brevard County, Florida, USA * Cape Canaveral Space Force Station *Kennedy Space ...

, in 1853. He was the keeper of the

Cape Canaveral Light The Cape Canaveral Light is a historic lighthouse on the east coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The light was established in 1848 to warn ships of the dangerous shoals that lie off its coast. It is located inside the Cape Canaveral Space Force ...

for 30 years beginning in 1853. Mills died on April 17, 1886, at age 68.Shofner, Jerrell H., ''History of Brevard County Volume 1''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnham, Mills O. 1817 births 1886 deaths Citrus farmers from Florida Florida pioneers Florida sheriffs Gunsmiths United States Lighthouse Service personnel Members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Cape Canaveral, Florida People from Thetford, Vermont People from St. Lucie County, Florida Shepherds Politicians from Troy, New York 19th-century American legislators

Early life

Florida settler at Susanna

Political career

Florida settler at Canaveral

See also

References