Charles Hiram Burnett (1847 – January 9, 1916) was an American politician and

commission merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

who was the first

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of the City of Seattle 1869–1872, and the General Superintendent of various coal mines in

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and Pierce Counties on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

in the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Family

Burnett was the son of

Hiram Burnett Hiram Burnett (July 5, 1817 at Southborough, Massachusetts – 1906, in Seattle, Washington) was a well-known lumberman pioneer of the Puget Sound country, and an honored citizen of Seattle. Family and early life His parents were Charles Rip ...

and Elizabeth Merriam Gibbs Burnett of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. He married Georgia Campbell McLean and they had two children Amy Louise and Charles Hiram Jr. When his wife died young he continued living with his in laws, his mother in law Georgia McLean for almost forty years from his marriage to her daughter to her decease. His son Charles Hiram Burnett Jr. was a Seattle City Councilor, President of the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

and Acting Mayor of Seattle. Burnett officiated at the grand opening of

Pike Place Market Pike Place Market is a Marketplaces#Types, public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott B ...

with fellow City Councilor Thomas P. Revelle. Charles_Hiram_Burnett%2C_Jr%2C_1906_%28PORTRAITS_1711%29

Charles H. Burnett Jr. was born in 1875 in Seattle, Washington. He was the son of Charles Hiram Burnett Sr and Jeanette McLean. Georgia died when Charles Hiram Burnett Jr and his sister Amy Louise Burnett Bond were children. Amy was raised during high-school as a ward in the household of Howard Cranston Potter and Alice Kershaw Potter. The Potters' daughter Bertha Potter Paschall Boeing was the wife of

William Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer. He founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which was renamed to Boeing a year later. The company is now the largest exporter in the United ...

. Charles Hiram Burnett Jr. was active in Puget Sound real estate and insurance businesses. Charles H. Burnett Jr. was also active in the Washington poultry and egg industry as a breeder, agricultural fair judge and lobbyist. The family were involved with development of made land created by the lowering of the surface of

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

in 1916. Charles Burnett Jr.'s wife was Mary Florence Goodfellow of Seattle, and

Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and most populous city of Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and has increased to 35,508 as of 2020. ...

. Three of Mary's brothers, John, James, and George Goodfellow founded West Coast and Hawaii construction firm Goodfellow Brothers. Charles Burnett Jr. moved to Maui, Hawaii about 1935 with his wife to be near their son. They lived at Haiku Plantation Haiku-Pauwela, Hawaii, and owned Haiku Poultry Farm. Charles Hiram Burnett Jr. died in May 1941, and his wife Mary died in March 1962. Their son Charles H. "Buster" Burnett III born 1902 died 1967 moved to

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

where he worked for

Alexander & Baldwin Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last ...

in a series of management jobs and eventually became manager of Pu'unene Sugarmill in Puʻunene, Hawaii in 1962.

Business

In April 1867 Hiram Burnett published a legal notice in the newspaper that his minor son Charles Hiram Burnett was free to go into business with S. B. Hinds. He was in partnership first with Hinds then after their firm merged with Corliss P. Stone he was a junior partner in Hinds, Stone & Co.. When Hinds left the firm became Stone, Burnett. They developed real estate, built a pier with warehouses and they sold wagons and carriages. They were the first merchants to use the Pike Street coal bunker to stock and ship Washington coal. Charles Hiram Burnett managed Seattle's first commercial delivery service. Charles Hiram Burnett met his wife because father in law Charles Edward McLean operated a Puget Sound delivery boat. In 1873 his partner Corliss P, Stone then also Mayor of Seattle unilaterally removed the liquid funds from their partnership turned full ownership over to Burnett and then temporarily absconded. Charles Hiram Burnett was put in charge of the sale of shares, house lots and coal for the Renton Coal mines of

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 202 ...

. Among the other executives involved with Burnett in Renton Coal and other subsequent coal mines were Charles B. Shattuck and Erasmus M. Smithers. Subsequently, Charles Hiram Burnett spent time managing operations at several other Washington locations. He was the founder of the village of

Burnett, Washington Burnett is an unincorporated community in Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is located just south of Buckley, Washington. It is on State Route 165 between Buckley, Washington and Mount Rainier National Park. A post office called B ...

and the first owner of part of the land created by the lowering of

that is now the

Boeing Renton Factory The Boeing Renton Factory is the Boeing Company's manufacturing facility for narrow-body commercial airliners, and their military derivatives. Production includes the Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner and the Boeing P-8 Poseidon military patrol ...

in Renton, Washington. He died at the Savoy Hotel in Seattle on January 9, 1916. In the city of Renton, Charles Burnett has an avenue, a park and a train station named after him. While Charles Hiram Burnett's daughter Amy was in finishing school in Tacoma she lived as a ward with her father's friends Mr. Howard Cranston Potter Jr. and Alice Kershaw Potter the parents of Bertha Potter Boeing (Mrs.

). Howard Cranston Potter was member of a family prominent in the New York Episcopal clergy. Potter was also a descendant through his mother of merchant bankers

Alexander Brown Alexander Brown may refer to: Sports *Alexander Brown (cricketer) (born 1967), English cricketer *Sandy Brown (footballer, born 1877) (Alexander Brown, 1877–1944), Scottish footballer *Sandy Brown (footballer, born 1939) (Alexander Dewar Brown, ...

of Baltimore founder of the firm Alex Brown, his grandfather was James Brown of Brown Bros. & Co. and his father was Brown's son-in-law and partner philanthropist

Howard Potter Howard Potter (July 8, 1826 – March 24, 1897) was an American industrialist, investment banker, diplomat and philanthropist, and a partner in Brown Bros. & Co. Early life Potter was born in Schenectady, New York on July 8, 1826. He was the ...

John Crosby Brown "One Hundred Years of Merchant Banking" the History of Brown Bros. & Co. note on Howard Potter
/ref> of New York. Alice Kershaw Potter was the daughter of Milwaukee grain and lumber merchant Charles James Kershaw. Amy Louise Burnett became the wife of

Marshall Latham Bond Marshall Latham Bond was one of two brothers who were Jack London's landlords and among his employers during the autumn of 1897 and the spring of 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. They were the owners of the dog that London fictionalized as Bu ...

and Charles Hiram Burnett Jr. was a Seattle City Councilor, Council President and Acting Mayor of Seattle. Charles Hiram Burnett Jr.'s wife was Mary Florence Goodfellow.

References

Sources

Seattle City TreasurersHistoryLink Essay: Voters elect Corliss P. Stone as mayor of the City of Seattle on July 8, 1872HistoryLink Essay: Seattle Mayor Corliss P. Stone embezzles $15,000 and runs on February 23, 1873Historical Quarterly 19.p65

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett Sr, Charles Hiram People from Pierce County, Washington People from King County, Washington History of Renton, Washington People from Renton, Washington 1847 births 1916 deaths