In recognition of the Semiquincentennial of America’s Independence on July 4, 2026, the Thomas Rodney Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution continues its yearlong celebration to honor our patriot ancestors. During the weeks and months leading to America’s 250th Birthday, chapter members are spotlighting the service of our Revolutionary War Ancestors. This week, we honor the service of John Burns, Revolutionary Ancestor of chapter members Norma Taylor Biggers, Beverly Taylor, Veronica Taylor Helms, and MyCala Helms Marascuilo.
John Burns, a resident of Chatham County, North Carolina during the American Revolution, served as a member of the Chatham delegation selected to deliver the terms of loyalist surrender to the Tories following their defeat in the area. He also performed public service as an overseer of roads and civil service as a juror. John also swore an Oath of Allegiance while residing in Chatham County, North Carolina, and was awarded a land entry following the War.
Documentation of John Burn’s service to the cause of American independence is found in The State records of North Carolina (v. 11-26) / published under the supervision of the Trustees of the Public Libraries, by order of the General Assembly v. 22, collected and edited by Walter Clark, published in 1886. His Oath of Allegiance is recorded in Abstracts of Land Entries: Chatham Co., NC, 1778-1790, North Carolina by Pruitt, Albert Bruce, 1990. Burns’ public service as a juror appears in Laird, Marilyn Poe, and Vivian Poe Jackson’s Chatham County, North Carolina Court Minutes, 1981, Poe Publishers. A History of Chatham County, North Carolina With Sketches of a Number of Its Prominent Citizens, Published in The Chatham News, January – April 1932 and December, 1931, marking the 161st Anniversary of Chatham County, published in The Chatham News, November 1931, by Walter D. Siler, offers insight into the rich history of the area and its citizens during the Revolution.
John was born circa 1740 in North Carolina. He married Mary “Polly” Rutherford Scurlock in 1760 in Chatham County, North Carolina. John died after November 1812, in Chatham County, North Carolina.
