Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: 1947 Volume 6 Number 3, Pages 46–48

Franklin Lorenzo Burns, 1868-1946

J. Alden Mason

Page 46

With the death of Frank L. Burns - as he was generally known - on February 7, 1946, the Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club lost one of its charter members (1936), a former president (1940 - 42), doubtless its best informed authority on local history, and one of its most prominent, enthusiastic and hard-working members.

According to his own written record Frank Burns was born at Sharp's Corner, Berwyn, January 18th, 1868. He was therefore 78 years old at the time of his death, as stated in the obituary written by Mrs. Charles Bradley and published in the West Chester Local News on February 11th. An earlier and shorter obituary in the same newspaper on February 8th, written by Mr. Howard S. Okie, a brief obituary in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on the 9th, and his formal death notices in Philadelphia newspapers give ages that differ by one or two years. At any rate, for over seventy-five years Frank Burns was a well-known figure in Berwyn, one of its oldest and best known citizens. His short figure and his gray mustache, often with a cigar projecting below it, were frequently seen on the streets, though in later years he spent more and more time in the old large frame house on Conestoga Road just east of Cassatt Avenue where, a bachelor, he lived with his unmarried sister Stella. Here he might be found writing articles or notes on local history or on ornithology, working in his garden among the vegetables, berries, dahlias, iris and peonies which he loved, or else in the little square house near the street where children curiously peeked in to see his collection of mounted birds and trays of eggs.

Frank Burns' family has lived in the region for two centuries, he being descended from William and Jane Penrose Burn, of English Quaker stock, who settled in 1739 on what is now the Atwater Kent property on Darby Creek in Marple Township, Delaware County. He was naturally connected with many other old families of the Philadelphia region; for instance he often attended the annual reunions of the Livezey family whose old homestead lies at the edge of Wissahickon Creek. His father was Peter Burns, Jr. his mother Ellen Dyson Burns: his grandfather, Peter Burns, Sr., lived in the old house that, renovated, is now the home of George P. Orr.

Mr. Burns chose painting as his career, and for many years was one of the prominent house and construction painter of the Main Line, having many men in his employ and accepting large contracts. His heart, however, was in the subjects of ornithology and local history, and he retired from business some years ago in order to devote himself exclusively to these researches. He continued to serve, however, as a Director of the Berwyn Building and Loan Association, where his knowledge of houses and properties made him a valuable appraiser and wise counselor. In national politics he was a staunch Republican, but independent in local matters.

As a boy, his father instilled in him his own interest in nature and in local history, and from his youth Frank Burns began to collect data and specimens and to make notes on both of these subjects. His interest in natural

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history centered in birds, and he became one of the best known amateur ornithologists in the Philadelphia region, and the authority on the birds of Chester County. His ornithological records began in 1884 when he was apparently only sixteen years old, and his records of seasonal bird migrations began the following year in 1885. In 1919 he was able to write that his was the "only continuous record for this period in Eastern Pennsylvania," and in his later years he often remarked that he had the longest record of bird migration reports being made to the Smithsonian Institution; this report record extended over sixty years. During his active business life he found less time than he wished to observe birds, but throughout his life he was up before dawn on most days during the migrating season and out making records when the birds awoke.

Mr. Burns belonged to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Ornithologists' Union, the American Society of Mammalogists, the Academy of Natural Sciences and similar organizations. In the field of history he was a director of the Valley Forge Historical Society in addition to his offices in the Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club. He took great interest in the sanctuary at Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania.

Page 48

Unfortunately, no complete record of Frank Burns' published articles is available. He wrote numerous articles on the birds of Chester County that were published in the Wilson Bulletin and in Bird-Lore. An article on "The Mechanical Execution of Wilson's 'American Ornithology" appeared in the Wilson Bulletin in 1929. He also frequently contributed to The Oologist, including an article entitled "Evolution in Birds' Eggs" in 1929 and one on "John Krider, A Typical Professional Collector of 1838 - 1878" in 1933. The editor wrote regarding one of these, in his editorial on the first page: "We present herewith a very scholarly and informative article by our friend Frank L. Burns, well known, to all of you as a frequent contributor to the columns of The Oblogist and one of the oldest and staunchest of our friends," Regarding one of the other articles he wrote "With this issue we lay before our readers a very splendid article, by Frank L. Burns, who never sends any other kind ...."

Frank Burns' magnum opus, however, was his "The Ornithology of Chester County, Pennsylvania," a 122-page bound book published in 1919. This work, illustrated by twenty-one illustrations of ornithologists and of birds, is the standard authority on its subject. It gives a brief history of ornithology and ornithologists in Chester County, and an annotated list of all the birds known to have been observed in the county. He hoped to publish a supplement to this book, based on observations made after its publication, but never fulfilled this desire.

In his later years Mr. Burns' interests turned more towards local history, although throughout his long life he had collected all available data on the subject, both from published books, local records, and informants' statements. Everything that he heard he wrote down. Only a small part of his notes has been published, some in the Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club Quarterly, some in the Picket Post, the publication of the Valley Forge Historical Society. He took great interest in Revolutionary history in the Valley Forge and Paoli regions, but his most important contributions were in the field of local history of later date and of lesser national interest. He stressed the importance of collecting and publishing graveyard tombstone records, and spent many days copying these from local cemeteries. He always emphasized the necessity, in historical research, of going back to original sources.

Mr. Burns was not a brilliant conversationalist nor a lecturer, but his remarks, generally on local history, were always interesting and informative. On the Sunday and week-end trips of the TEHC his knowledge, reminiscences, dry wit and genial personality made his companionship much sought. Frank Burns was buried in the Great Valley Presbyterian Cemetery, his funeral having been held from the Mauger Funeral Home in Malvern, on Sunday afternoon, February 10th. The Burns family, however, had long been prominent members of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Berwyn. The pallbearers were Louis Burns, Charles Wadsworth, Arthur Burns, Robert Pechin, Raymond Burns and Frank J. McCorry. His sisters, Miss Stella and Mrs. Harry Wadsworth, survive him. His large ornithological collection was given to the State Museum at Harrisburg, and the little one-room house in which it was kept was moved to the property of Mrs. Susanna H. Bodine. His notebooks and other data on historical subjects have been placed in the archives of the Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club.