Memorial day is a day that we Americans pay tribute to those who have served and died in our military. In our yard there are three tombstones. Each one is from a soldier that served during the civil war. I have often wondered who these men were, but have not had the time to go through the stacks of archives left by the previous owners. Who were these men? I happened to have some free time today and came across this information about the original owner of the house, Captain James Austin Burns. His tombstone is one of the three in the yard and it faces the street. Here is what the article states:
James Autin Burns received his Ph.D in analytical chmistry from Bowdoin College and then went on to obtain a law degree from Yale University. He then enlisted in the union army during the civil war at the age of 22. Following the war, he moved his family to Atlanta where he set up law practice and became involved in the Western and Atlantic Railroad with Governor Joseph E. Brown. In addition to law practice and serving as a freight agent to the railroad, Burns established four companies dealing in a variety of services, one of which was construction. In 1888, Burns opened an analytical chemistry laboratory and began lecturing at Southern Medical college (now Emory University) and Washington Seminary. In his later years he published translations of Cicero, Virgil, and Caesar. James Burns died at the age of 62, after which his wife moved to Philadelphia to be close to their children.
