Burnett, William Q.
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Rt,V . .:ILL I H .;u;.r.To·,; .CIJ.nrJ '!'T ( 1824 - 9b)
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William Qua rtan Durne t t wa s born i n De nnin g brou gh, Yorks h ire, E ~gland,
Au gust 22, 1824. It is int~re ~t i ng t o us to note tha t t his ~ as just t hree
mo nths a f t e r t he fo und i ng or e ~ e g~gs g h . As a boy he lived o n a n Eng lish f a rm ,
and h i s e duc • ti o n was li mited. uis par ents we re d e vout peo ole a nd ~ e m be r s of
t ~ e Cb. urch of England,
His o wn no tur = ha d a reli gi ? us i ncli nati a n fr0m his
earliec: t ye ~ rs . P. t t he a f<e of 2 r he was C•) nv e rte d a t Seat on l'(o ss. Afte r his
c~nv er si n. t he c nv i cti ~ n wa s g r ea tly i ntensifie d tha t had been wi th hi m from
earl y li fe . that his w~ r k W<s t ~ he in the mi nis try.
He ca me
Amer ic a . and appe a re o a t the orga nizin g sessi o n of the Detroit
i n P. r r ian in 1 8 5 ~,a n wa s ep~ x of 15 men r e c e ive o o n trial
10 r t rA t fir c t y e
He was app ~ i n t e 4 as iuni ~ r p reache r 0n th e -ambe rtville
Ci ' c uit , u nd er J.B. Gree n 1 a \"
"P. r ·')0d yea r. in wh · h ma nv souls we r e converted."
At a b , ut t he en f 0 f th e ye ar he ma rri e d M a r y~ . Da rli ng of Mac o ~ b, Michi gan,
ftu gus t 14 , 1R57. Her re Fidence su gFes t s t h t Burne tt ha d live · i n Macomb ~o unty
just p ri ~r t ' ente r i np t he ministry, a t t he • ge o f 32 .
P. n ~ u a 1
t~
r.on f ~ rence
Burne tt had a f r uitful ministry of 27 y e ars, not lon ~ by mod ern s tand a r ds ,
but m0 re ave r age a century aro when a~era ge he alth an d lo ngevit y were not up
to modern standards. He serve ~ a t Mo r e nci, ?almy ra, Medi na, Franklin , Dundee ,
Na po l eon , Bro klyn , GPrl and S tr ~ e t F 1int, Wen ona(or ~ e s t Bay City) , Tecums e h ,
Fo rst S tre et getr 0it, and Ga rland S tre e t Fl int(a s e nd t erm of t hree ye a rs) .
Hi s conference memoir s t at e d th a t " ·..~.hi s s econd term was one ::> f ha r d l ;- bor and
b roke down his nervo us s ys tem so t ·.a t a t t he s e ssi ""ln o f 1683 h e a s ke d t o be put
on the su pera nnua t ed list."
Rev. W. Q. Burne tt was the <C~ bl e pa stor of th ~ Te cumseh Me tho dist Ep iscopal
Chur ch from 1874 t o 1877, the fir s t mLni s t er to s tay t hr e e ye a rs co nsecuti vely.
This was t he l i mit then al lowed b.· the chur c h d is c i pli ne . Seventy- s even y ears
lat er , a se n i ~ r chur c h me mber who rememb e r e d Burnett cle a rly , s ummed up his
min istry t hus :"He WFJ S ve r y fine." He was one of a strin g of able rr.i • ist e rs who
i n the p0 st c i vil - war pe r i o d mP de t hi s a s tr o n ~ Ch ur ch. In his t hr e e years
~ e r e . he O Pr f~ r me d ~ , mFJr ria ge , ~~ b FJ o t is ~ s , and r e cei ved 110 m e ~b e r s.
He kept
e ry r ~0 d rec 0r ds , fro m whic h much c a n be l e rned. Few o f th e peo pl e whom he
ll"e rri.ed WP r - h "' n i n Te r um seh . Seven t ee •1 w~rP hn rn i n New Yor k s t a te, se ve ral
i n E"~ 1 Pn d 0 t he r s i n C· n ade. the ~ ew ~ ~·an st tes , Pnd e ls e where . One man
~as a br ~ ~m m e~ er
tw ~ we re i ~ i ners , ~ ~e a c Rroent er, on e a mi 1 l e r , ~ ne a jewe l er,
o ~ e e b l a r ks ~ i.th
1 ~ wP • e f r m ~ r ~. 3 we e me c hs nics , a nd two were 1 - bo r ers .
Tec u m s~ h i n 1R74 ha d 211 ~~~s a nd oaid P sa 1 r y o f $884 . In 1877 t he sa la ry
wa d rise n t 0 $1 ,125
Re v. B11 rn ett a nd his famil y we r e wel l be l ove d i n Te c umseh . The Burne tts
had f our b oys a nd t w; c i r l s- .Arthur, 1•" nry , Rn be rt , '' lt e r, Gr a c e, an d Je a n .
Wa l ter late r be r ame a pr nm i ne nt mi n i ster, and ser ve d l a r ge chur ches in Wa shi ngton
D . C. ~ a nd Chi cago.
Whe n he wa s c 1mpe ' le d t o r e tire in 1883 at t he a ge of 59,
the y c hose t o r eti r e in Tecumseh, Theh li ve d a t fir t on South Naiden Lane.
Then bui l t t he hous e a t 3C5 Wes t Logan, whi c h l a ter be c ame the Pre by terian ma nse.
The i nte r mor arran gement w s much the s a me as the pa r s on ag e wh ich the Met t od ists
wer e to buil d i n 1890 a t 205 ~e o t c ~ i ca g o S t . , a nd whic h se rved un ti l r 8 cent y e a r s .
Willia m Ha rdi ng s a id of him," is e ne r getic, fi e r y ze a l a nd e loque nce de e pl y im presse J the p eo p e of his da y , a nd he liv ed L 1 s a i nt ed me mory wit h th os e o f us
who ha ve outlived him."
Ma ry Burn et t . a true he lpma t e t o he r minist er hu sba nd, pFss e d ~ o he r re wa rd
nn Aug. ~5 . 1892 . Rev. B urnett' ~ he a lth i mprov ed a fter a time of r e tireme n t.
He was pr ese nt a t t ~e Thir d a nd Fo urth Qua r t e rl y Con f er n ce s of 1887. He took
an active pa r t in t he wo rk of the rhur ch , s e rv i ng in humb l e way s . In th e f a ll
of 1R89 . he wa s o ne of r~ ur Coll ec t nr s who ac te d wi t h the Tre 6 s ur e r as a c omm ittee
''tn s o li r i t Su ~ srri ~ ti ~ n s f o curre nt expe ns e s o f t he Chur c h , Un Feb, 24 , 1890,
h e IDP~e the ~o t 1 n t ~ se ll t he 0ld pa rsonage( b u i l t in 1860 ) a n d move t o t he
ere r tJ. ~ n 0f a new nar s 0 na ge. cfh... 1'8-<1 o k_v-- ,_ c... (5.~
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Re v . William Q. Burne tt was wel l beloved in the Church a n ~ the town. lie
d ie d su~denly on Sunday morni ng, }eb. 6, 1898. Rev. Wi ll iam Po pe c a lled the
Officia " B~ ~ rd t ~ ~e t her f or a snecia l mee tin g th a t day, a nd t he f o llowing r e solu t i ' ns we re spr e ad in the 0f fi cial Bo a r d Mi nutes:
"WhP r e Rs . We ? re bere a ve -l today: an hono r ed 13 nd belove d me mber of our bo a r d
h as deoa r te· t his 1 i fe · o ne . • up ~ n w h~m we coul d al wa ys r elv f or c ou nse l and he l p .•
R s~ lv ed . that in thq d ea t~ of o 1r belov ed b r o ther Rev. Wm Q. Burne tt, we
rr. ~nrn the l o ss fr rn our bo P · d a wise c011 ns elor . f rom o ur chur c h a true a nd lo ya l
f r i e '1d a nd ? 1iJ:oprp 1 s u op ---r t e ~ , e nd fro the Detr ~ it c0 n.fe r e nce a Sll 'lE rannuat ed
li' i :1 ister .. ho ha s b e en p 1• ost succ- e ssfu l soul winn e r a n-1 an e r ne s t or e <1 che r of
tr.P Gosp el. No 11•o rk WP ~ t1o ha vd, n'l S P. rifi c e too J2"rea t fo r him, whe r e there
we re sou s t 1 be s r. v e d; and tha
he c0mmunity i n which he has l iv e ~ so long aas
lost a kind ne i ph or and 3 ood citizen. A'1d b~ i t f ur ther
Resol v ed, That the b e rtfelt sympathy of thi s bo ard be e x ten ded to t he
be reaved fami ly who mo urn t he l oss of ~ kind, belove d, a nd devote d f ~ ther,
praying t hat the Co mfort e r may come t o hl es s a nd keep the m in this tryin hour,
t hat the tender ti es severed and the broken h e ~ r ts no w bleedin may be healed
in th e bless e d re unio n in hea ven a bove. "
Truly this good mi nister of Jes us Christ lived a li fe wh i ch c ~ st a blessing
and fr agr a nce t o multitudes of his fel l ow tra ve l ers; truly hi s life wa s no t
lived in vain, f or he wa s faithful to the end .