Burnley Family papers

The Burnleys were a well-known family in nineteenth-century Albemarle County, Virginia. Nathaniel Burnley (1786-1860) owned the Hydraulic Mills complex as well as Rio Mills on the South Fork of the Rivanna River. The Burnley family may have originally descended from [John Burnley 1760-1810 of England] who bought land in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Nathaniel Burnley (the patriarch-great grandfather in this collection) married Sarah (Sallie) Sutton Drury Wood(1795-1879) in 1811. They lived near Stony Point and owned a tavern. In 1829, Nathaniel Burnley and his partner, Rice W. Wood bought the Rio Hydraulic Mills, which was at the junction of Ivy Creek and the South Rivanna River.

Nathaniel and Sarah Burnley's children were Martha Caroline Burnley (1820-1904), Emily (Emma) Garth (1824-1896) (married to Garland Garth), Lucy Vest (1828-1903), Horace Buckner Burnley (1822-1891), Sarah Frances Burnley (1831-1901), Cornelia Rice Railey (1834-1896), Drury Wood Burnley (1826-1906), James Fendall Burnley), Dr. William Rice Burnley (1815-1842), and Mary Jane Garth (1818-1890) (married to Burwell Garth). Martha Caroline Burnley married Samuel Goodman Burnley (1800-1875) (who was a cousin of her father Nathaniel Burnley).

Samuel Goodman and Martha Caroline Burnley's son, William Henry Burnley (1840-1919) married Emma C. Dyson Burnley. Their son was William Samuel Burnley (1868-1942). William Samuel Burnley was a teacher and writer. He was married to Lula Payne Burnley and their children were Byron, William, James Henry, and John Nathaniel Burnley (1916-1964). Samuel Goodman and Martha Caroline Burnley also had a son named James Nathaniel Burnley (1848-1908). Both James Nathaniel Burnley and Dr. William Rice Burnley attended the University of Virginia. Carrie Cornelia Burnley, Charlottesville school teacher and principal is not in this collection but these are her uncles and aunts.