Tracking Down Marmaduke

No, not the cartoon dog, but Marmaduke Burr, several of whose children were buried at St. James Perkiomen. One of the ongoing frustrations of researching genealogy is coming across records that are just plain wrong and give limited, if any, sources for the information. Marmaduke’s record is an example, as many online trees list his parents as Joseph Burr and Mary Sloan, based on the marriage of that pair in 1798 at Newton MM in New Jersey. Yes, Joseph did marry Mary Sloan, but she died in 1801, making it rather difficult for her to be the mother of Marmaduke who was born in 1806. Her death is noted in the records for Haddonfield meeting in New Jersey.

After Mary Sloan died, Joseph was remarried, on February 10, 1803, at Rancocas MM, to Mary Hilyard, noted in the Hinshaw records for New Jersey. Marmaduke L. Burr married Rebecca Casselbery, daughter of William and Catherine and they raised a family, several of whom were later buried at St. James. Marmaduke and Rebecca, however, apparently moved elsewhere as they are not found among the record of burials at St. James.