Daniel Burford is the brother of Jonathan Burford and the son of Lt. Phillip Terrell Burford and Rebecca Clack Burford. He came with Jonathan from Tennessee. Daniel Burford “was a tall, spare man with blue eyes and high narrow forehead. He had a strong mind and was a fine talker. When he was a boy, in Tennessee new ground, a dead limb had fallen across his neck and partially broken it, but he finally recovered from the serious injury, and ever afterward carried his head at half mast, which gave him a peculiar expression of countenance.”
Daniel Washington Burford was born November 5, 1782, Warren County, North Carolina and died May 26, 1847, Tate County, Mississippi. He married Lucy Hilliard, (b. May 22, 1789, Warren County, North Carolina-d. May 26, 1847, Tate County, Mississippi)
From Early Settlers of Alabama -By James Edmonds Saunders information on Daniel Burford is quoted from the author comments, “I was an old man when I first knew him; lived a few miles east of Moulton, and ginned cotton for toll, extensively, for his poor neighbors. Moreover, he hired a number of white men; and had a great many lawsuits, on a small scale, with his numerous customers. In these, for a long time, he was uniformly victorious.
The old man in the preparation of his cases left nothing to chance. He knew what every one of his witnesses (who were his retainers) would say before court; and if the recollections of anyone of them seemed to dim, he would refresh it by a recital of concurrent facts so clear that the witness could then see the thing as plain as day. When one of his cases was called Old Daniel seemed to grow taller, his form to expand, and even his head became more erect. He loomed up like a gallant general in the opening of a battle. At first, I supposed that the desire of gain was the motive which influenced him, but long observation convinced me that though it was in part, yet the main motive was a love of the excitement of litigation. But in process of time, the old man, very unexpectedly of himself was defeated in one of his cases. For his life, he could not divine the cause of his disaster. He had prepared the case well, and no one of his veteran witnesses had gone back on him. He concluded that it must have been owing to the young lawyer who hackled and dissected his witnesses, so he employed him on his side for his next case. But all this failed to show up what was the matter. The truth was that the public had tired of the old man and his witnesses. They had been before it too often. The Gunpowder plot had exploded. One by one his cases went off the docket in the same way until the sheriff was no longer heard to sing out of the courthouse window: “Dan-iel Bur-ford!”
Daniel had one child, a daughter, who married her cousin L.P. C.* Burford, who moved to West Tennessee and became very rich.” Daniel and his wife are buried in Burford Cemetery in Tate County, Alabama. Tate County is in NW Mississippi, close to W. Tennessee.
Known Children of Daniel and Lucy (Hilliard) Burford include:
*An L. P. C. Burford (b. Nov. 1800-d. Sept. 20, 1863) who was married to Rebecca Burford . This is probably the L. P. C. Burford mentioned in the book above that Daniel’s daughter married. The family probably moved to NW Mississippi rather than W. Tennessee. Daniel and his wife, Lucy probably joined them when he was older.)
Known Children of Daniel and Lucy (Hilliard) Burford include:
Rebecca C. Burford (1809-1888) married Leonard Peyton Clements Burford (1800 Oglethorpe, GA 1863 DeSoto Co., MS.)
