Wildwood Plantation
Wildwood Plantation, Napoleonville, LA
Sarah McWilliams, John Burns, & Gabriel Beasley
Sarah McWilliams was born in 1780 in County Cork, Ireland. She died of pneumonia in 1860 in Napoleonville, La. and was buried at Wildwood Plantation. She first married John Burns, also from Ireland. After his death, she married Gabriel Beasley from North Carolina.
John Burns was born in Ireland. He may have either married Sarah near Opelousas, La. or back east prior to coming to Louisiana. He and Sarah McWilliams had three children: Maria Burns, b. abt. 1804, Sarah “Sally” Burns, b. 1805, and Willoughby “Louis” Shakelford Burns, b.1811. John died around 1810 in Morehouse Parish, La. perhaps even before Willoughby was born.
Gabriel Beasley was born November 12, 1785 in North Carolina. He lived in Tennessee prior to coming to Morehouse Parish, La. where he married the widow Sarah McWilliams Burns. They later moved to Napoleonville, La. and built Wildwood Plantation. Together they had one son James Washington Beasley. Gabriel died in 1860 in Napoleonville, LA and was buried at Wildwood Plantation.
Sarah McWilliams Descendants. Click this link for a .pdf file Genealogy Report. This is being updated regularly. Please comment any known corrections/additions.
My paternal grandmother was Katherine Burns Marcotte, descended from Willoughby “Louis” Shakelford Burns, son of John Burns and Sarah McWilliams. If you would like to learn more about these families, I will add all blog posts and related links to this page. Also, please add your comments to the page and share all you can.
Here are photos are the Wildwood cemetery before and after restoration. Thanks to Renee Richard of Baton Rouge, La.
16 responses to “Wildwood Plantation”
Charles Vaughn
October 6th, 2009 at 20:18
Do you have any information realted to Maria Burns? As far as I can track the family, Maria’s son, John Foster Gibbon (b. 1823), went to live with his grandmother, Sarah. He was going to school in Louisiana and at some point changed his name to John F Beasley. I don’t think he is related to Gabriel. After school, he moved to Texas and started to practice medicine in Smiley, TX. I found the following citation on a blog by Flora Roberts: “Dr. John Foster Beasley was the son of Maria Burns and John Gibbon. He was brought up in Louisiana in the household of his step-grandfather Gabriel Beasley” . If all of that is correct, John Foster Beasley (nee Gibbon)is my ggg-gf. I guess you and I are related, too. Thanks for any iformation you may have.
Lyndon
October 6th, 2009 at 20:46
All of that sounds correct from what I’ve read also. You are right that he was not Gabriel Beasley’s son, contrary to speculation that he was. He would have been Sarah’s grandson through Maria Burns. Gabriel would have been his step-grandfather. I also heard that he went off to practice medicine in Texas. I didn’t know where though. I will add any information that I find out about him. I did find out that his mother Maria Burns was baptized in the Opelousas Church at age 3 on September 8, 1805. Her sponsors were Peter Conrad and Helene Mills. More and more people are finding my blog through searches for the family. Hopefully more will turn up soon.
Mary Vaughn
April 24th, 2010 at 02:15
Where did you find the information about Sarah McWilliams Burns Beasley and John Burns being from Ireland? Sarah and John are my great (x4) grandparents. John Foster Beasley was my great great grandfather. (Charles Vaughn is my brother.) Since Sarah was unmarried when she came to this country, it seems unlikely that she woud have come alone and I would love to find out about her (my) family in Ireland. Thank you so much for all your hard work and information.
Renee Richard
October 30th, 2009 at 19:24
The marriage document for Lucretia Gibbon (daughter of John and Maria Burns Gibbon)and Homer Himes dated 29 March 1838 states John and Maria are both deceased. It is believed that Maria may be buried in the Wildwood Cemetery. I would appreciate any info on the early life of John Foster and his parents. James W. Beasley was the only child of Gabriel and Sarah. James W. Beasley’s children all thought John Foster was a brother to their dad and called him Uncle John. After medical school, John Foster Beasley (as he was always known) went off to Gonzales,Texas to practice medicine. His letters were signed- Uncle John.
Renee Richard
April 28th, 2010 at 22:14
Mary, I only know that Sarah was from County Cork, Ireland. I have the memoirs from 1 of her grand daughters, Ella Beasley Barton, who was raised on the plantation with Sarah & Gabriel. I also have records from Viola Beasley Walton. They both contend she was born there. Another family member, the daughter of Ida Beasley (older sister of Ella & Viola) recorded stories that her mother, Ida, told her. One of her stories speak of Sarah being from Ireland and another story mentions her Irish accent. According to the stories, Sarah’s mothers name was “Puggy” or Peggy. As for John Burns, I have no proof on anything
concerning him. I can only speculate since there are so many John Burns. Several Burns descendents contend he was from Ireland. I also do not know for sure when or where Sarah arrived in the U.S. Do you have that information? You mention she was unmarried when she arrived. Please share if you do. I do know she was born in 1780 and Maria(Mary) was born about 1802. According to John Foster Beasley on the 1900 census, he states his mother (Maria or Mary) was born in Pennsylvania. He gives Louisiana on other census records. I am more than willing to share my papers. I am not a decendant of these families but have researched Sarah for most of my adult life because of the graveyard on our property where she and Gabriel and others are buried.
Meg
October 26th, 2010 at 10:06
Renee! I couldn’t find your address. We corresponded a few years ago and now I’ve found this wonderful website through the Vaughns and ancestry.com.
My grandfather was Willoughby John Shakelford Burns, b. 1909 in Napoleonville. His father was David Ruffin Burns, b. 1865, son of Willoughby Burns and Marie Romero.
The story we heard was that Sarah’s first husband either was killed or murdered by her second. Her first husband was allegedly a protestant preacher, not very nice or beloved, even though he founded one of the first protestant churches in the area.
My Mother has always referred to her Burns family as “Scot-Irish”. My mother remembers Romero being a family name, but she doesn’t remember anything about it.
My dead-end in my family tree is Maria Romero. I believe it was you who told me that she was referred to nastily in the diary you have and that Willoughby was allowed in the Beasley household, but Maria was not.
Please write to me. I found another person in TX who has some family history on the Burns. THANKS. This is priceless information. My grandfather had a rough life and never talked about his family.
Basil Burns
April 12th, 2011 at 21:21
I believe I have maria’s ancestry back for several generations if you are interested.
Basil Burns
Sharon Watson
June 20th, 2010 at 21:03
The Burns sisters are in one of my aunts photos that I ran across. I have more Hog Island Photos and would love for you to have them.
Elaine Universal
October 20th, 2010 at 14:46
Sharon, I am interested in your picture of the “Burns sisters”. John & Sarah Burns are my 3rd-gr-grandparents; I am descended from their son Willoughby Shackleford Burns and his son John Cleber Burns. I do have the lineage from Willoughby. But no more info on Sarah than you have. Stories handed down in my family say that John Burns (Sarah’s husband) was Scottish, they were married in the US (don’t know where or when) and that John Burns was murdered on Wildwood Plantation. He obviously died prior to 1813, when Sarah married Gabriel, but we don’t know the date.
Renee Richard
October 20th, 2010 at 20:50
I have heard stories that John Burns was murdered but it could not have been on Wildwood unless the murder occurred after 1830 since there was no Wildwood Plantation until the late 1830′s-1840′s. Gabriel purchased the first small tract of land in 1827. On the 1820 census, a William Beasley is listed on the Attakapas Canal near the same location Daniel and Gabriel would appear on the 1830 census. Perhaps a relative of Gabriels. There are 2 possibilities here: first, John Burns died after 1830 on Wildwood and Sarah was not a widow when she married Gabriel. There is a John Burns on the 1830 census in Ascension Parish who is the correct age to be him. He is gone by 1840. Second, John was
murdered prior to 1813 in Rapides or Catahoula where Sara was living in 1813. I would love to hear more of these stories. I continue to research courthouses for the proof and will post anything I find.
Charles Vaughn
October 23rd, 2010 at 20:36
There is a reference to Sarah Burns probating John Burns’ will in the “Conveyance Records of Catahoula Parish, La Book B 1813. Several Beasley males are listed as witnesses. I presumed that was where/how Sarah knew Gabriel.
Meg
November 1st, 2010 at 14:30
I have a photo of my g-grandfather, David Ruffin Burns, son of Maria Romero and Willoughby Shakelford Burns.
Now I see why my grandfather was Willoughby John Shakelford Burns. He was named for his grandfather and g-grandfather. We found it odd that he had 2 middle names.
Where can I send the picture to be uploaded/to share?
Also, does anyone know of the death of a child named Paes Burns, son of David Ruffin Burns? I have a theory that he died in a well in Napoleonville circa 1920.
He would have been my grandfather Willoughby’s brother and the first time I heard this name was a few weeks ago, even though I knew all of my grandfather’s siblings.
THX.
Natalie Baker
November 8th, 2010 at 15:45
My grandmother Betty Ann Talbot who is the great-grandaughter of Wiloughby Burns and Marie Romero. I am the ggg-grandaughter of Sarah McWilliams and John Burns. I think Meg actually referred me to this website and I had sopken to Renee over a year ago about this line of my family. My grandmother also talks about how Mr. Beasley murdered John Burns, a legend that has been passed down in our family for some time apparently. She also refers to our heritage as Scotch Irish. I am another long lost cousin it seems!.
Alison Duffy
December 30th, 2010 at 15:57
Hello Cousin/Cousine:
I’ve been in contact with Lyndon and Renee but I don’t think I’ve been in contact with the rest of you.
I’m also a descendant of Sarah McWilliams and John Burns (gggg gr parents) via daughter Sarah (Sallie) Burns Robbins. She married David Robbins Jr son of David Sr. and Hannah Slater Robbins. My research , like yours seems to stop at Sarah and John Burns but I’ve recently been in contact with someone who knows how to research parish records in Ireland so I hope I can push it back a little. My line goes like this Sallie Burns married David Jr They lived in St Mary between Franklin and Morgan City. They were planters and their daughter Lucretia Robbins married George (G.G.) Zenor born MS and raised/lived in LA (Catahoula/Copncordia/St Mary). George moved to St Mary Parish to be near his wife’s family (next door to David JR. and Sallie) and also raised cane. One of my cousins informed me that during the Civil War, he paid some poor kid’s family to have their son serve in his place and then took off to Texas with Sallie, wife and kids only to return after the war and continue to raise cane. Their daughter Sarah Zenor married a Tennessee boy and lived in Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri. They are buried here in Nashville. Their daughter Lucretia married George Lawrence Davison of Chicago area. They moved with my mother Zenora to Chattanooga. Zenora married Owen Duffy (Maryland/DC area native) and raised 6 children in Chattanooga. I’m one of the 6 kids. I’m very interested in family history and especially interested in John Burns’ demise as well as his origins. I’m also trying to find Sarah’s parents. Anything on this?
Great to see you’re looking. Rene /Lyndon, I’m hoping to come to Louisiana in the late Spring and would love to meet with you or anyone else interested. AS I am trying to create a comprehensive family history, anything you have would be appreciated. I’m also very interested in your lines as we share many of our ancestors. Lyndon, how’s the novel going? Renee , as I remember, we thought we’d like to meet and trade information. I’d really like to meet you as well as anyone else interested in the Burns/Beasley families.
Later
Alison
alison duffy
January 2nd, 2011 at 09:33
Hello Charles:
It seems as if you and I are cousins (4th removed?) as I am a descendant of Sarah (Sallie) Burns, sister to Maria Burns Gibbon. I am Sarah McWilliams Burns Beasley’s gggg gr. dau.. I am currently working on pushing back her ancestry as well and John Burn’s. So far no luck. My ggg grand mother Sarah Burns married David Robbins Jr. born MA? David Jr. moved with his parents David Robbins Sr. and Hannah Slater along with his siblings to LA in late 1700′s or very early 1800′s (around time of LA Purchase). My branch through marriages etc. ended up moving to TX/TN/MS or staying in LA. Sarah Burns Robbins’ daughter Lucretia Robbins married George G, Zenor.They were sugar planters in St Mary. Their daughter Sarah Robbins Zenor married a TN man (William Marshall Magill) and moved to TN. (Sallie’s sister Mollie Zenor Ruhm also married a Tennessean). Others stayed in LA and farmed until the oil boom hit south TX and LA. Some ended up moving to TX or staying in St Mary Parish. Apparently the Burns also staying in LA or following others in the region got involved in the oil boom.
Good huntin
Alison Duffy
Basil Burns
April 12th, 2011 at 21:15
John Burns and Sarah McWilliams were my GGGG grandparents. I am descended directly from Willoughby. It was also passed down in my family that Beasley killed John Burns with a shotgun blast through the door when John got up to answer it. Willoughby always believed this to be true. I got this from my Great, Great Uncle while he was still alive who heard it directly from his grandfather, who was the son of Willoughby.
I guess some of us are cousins!
Basil Burns