San Joaquin County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


LEE R. BURROW.
 
        A typical native son of California, Lee R. Burrow was born at Murphy on 
August 30, 1880, a son of Thomas J. and Relefe (Dunlap) Burrow, natives of 
Illinois and Wisconsin, respectively. Thomas J. Burrow was a surveyor and 
lumberman, who came to California as early as 1872. There were seven children in 
their family, as follows: Cecil; George, residing at Vallejo; Thomas, living at 
Jackson; Maude, Mrs. Bunch, of Lodi; Relefe and Lee R., twins, the former being 
deceased; and Roy, deceased. The father and mother still reside at Murphy, Cal.
        Lee R. Burrow attended the grammar school at Murphy, and at the age of 
eighteen learned the carpenter's trade and worked at various mining camps 
throughout Calaveras County. He also worked at his trade in Carson Valley, Nev., 
and in Mason and Antelope Valleys, in California. He then removed to Stockton 
and spent thirteen years there, part of the time working for Davis, Heller & 
Pearce.
        Mr. Burrow's first marriage occurred on August 26, 1906, at San Andreas, 
uniting him with Miss Christina Christy, a native of Oakdale, Cal., and a 
daughter of William Christy; and they were the parents of one son, Randal, now 
residing at Stockton. His second marriage occurred in Stockton on December 26, 
1918, and united him with Mrs. Katherine (Koontz) Thisby, a daughter of that 
worthy pioneer couple, Henry and Clemence Arabella (Hay) Koontz, natives of Ohio 
and Illinois, respectively. Henry Koontz came from Illinois to California, and 
was an early settler in the New Hope section, where he resided until his death. 
Miss Katherine Koontz was first married to Leonard Thisby, a native son of 
California, born at Walnut Grove, a son of George and Rebecca Thisby, the former 
a native of England who came to California in the early days and settled at San 
Francisco, where his son Leonard was educated. After their marriage, Mr. and 
Mrs. Thisby made their home in Sacramento, where he was supervisor for one term 
for the fifth district of that county, and also served as under-sheriff of the 
county with Sheriff Donnley. Mr. Thisby was a Republican in politics. 
Fraternally, he was a Mason, Odd Fellow and Elk. He passed away on December 13, 
1915. To them were born one son, William Henry Thisby, who married Miss Beatrice 
Baker; and they have two children, Leonard William and Marian Elizabeth. William 
Henry Thisby is the foreman on the Fred Villinger ranch at Lodi. Mrs. Burrow 
received twenty acres from her father's estate, which she improved to Bartlett 
pears, and two years ago she and her husband moved onto this place, which has 
since been their home. It is a full-bearing pear orchard, highly cultivated, and 
has become very valuable. It is irrigated by a ten-inch pump driven by a 
twenty-horsepower motor. Mr. Burrow is energetic, progressive and practical, and 
gives his undivided attention to his business affairs, in which he is 
prospering.
 
History of San Joaquin County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 
1923
p    1452      
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.