Son of Famous Figure in American History Finally Gets Headstone for His Burial Plot in Delco

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Descendants of former U.S. vice president Aaron Burr unveil a gravestone for John Burr in Collingdale. Image via Kathleen Carey, MediaNews Group.

Aaron Burr, the U.S. vice president who shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, had two children of color with Mary Emmons, an Indian servant from Calcutta.

One of them, abolitionist John “Jean” Pierre Burr, had been buried in an unmarked grave in Delaware County, in Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, after being relocated there from Olive Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery, writes Ralph Ortega for the Daily Mail.

John Burr died in 1864.

Last month, descendants of both father and son laid a black marble gravestone at John Burr’s burial site in Eden.

“It was a long time coming,” said attorney Stuart Johnson, a Burr descendant. “There was never anything marking his grave, not even a wood stake. He was totally unrecognized above ground.”

The younger Burr had been a barber and abolitionist who helped slaves escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

The elder Burr was the third U.S. vice president, serving during President Thomas Jefferson’s first term.

Read more about John Burr in the Daily Mail here.

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