Albert Burrell
Albert Burrell, a veteran of the Civil War and proprietor of a well-kept farm in Xenia township, situated on rural mail route No. 5 out of Xenia, is a member of one of the oldest families in this county, the Burrells having been represented here for more than a hundred years. He was born on a farm in Caesarscreek township on August 18, 1846, son of Marshall and Rebecca (Powers) Burrell, whose last days were spent in Xenia, to which city Marshall Burrell had moved upon his retirement from the farm.
Marshall Burrell was born on February 22, 1825, son of John D. and Eleanor (Marshall) Burrell, the latter of whom was a daughter of John Marshall, one of the pioneers of Greene county and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. John D. Burrell was a Virginian, born along one of the branches of the Monongahela in the "panhandle" of what is now West Virginia. In 1807 he came to Greene county and on October 29, of that same year, married Eleanor Marshall and settled on a tract of land in what later came to be known as the Needmore school district, in Caesarscreek township, where he was living when the call came for volunteers for service in the War of 1812. He left his wife and the two small children who by this time had enlarged his household, and went to the front, rendering service as a soldier until the close of the war. He and his wife spent the remainder of their lives on that pioneer farm, his death occurring there on May 16, 1864, he then being eighty-one years of age. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, five daughters and the one son, Marshall Burrell, father of the subject of this sketch. Marshall Burrell grew up on the farm on which he was born in Caesarscreek township and eventually became a landowner in that same township, establishing his home there after his marriage. He also was a successful trader, doing quite a bit of business in real-estate transactions, as well as in the buying and selling of live stock. Upon his retirement from the farm he divided his land among his children and moved to Xenia, where his death occurred on February 11, 1907, he then lacking only eleven days of being eighty-two years of age. Marshall Burrell was twice married, his first wife and the mother of his children having been Rebecca Powers, who was born in the neighboring county of Warren in September, 1824. daughter of Edward and Mary Powers, natives of Ireland and pioneers in the upper part of Warren county, who were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters. To that union were born three children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Mary Ellen, wife of Frank Smith, of Xenia township, this county, and a brother, Eli Burrell, of Xenia. The mother of these children died in June, 1894, and Marshall Burrell later married Hannah Maxey. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Albert Burrell was reared on the farm on which he was born in Caesarscreek township and received his schooling in the neighborhood schools. He was but a boy when the Civil War broke out, but from the very beginning of that struggle his patriotic ardor was aroused and on May 3, 1864, he then being but seventeen years of age, he enlisted without his father's knowledge in a company of home guards that then was being recruited. It so happened that his father had enlisted for similar service in that same command on that same day and when he found that his son had enlisted interposed his legal objection and compelled the lad's resignation. The elder Burrell went with his company to the camp at Columbus and was there presently visited by young Albert, his son, who insisted that the father return home and let him serve in his stead, the father's presence being greatly needed at home. The father finally, though with much reluctance, consented to this plan and upon the matter being laid before the colonel of the regiment the latter agreed to the arrangement provided the son should enter the service under his father's name in order to avoid the necessity of altering the regimental roster, and it was thus that Albert Burrell rendered service to his country during the Civil War under the name of Marshall Burrell, an apparent discrepancy that created quite a bit of confusion in the pension department when many years later his application for a pension was filed with the government, though it did not prevent the eventual grant of the pension. The command with which Albert Burrell thus served was Company H of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with that command he participated in the battle of New Creek, West Virginia, August 4, 1864. Upon the completion of his military service Albert Burrell returned home and resumed his place on the farm, continuing there until his marriage in the fall of 1867, when he bought a small farm and started farming on his own account. When his father retired and divided his land among his children Mr. Burrell came into possession of a part of his father's farm in Xenia township and has since been living there. To that tract he later added an adjoining tract and now has eighty-one acres. In 1902 Mr. Burrell suffered the loss of his home by fire, but he later erected a better and larger house. He is a Democrat and has served as a school director in his home district. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On October 17, 1867, Albert Burrell was united in marriage to Phoebe Eleanor Smith, who was born in the neighboring county of Clinton and who died on August 9, 1911. To that union were born ten children, namely: Francis M., a farmer, of Sugarcreek township; Flora B., wife of Robert Charters, of Cleveland, Ohio; Laura Elsie, wife of Charles Clemans, of Cedarville township; Rebecca Maud, unmarried, who is living at home wit her father; Carrie Melissa, also at home; Omar Marshall, who is now living at Springfield, this state; Edna Phoebe, at home; Alberta, wife of Amos Frame, of Ross township; Lucien Elmer, who died at the age of six years, and Oscar Lee, who died when two vears of age.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918