Samuel Burger and Martha Wood Family History for Genealogy Purposes

In Covington, Virginia, a cemetery called Cedar Hill Cemetery houses the graves of the Samuel Burger family. His wife, Martha Ann Wood Burger, was also laid to rest in the Burger cemetery plot. This article shares some information about the Burger family of Virginia.

The Samuel Crawford Burger family was an influential family in Covington, Virginia, in the late 1800s. Samuel Burger was born July 31, 1851, to William Crawford Burger and Katherine "Kitty" Miller. Samuel Burger lived a long life to the age of 84, dying on November 20, 1935.

Samuel's wife, Martha Ann Wood, was born on September 8, 1855, to Francis Marion Wood and Rebecca Young Insminger, in Milboro Springs, Virginia. Martha lived until July 7, 1902. She was only 46 when she passed away.

Samuel and Martha Burger were married on December 18, 1873, in Bath County, Virginia. Together, Samuel and Martha had twelve children, born between 1874 and 1899: Howard, Callie, Walter, Ada, Frank, Garrette, Roy, Jessie, Susie, Jimmy, Horace, and Samuel A. Burger. The included photo was taken in 1877 and depicts Samuel Burger at the age of 26, his wife Martha, and their eldest son Howard. Since the photo does not include their daughter, Callie, who died on October 11, 1877, the photo was probably taken that fall or winter. As son Walter was born the following April, it is probable that Martha was pregnant with Walter in this photo.

Evidence of Samuel's existence included a newspaper article describing a funeral. Samuel served as a pallbearer on September 10, 1902, for James R. McPherson. Samuel's wife would have died only two months prior to this funeral, so Samuel most likely had a very heavy heart at this time of his life.

Three of the twelve Burger children died very young. Callie lived for one year and three months from 1876-1877. Jimmie lived for 17 days in 1893, and Horace lived just over three months from 1896-1897. The other Burger children settled across the country, residing in states such as California, Idaho, Arizona, and Florida.

Other photos capture the head stones of Martha Burger, Samuel Crawford Burger, and the general Burger plot marker.