Recollections of Dr. William S. "Dr. Bill" Burton
The photos above were taken at the GHOTES conference in September,
2005. George Y. Scarborough is standing behind Dr. Bill in the photo at
right.
If you would like to share one of your favorite Dr. Bill stories, please
click <here>. Your story will appear below.
Donna Smith Baker
(dsbaker007@earthlink.net),
Tue, 3 Jan 2006 21:38:47 -0500.
Subject: THANK YOU, DR. BILL
Dr. Bill Burton and I shared relatives. He was the cousin of my father-in-law and is responsible for most of the research that I now have on the Baker, Burton, Winder, Chericks and other family lines from Chincoteague. I remember sending an email into GHOTES years ago asking for information about the Baker family line from Chincoteague. I got an email back from Dr. Bill saying "Hi Donna! How's Jake doing? (my father-in-law). He sent me five or six generations of the Baker line and knew little details about the individuals that could never have been found in census records or genealogy sites. They were from word of mouth and medical records. His research took me back to the 1500's. Each time I hit a "bump", he was there to help me clear up the duplicate names or confusion about the years. I will be forever grateful to him and have relunctanly recorded his death date. He will be missed.
Gail M. Walczyk
(gail@petersrow.com),
Tue, 13 Dec 2005 20:21:04 -0500.
Subject: Smile
I first met Dr. Bill at the first GHOTES Conference in 1997 in which I was also a speaker. I was new at speaking. One of the hints on speaking to a large group is pick out a friendly face in the crowd and speak as if you were talking to them. I immediately spotted Dr. Bill's friendly smile and my talk went without a hang up.
I also remember the times Dr. Bill and I spent smoking (a politcally incorrect habit), on the deck or in the green house, he with his pipe and I with a cigarette, discussing anything and everything.
He and I shared a love for all things Eastern Shore and I will miss him.
Gail M. Walczyk
Wayne Stith
(wstith@bellatlantic.net),
Tue, 13 Dec 2005 19:34:50 -0500.
Subject: Those genealogy files, warts and all
Several years ago I sent Dr. Bill some of my family data, the Stith line, to be precise. A few months ago the name Stith came up somewhere and Dr. Bill saw the message. He promptly sent me his information on the Stith line, which I devoured eagerly... but after looking carefully, I noticed that he had sent me back the information I had sent him!
Return to the main page