Dr. R. F. Burgess of Santa Ana, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1834, and when he was quite young the family removed to New York State, and three years afterward to Michigan, locating in Washtenaw County, where they remained about twelve years. The father died in Montcalm County, that State, when the subject of this sketch was seventeen years of age, and the latter therefore had to look after the welfare of the family.
He served three years in Company A, Twenty-first Michigan Infantry, during the last war, going out as a wagoner and having charge of an ordnance train; and afterward he had charge of a foraging party until the close of the war. Returning to Michigan, he studied dentistry, and in 1866 began to practice his profession in Ionia and subsequently in Muskegon, both in Michigan. In 1871 he moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, but in 1874, on account of the ill health of his wife, he came to California. The first three years here he practiced dentistry in Los Angeles, and in 1878 came to Santa Ana and bought land on East Fourth street. This he soon sold off in town lots except the part on which he erected a residence. He recently became connected with the Santa Ana Free Press, and is the treasurer of the company and principal stockholder. Both himself and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and are highly respected by the community.
He was married in Michigan, in 1859, to Miss Carrie E. Allured, a native of England.