Last Updated on July 19, 2016 by
Arthur (2) Burtis, eldest son of Arthur (1) and Elizabeth (Palmer) Burtis, was born in 1807 in his parents’ home on the shore of the East River, which was the home of Lindley Murray at the time of the revolution. After two years at Columbia, Arthur Burtis completed his college course at Union, now (1910) Hobart College, Geneva, New York. He was organizer of the first secret college fraternity in the United States, Kappa Alpha. He then entered the law office of James Otis Morse, of Cherry Valley, and afterwards that of Hugh Maxwell and later of Kent & Foote, of New York, where he enjoyed the instruction of Chancellor Kent. He left the study of law before being admitted to the bar and entered Princeton Seminary. There and subsequently at Auburn, New York, he qualified for the ministry. For thirty years he held pastorates in Buffalo, New York, then accepted the chair of Greek Literature in Miama University at Oxford, Ohio, but his death occurred six months later. He married Grace Ewing Phillips, of Boston, Massachusetts. Children: Morse, of Brooklyn; Arthur, paymaster inspector of United States navy; Peter, of Buffalo; Mary Elizabeth, residing in Buffalo, New York; Grace Phillips; Jeanie, wife of Rev. E. C. Lawrence.