One of the representative business men of Coweta, Wagoner County, is Albert H. Burgess, manager of the Minnetonka Lumber Company here. He was born in Pottsboro, Grayson County, Texas, on the 15th of July, 1880, a son of Connor and Sallie (Reeves) Burgess, also natives of that county. For many years the father engaged in agricultural pursuits but he is now living retired in Pottsboro. The mother died in 1918.
Albert H. Burgess was reared in Pottsboro and attended the public schools of that community. At the age of twenty-one years he made his initial step into the lumber business and has since been identified with that trade with the exception of the years 1914, 1915 and 1916, when he operated a truck farm at Denison, Texas. On the 1st of January, 1917, he came to Coweta, Oklahoma, as manager of the Minnetonka Lumber Company, in which position he is now active. Mr. Burgess is one of the alert and enterprising citizens of the community and his aid may always be counted upon in promoting any movement for the benefit of the general welfare. He has always been a booster for hard surface roads and he has been so untiring in his efforts in that connection that he has won for himself the nickname of “Hard Surface” Burgess and the Tulsa and Muskogee newspapers always speak of him by that name.
In June, 1906, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Burgess and Miss India Allen and to their union two children have been born: Allen, twelve years of age; and Katherine, nine years of age. The religious faith of the family is that of the Presbyterian church, and Mrs. Burgess takes an active part in its various organizations.
Since attaining his majority, Mr. Burgess has been a stanch supporter of the Democratic Party, having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. For some time he was a member of the Coweta town council. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World and Modern Woodmen of America.