Views of the Boston Custom House
Did you ever see a historical name in a book or on a plaque and say “That name could be a cousin!” Did you follow up by researching to see if that name really was a cousin? That’s me. I recognize familiar surnames around New England and often wonder if there is a kinship.
I saw the name Ammi Burnham Young on a brochure about the
Boston Custom House and I wondered about his BURNHAM name. I knew that there were several “Ammi Burnhams”
in my family tree. I have eight BURNHAM
lineages from the same two immigrant brothers, and so usually any New England
Burnham ends up being a cousin to me. I
was very surprised to read that the architect Ammi Burnham Young (1798 – 1874)
was not just a BURNHAM cousin, but I was also related to his FOSTER
grandmother, his EMERSON great grandmother, and to both of his PERKINS great
great grandmothers. His grand father,
Ammi Burnham (1733 – 1785) is my 2nd cousin 7 generations
removed.
When researching famous cousins, it helps if your own family tree includes all the allied branches of your ancestors, their siblings, the siblings spouses, extended family and also their children (your first cousins many generations removed, and also your second cousins many generations removed). All these branches make it easier to match up to someone with a common ancestor.
When researching famous cousins, it helps if your own family tree includes all the allied branches of your ancestors, their siblings, the siblings spouses, extended family and also their children (your first cousins many generations removed, and also your second cousins many generations removed). All these branches make it easier to match up to someone with a common ancestor.
Who was Ammi Burnham Young?
He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire on 19 June 1798, and his father,
Samuel Young, built many civil buildings in Vermont and New Hampshire including
churches, court houses and schools. Ammi
graduated from Dartmouth College and followed
in his father’s footsteps. His two early
works were the Vermont Capitol building and the Boston Custom House, which was
finished in 1847. The Custom house was
considered Boston’s first skyscraper when a tower was added in 1915 which
replaced the original dome designed by Ammi Burnham Young.
US Treasury Building, Washington D.C. photo by Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Treasury_departement.jpg |
Ammi Burnham Young lost out on being the designer of the US
Capital Building in Washington DC, and so as a consolation prize he was
appointed “Supervising Architect of the US Treasury Department” in 1852. He produced plans for many of the federal
buildings built in Washington DC around the mall to be fire-proof using cast
iron and granite. Some of his custom
houses in the southern states built at this time survived the Civil War, and
orders by the Army of Northern Virginia to burn the Richmond custom house. Jefferson Davis was indicted for treason
inside the courtroom of this Richmond building in 1866.
Ammi Burnham Young died in Washington DC on 13 March, 1874
and is buried there at the Oak Hill Cemetery.
PDF of an article from the Bulletin for the Society for the
Preservation of New England Antiquities, “Architectural Projects in the Greek
Revival Style by Ammi Burnham Young” by Lawrence Wodehouse, Volume LX, Number
3, January – March 1970, pages 73 – 85.
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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/09/are-you-my-cousin-ammi-burnham-young.html
Copyright ©2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteIf you ever uncover a Benjamin Burnham, Rev. War veteran of Hampton Falls, died according to widows pension application May 29, 1810; married at Gilmanton, NH, Sept. 20, 1778, Elizabeth Gordon, dau. Alexander and Sarah (Dolloff) Gordon; moved to Epsom, children: Benjamin, Samuel Searles, Noah, Jeremiah Gordon, John Dow, Ezekiel Hoit, Floyd William, Wiliam Hanry Young, and Alphonse J. This is a dead end family with Benjamin's parents unknown. Still enjoy all your postings!
Thanks a lot, Epsom History! I enjoy your blog and all your posts, too. I'll keep my eyes peeled for Benjamin Burnham. He's probably a cousin to the Essex Burnhams.
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