J. Ryland Kendrick

“ He was a master of intrigue, though to little purpose. He was a respectable lawyer and speaker, but lacked the qualities of a statesman. Dauntless resolution and cool self-possession never forsook him. ”

“ Timothy Edwards, of Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) , N. J. A handsome fortune having been bequeathed to them by their father, their education was conducted in a liberal manner; a private tutor was provided, Tapping Reeve, who afterward married his pupil, Sarah Burr, and became judge of the supreme court of Connecticut. A bright, mischievous boy, and difficult to control, Aaron was still sufficiently studious to be prepared to enter Princeton at the age of eleven, though he was not admitted on account of his extreme youth. ”

“ Burr was shortly afterward made a member of the New York assembly. Into the presidential contest of 1800 he entered with all his energy. The republicans triumphed; but between the two highest candidates there was a tie, each receiving seventy-three votes, which threw the election into the house of representatives. In connection with this affair, Burr was charged with intriguing to defeat the public will and have himself chosen to the first office, instead of Jefferson. After a fierce struggle of seven days, the house elected Jefferson president and Burr vice-president. ”

“ In 1748, at the age of thirty-two, he became president of the College of New Jersey, but without interrupting his pastoral service. In the summer of 1752 he married Esther, daughter of Jonathan Edwards, of Stockbridge, Mass. In the autumn of 1756 he resigned his charge at Newark and removed to Princeton, where he died from overwork. He left two children, Sarah, b. 3 May, 1754, and Aaron. As scholar, preacher, author, and educator, President Burr was one of the foremost men of his time. ”

“ The daughter, who was his idol, perished at sea while on a voyage from Charleston to New York in January, 1813. Burr was now fifty-seven years old. Shunned by society, though with a considerable practice, he lived on for twenty-three years. At the age of seventy-eight he married Madame Jumel, widow of a French merchant, who had a considerable fortune. The union soon proved unhappy, owing to Burr's reckless use of his wife's money, and they finally separated, though not divorced. In his last days Burr was dependent on the charity of a Scotch woman, a friend of former years, for a home. ”