Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-02-15
Death of Henry Burge-
vine, the Hero Of
China"

Hoao a North Carolina boy becam'
a Mandarin of tie Red Button.
| From the Washington Morning Star.
| Late arrivals from China brins
confirmation of the death of thil
romantic and gifted young man
| A prisoner in the hands of his cru
ell and treacherous enemies, heavily
ironed and subjected to inconceiv
able hardships, death by drowning
murder, any means, must have
been a welcome relief. But what
a sad termination to the wild and
favored dreams of his boyhood
wherein he loved to picture him.
self as the Arbiter of Nations, the
Architect of Empires. =.
| The career of Henry Burgevine
is more than romantic, stranger
than fiction and deserves bet
ter record than the meagre and Of
ten incorrect paragraphs which
have from time to time appeared
in the columns of European and
American papers. He was born
in Newbern, North Carolina, in
the year 1886. His father was a
Frenchman, an officer in the grand
army of Napoleon. Subsequently
he was in the service of Spain and
came to America in. the capacity
of Surveyor General of Florida,
married an American lady, and
died in 1S43, leaving q family
consisting of his widow, two sons
and a daughter. The eldest son
was, if we mistake not, a Rrigadier
Generalin the Confederate service,
and is at present citizen of Ar
kansas, where the daughter also
resides, being the wife of Mr..
Thomas P. Watson, late of Wash
ington City.
Henry Andua Burgevine, the
youngest of the family, came to
Washington city with his mother
and sister in 1876. Mrs. B. hay-
ing been left in very Strengthened
circumstances, had in view the,
prosecution of certain claims
against the Government growing
out Of the purchase of Florida from
Spain. Being unsuccessful in this,
she through the aid of the Hon.
Willie P. Mangum, obtained a sit
ution as page in the q. S. Senate
for Henry, and on this pittance,
increased by the products of teach
ing a small school, the widow and
her children lived for many years
in quiet obscurity Ton the west side
OF 18th street, near C.)
From his earliest years, Henry
displayed a great love for books,
and left no opportunity unimprov-
ed to store his mind with useful
knowledge. AT II he understood
the Greek, Latin and French lam
guages; was proficient in the
higher branches of mathematics, s
an accomplished draughtsman, and
civil engineering and ma
val architecture. During the in
terim between the sessions of I
he was among the stu
dents at the Washington Semina-
ry, Catholic but he accomplish
ed more by night study and a sys-
tematic course of reading, having
access to the Congress library.
In these days Of his early youth
the writer of this sketch has often
heard him speak of his plans for /
the future, in such terms as would
lead a stranger to suspect his SAN
ity. Now it was to build up an
Empire in Egypt, to unite the ma
tions of the Orient; to regenerate
China, aud found an enlightened
nation of 400, 600, 900 of people, to
found new Assyria, with a Min
svah for its capital, and SO on
through a long train Of schemes,
Ill of which were sublime, if not [
practicable. In the spring of 1853, /
Burgevine, whose settled purpose ]
t had been to seek his fortune in |
oreign lands, bade farewell toll
sister and friends, and ar
lived in New York with a few {
Iollars in his pocket. No one K
new exactly where he was going, 4
# for what purpose, and it is like
y his own plans were somewhat
lisarranged by the fact Of his be- I
ng without q penny ina few days; J