James Burd (March 10, 1725 – October 5, 1793) was a colonial American soldier in theFrench and Indian War, during which he played an important role in fortifying thePennsylvania frontier.
Born inOrmiston, nearEdinburgh, Scotland, the son of Edward Burd, James Burd came toPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania in 1747 or 1748 where he worked as a merchant. On May 14, 1748, he married Sarah Shippen, daughter of former mayorEdward Shippen of the prominent Shippen family ofPhiladelphia. The couple had eleven children, eight of whom lived to maturity, includingEdward Burd.
In 1752, he moved his young family to manage his father-in-law's vast land holdings in the area now known asShippensburg. In August 1755, his father-in-law asked him to buildFort Morris in Shippensburg.[1]: 455
In 1756, he settled on a farm inLancaster County, Pennsylvania, but soon joined the military as an officer at the outbreak of the French and Indian War. He was commissioned a major atFort Augusta (at present-daySunbury, Pennsylvania) in 1756, and on December 8, 1756, after the resignation of Lt. Col.William Clapham, he took command of the fort. Under his command the fort's construction was completed, as well as the Provincial Road between the fort and Tulpehocken, the location ofConrad Weiser's homestead (near present-dayReading).
In 1758, Burd was promoted to colonel. He went withGeneral John Forbes on the Duquesne Expedition under ColonelHenry Bouquet, and 360 of the 400-man garrison participated in the expedition, leaving 40 men at Fort Augusta. During that campaign, Burd contributed to the construction ofFort Ligonier. After the fall ofFort Duquesne, Burd was sent to theErie area, where he supervised the construction of roads and fortifications.
Most importantly, upon his return from the Great Lakes region he oversaw the erection, withJoseph Shippen, ofFort Burd (later confusedly calledRedstone Old Fort due to its proximity to theMonongahela River tributaryRedstone Creek). The confusion comes from its being mistaken for a fort associated with the name "Hangard" which French and Native American forces burned repeatedly. Burd felt ill-advised to repeat the blunder, and directed his engineer, instead, to erect the bastion fort on a high bluff overlooking both the Monongahela River andDunlap's Creek. From this site, at the Western terminus ofNemacolin Trail would developBrownsville, Pennsylvania, and this former trading Post would grow to serve as a historic depot for river transport toFort Pitt during the war and as the settlement expanded came to build many of thekeel boats and later, steam boats that transported settlers to theNorthwest Territory,Ohio Country and via theMissouri Valley, thefar west and theOregon Country. He returned to Fort Augusta in 1760, where he remained until the dissolution of the Pennsylvania Regiment.
From 1764 to 1770 he held the office of Justice of Lancaster County.
In 1774, a year before the outbreak of hostilities withGreat Britain, Burd was instrumental in garnering local support for the colonial congress in its opposition to the Crown, and by the following year he was assisting in the military organization of Lancaster County as a member of the Committee of Safety. His direct military involvement in theRevolutionary War was brief, however, as he resigned his post in December 1776 because of a dispute concerning rank andinsubordination in his command and some criticism from the Committee of Safety. He retired to civilian life, as a county judge.
He died at "Tinian", his farm near Highspire,Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 1793. He and his wife (d. September 17, 1784) are buried near the entrance in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery inMiddletown, Pennsylvania.
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