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<em>Edward Burr </em>was born on on 19 May 1859 in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri, where his father, William E. Burr, was cashier of the St. Louis Bank. His ancestors emigrated from England to Fairfield, Connecticut in 1630; later moving to Paris, Kentucky; and then Missouri. His mother was Harriet Holley Brand, a descendant of the Holley and Brand families of Lexington, Kentucky.</p>
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When Edward was one, his father moved to St. Louis, Missouri to become the president of the Bank of St. Louis. Edward attended school in Kirkwood, a St. Louis suburb. In September 1874, at the age of fifteen, he entered Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied mining engineering until December 1877, when he left to prepare for USMA. He was appointed by Missouri Congressman Nathan Cole and attended the Academy from 1 July 1878 until 13 June 1882. He graduated first in his class and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.</p>
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Above his photograph in his class album is written “Aaron Burr” The third Vice-President of the United States, and noted pistol shot, was his third cousin, three times removed.</p>
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Lieutenant Burr’s first assignment was to an engineer battalion at Willet’s Point, New York, from September 1882 until October 1884. He was promoted to first lieutenant in April 1883. In December 1884, he was ordered to Portland, Oregon, where he was assistant to Captain Powell until October 1885, following which he was Engineer Officer, Department of the Columbia from October 1885 until December 1886.</p>
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In June 1884 he married Katherine Green, daughter of the deceased Henry Dodge Green, a prominent Portland industrialist.</p>
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From early 1887 until November 1891, Lieutenant Burr was in charge of the construction of the Cascade Locks on the Columbia River, where he and his wife lived. They frequently visited Mrs. Green, who was socially prominent in Portland, and were often mentioned in the society pages of The Oregonian.</p>
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When Lieutenant and Mrs. Burr left Portland for assignment at Norfolk, Virginia, they were accompanied by their sons, William Edward, almost two years old, and John Green, aged eight months, both of whom graduated from West Point in the Class of 1914.</p>
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Lieutenant Burr served in Norfolk until November 1894, working on river and harbor improvements. Additionally, from September 1893 until December 1895, he was in charge of inspection of construction of lock gates for the canal at Cascade Locks. He was credited with having designed and built the first steel lock gates in the U.S. He was promoted to captain in September 1894.</p>
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He was Assistant to the Engineer Commissioner in the District of Columbia for four years and was said to have been largely responsible for improvement of the Capitol’s water system and the planting of trees. The Georgetown reservoirs were built under his supervision.</p>
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He was appointed lieutenant colonel, U.S. Volunteers, in June 1898 and given command of the Battalion of Engineers, Fifth Army Corps. He was in charge of the beaches at Daiquiri in the campaign against Santiago de Cuba in the Spanish-American War in the summer of 1898. Following this service, he reverted to his Regular Army rank of captain.</p>
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There followed a series of assignments in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Missouri and the District of Columbia. In January 1903, he was promoted to major. From then until 1917 he held a series of increasingly important engineer assignments in the U.S., culminating with his assignment as Assistant Chief of Engineers from 1910 to 1914, and in the Philippines, where he was Department Engineer and in charge of construction of fortifications.</p>
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In 1910, he applied for and received several recommendations to be the twenty-seventh superintendent of the Military Academy; however, Thomas H. Barry was chosen.</p>
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In August 1917, while commanding Vancouver Barracks, Washington and training engineer troops, he was promoted to brigadier general arid given command of the 166th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Lewis, Washington. He took the brigade to France in July 1918 and, in August, was given command of the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade, which he led through several campaigns to the war’s end. He reverted to his regular rank of colonel and returned to the U.S. in February 1919. After service in New York, he retired in 1923 after 41 years active duty.</p>
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He was a consulting engineer in New York City until November 1928, during which period he designed a piling jetty that saved the Rockaway Beaches on Long Island from erosion and supervised the construction of the Provincetown, Massachusetts Pilgrim’s Monument.</p>
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In 1928, he moved to Washington, DC., and in 1930, he was promoted to brigadier general on the retired list. He lived in Washington until his death in 1952, at which time he was the last survivor of his class and the second oldest living Academy graduate. His wife preceded him in death in 1945.</p>