Ancestral Photos and Portrait

Ancestral Photos and Portrait

Above: Portrait of Chief Topinabee, son of Chief Nanaquiba and brother to Chief Chebass and Kaukema Burnett.

(Above photo from Kansas State Historical Society. Copy and reuse restrictions apply.)

Above: Cane of Chief Abram Burnett.

(Above photo from Kansas State Historical Society. Copy and reuse restrictions apply.)

Above: Chief Burnett along with John Peyton

(Above photo from Kansas State Historical Society. Copy and reuse restrictions apply.)

Above: Chief Abram B. Burnett, biological grandson of Chief Chebaas, who was biological brother to Chief Topinabee. Both Chebaas and Topinabee were documented as the hereditary principal chiefs of the St. Joseph Potawatomis. Chief Abram B. Burnett was 6' to 6'1" in height and was noted as being the strongest man in Kansas. He was noted as a remarkable sight weighing 496 lbs. at the time of his death.

1860 Austrian Lorenz rifle-musket of Chief Abram B. Burnett. During the Civil War, Chief Abram B. Burnett helped as a guide for the Union Army assisting with his knowledge of the Kansas territory. In his assisting the Union Army, he was gifted an 1860 Austrian Lorenz musket. During this time his children had tended to a Maple Grove to make sugar. This grove provided a safe hiding place for food and valuables during the war.

The Austrian Lorenz rifle-musket was a weapon used during the Civil War. It was the second most imported weapon to America from 1861 to 1865. Approximately 225,000 being imported to the Union and well over 100,000 imported to the Confederacy. It saw service on all fronts and in all situations, asserting itself well in the hands of the noble men who served with them.

(Above: Pipe stem of Principal Chief Chebaas, grandfather of Chief Abram B. Burnett)

Above: Pipe stem of Principal Chief Topinabee. Traditionally, four full bodied woodpeckers were attached to the body of the stem.

Above: Pipe and pipe stem of Principal Chief Topinabee, one of several pipes used during the signing of the Treaty of Green Ville, 1795. Topinabee's name appears first on the official treaty document as "Thupenebu" for the Potawatomis of the St. Joseph. Another documented pipe smoked at the Treaty of Greene Ville by Chief Little Turtle of the Miamis is now presented and in possession of the Ohio State Historical Society). It is believed that both pipes were made by the same maker for the ceremonial Treaty of Greene Ville gathering.

Below: Elaborate cane with hidden blade of Chief Abram B. Burnett. Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society.

(Click above to enlarge)

Above: First wife to Chief Abram B. Burnett (Nan-Wesh-Mah). Her name was D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw). She passed away on October 19, 1842 in Sugar Creek, Kansas.

Painting by George Winters, 1837

Above: : Cabin of Chief Abram B. Burnett located at the north side of Shunganunga Creek near the foot of the mound.

Above: Chief Abram B. Burnett and his second wife, Mary Knofflock Burnett.

Mary Knofflock was known to have been a fluent speaker of the Potawatomi language.

Above: Choctaw Indian Academy Plaque, school which Chief Abram B. Burnett as a young man was taken to by his grandfather, Chief Chebaas and General Tipton. Abraham Burnett, adopted father of Chief Abram B. Burnett, had also attended the Choctaw Academy in Kentucky established by the U.S. government at Blue Springs Farm.The academy was the first Indian school for sons of Indian Chiefs to educate the future leaders of many tribes. Abraham Burnett, adopted father of Chief Abram B. Burnett of Kansas, was known to have been dissatisfied with the United States handlings of treaties and sided with Tecumseh and the Prophet and played an aggressive role on the side of the Indian Confederacy in the battle of Tippecanoe. Abraham Burnett led a band of Potawatomi and Kickapoo warriors in an attempted ambush of William Harrison's troops in 1811.

Above: the Choctaw Academy established by the United States government in Blue Springs Farm. This school was known to Have educated Choctaws, Potawatomis, Creeks, and other northeast and southeast natives.

Above: Baptist Missionary School which was reverend by Isaac McCoy. This is the mission in which Chief Abram B. Burnett attended as a young boy.

Above: Chief Leopold Pokagon, husband of Elizabeth Topinabee and father of Chief Simon Pokagon.

Chief Abram B. Burnett's grandfather, Chief Chebaas (Brother of Chief Topinabee), was the biological uncle to Elizabeth Topinabee.

Above: Chief Simon Pokagon, son of Chief Leopold and Elizabeth Pokagon

Above: Rev. Isaac McCoy, Baptist Missionary

Above: Joseph Burnett, first born biological son to Chief Abram B. Burnett, Chief of the Potawatomis.

Below: A very personal photo of Joseph Burnett in earlier times. Joseph Burnett was known to live in Oklahoma amongst his Citizen/Mission Band Potawatomis. This rare photo has never been shared with the public until now. It is of Joseph Burnett in Kansas at the gravesite of his father, Chief Abram B. Burnett of the Potawatomis. Note comparison of the background of older photo and the recent photo taken in 2006 by Carol Yoho of Washburn University and Kansas Historical Society at the gravesite of Chief Abram B. Burnett.

Above: Joseph Burnett, eldest son of Chief Abram B. Burnett in later years in Indian Territory, OK. Joseph Burnett had served on the Indian Police force, known as "The Light Horsemen".

Above: Joseph Burnett (to the left) with his younger brother, Abraham Lincoln Burnett (to the right), together in Indian Territory, OK.

Above: Abraham Lincoln Burnett, youngest child born to Chief Abram B. Burnett. He was born in 1864.

Above: The headstone of Nancy Davis-Burnett. She was the daughter of Kaukema (Cakimi) and William Burnett. She is the sister of Abraham Burnett, adopted guardian of Chief Abram B. Burnett (Nan-Wesh-Ma). Chief Abram B. Burnett had noted that his biological grandfather, Chief Chebaas, had passed away in the home Nancy Davis-Burnett.

Above: Joseph Burnett married twice. To the right is gravestone to Joseph Burnett's first wife, Emma Anderson Burnett. To the left is the gravestone for his second wife, Isabell McDole Burnett. They are buried in the old Indian cemetery across the road east of the Sacred Heart Church and Parish Cemetery in Potawatomi County, Oklahoma.

Above: Emma Anderson Burnett, first wife to Joseph Burnett and mother of Clarissa (Clara) Burnett. She was half-blood Choctaw.

Above: Isabell McDole Burnett, second wife to Joseph Burnett. She was half-blood Potawatomi.

Above: Mary Jane Burnett, daughter of Chief Abram B. Burnett and sister of Joseph Burnett

Above: Mary Jane Burnett, born 1844. Married Christopher Pearce, a West Point graduate who had studied for the Episca-Palian Ministry and served in the Civil War. In 1870, they would move from Topeka with Mary Jane's sister, Catherine, and her husband William Griffinstein, to establish and layout the site for Wichita, Kansas. In 1879, the Pearce family moved to Sacred Heart and later settled on their allotments east of present day Noble Oklahoma.

Above: Christopher Pearce, husband to Mary Jane Burnett, daughter of Chief Abram B. Burnett. He was a West Point graduate who had studied for the Episca-Palian Ministry and served in the Civil War.

Above: Catherine Burnett (Born 1853), daughter of Chief Abram B. Burnett and sister of Joseph Burnett and Mary Jane Burnett. She married William Dutchville Griffinstein, a German immigrant and a prominent trader with an established trade route from Topeka to New Mexico. He was the founder and first mayor of Wichita, Kansas. Catherine and William would later move to Catherine's allotment in Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and establish Burnett Town.

Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk (eldest)

Also known as John or Buckshot (American Name)

A Potawatomi Holy Man and a respected Potawatomi ritual leader.

For additional photo of Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk, please visit Wisconsin Historical Society, documented under important Potawatomi men, 1890.

Above: Gary Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk Sr. (Burnett/Wahb-No-Sah Family), son of Rhodie Rose Burnett. Fluent in the Potawatomi language and traditions and was known as a quite and humble man who followed the old ways of his people respectfully and strictly thru prayer. As a ritual leader, he was the carrier of ancient songs and ways handed down to him by his father, grandfather, and other elderly traditionals.

Above: Otis Burnett, son of Abraham Lincoln Burnett. Abraham Lincoln Burnett was the youngest child born to Chief Abram B. Burnett in 1864.

Above: Clarissa (Clara) Burnett (center), daughter of Joseph Burnett and Emma Anderson Burnett and mother of Rhodie Rose Burnett.

Above: Clarissa (Clara) Burnett, daughter of Joseph Burnett and Emma Anderson Burnett.

Joseph Burnett is the first biological son of Chief Abram B. Burnett. Chief Abram B. Burnett is the grandfather of Clarissa (Clara) Burnett. Clarissa (Clara) Burnett is mother of Rhodie Rose Burnett.

Above: Rhodie Rose Burnett, daughter of Clarissa (Clara) Burnett (Mission/Citizen Potawatomi) and Frank Shincis (Absentee Shawnee)

Above: Mary Wessellhoft Burnett, daughter of Joseph Burnett and Emma Anderson Burnett, and sister of Clarissa (Clara) Burnett.

Above: Birdie Josephine Burnett Martin. She is the sister of Clarissa and Mary Burnett, daughters of Joseph Burnett and his first wife, Emma Anderson Burnett.

Above: Clarissa (Clara) Burnett and children

Above: Clarissa (Clara) Shincis Burnett

Above: Joseph Shincis Burnett

Above: Rhodie Rose Shincis Burnett

Above: George Shincis Burnett

Above and to the right is Bee Burnett

Above: Lee P. Burnett, (1895-1964). He is the son of Joseph Burnett and second wife, Isabell McDole Burnett. Lee P. Burnett is the father of Tawana Lee Burnett Santino.

Above: Ben Burnett, brother of Lee Burnett and son of Joseph Burnett and second wife, Isabell McDole Burnett.

Above: Lee P. Burnett at the gravesite of his grandfather, Chief Abram B. Burnett, in Topeka, KS.