Burnside, John
planter, was born about 1800, in Ireland. At the time of his death he was the largest sugar-planter in the United States. About 1852 he began to invest money in sugar lands, and eventually owned ten of the finest plantations in the sugar district of Louisiana, and the finest residence in New Orleans.
In spite of the loss of more than two thousand slaves, he was among the first to try sugar-planting with free labor on a large scale, and his success had much influence in re-establishing the broken industries and credit of the south. He died June 29, 1881, in White Sulphur Springs, Va.