#78: Side-by-Side | Amanda Bagby and William Burton

Side-By-Side Sunday: Amanda Ellen Bagby and William Holman Burton

For this week’s post, I am returning to a format that highlights both the shared paths and the distinct records of my wife's ancestors: Side-by-Side Sunday. This week, the calendar brings us to the burial anniversary of Amanda Bagby Burton, who was laid to rest on May 5, 1941. By placing her final records next to those of her husband, William H. Burton, we can observe the symmetry of a life spent together in the Virginia countryside.

Amanda and William's tombstone in Dennis Cemetery, Fluvanna County, Virginia.  Photo Credit: Brian Gallagher via FindaGrave.com memorial 161296107.

Amanda is a collateral ancestor—the older sister to my wife's great-grandfather, John William Bagby. This marriage was not the only one to tie the Bagby and Burton families together. In a striking bit of family symmetry found on a single page of the 1888 Fluvanna County Marriage Register, Amanda and William married in September (line 13), followed just three months later in December by John Bagby and William's sister, Lula (line 34).

At first glance, their records show the typical harmony of a long-term marriage. While born in neighboring counties, both remained deeply tied to the rural landscape of Fluvanna and Goochland until their deaths in the 1940s. However, looking at these documents side-by-side reveals more than just dates.

While they share a single headstone today, their final resting place at Dennis Cemetery in Fluvanna County tells a story of the land reclaiming its own. Though named for two Dennis brothers who died as infants, the cemetery is primarily a Bagby and Burton ground with the family originating the cememtery. The Dennis family must have been a later owner of the property. Tucked in the woods off Bremo Road, the site was overgrown and reverting to forest when I visited in 2022—a quiet, unkempt corner of the world where these two families remain entwined.

William H. Burton

(Click image to enlarge)

Subject	Record Detail
Name	Burton, William Holman
Date of Death	May 27, 1945
Birthplace	Goochland County, VA
Date of Birth	Sept. 11, 1855
Residence	Pemberton, Goochland, VA
Place of Death	New Canton, Buckingham, VA
Primary Cause	General debility (Fractured femur)

Amanda Bagby Burton

(Click image to enlarge)

Subject	Record Detail
Name	Burton, Amanda Ellen
Date of Death	May 3, 1941
Birthplace	Fluvanna County, VA
Date of Birth	Nov. 11, 1869
Residence	Pemberton, Goochland, VA
Place of Death	Pemberton, Goochland, VA
Primary Cause	Gastro enteritis

Genealogy Snapshot

Name: Amanda Ellen Bagby
Parents: Josiah W. Bagby and Martha Agnes Kidd (Great-Great-Grandparents)
Spouse: William Holman Burton
His Parents: William H. Burton and Isabella P. Lumsden (Great-Great-Grandparents through sister, Lula)
Relationship to me: Great-Great-Aunt of my wife (Sister of John William Bagby)

The Lineage:
John William Bagby & Lula Burton (Great-Grandparents)
Saunders Ashton Bagby & Marjorie Voorhees (Grandparents)
My Wife’s Parents
My Wife
Me

Credits and Sources

Tombstone: Dennis Cemetery, Fluvanna County, Virginia. Photo by Brian Gallagher[cite: 441, 471].
Marriage Register: Fluvanna County Register of Marriages, 1888.
Death Records: Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Deaths, 1912-1987[cite: 318, 327, 403, 440].