Lewis C. Burnes

The younger of the two sons of Daniel D. Burnes and Miss Virginia Winn, he was born at Weston, Missouri, in 1860 and was only seven years old when adopted by his two uncles. Brought to St. Joseph in 1873, he attended Christian Brothers College; Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; and Yale University.

His business experience started at the St. Joseph Water Company which was owned by the Burnes Estate. He became superintendent of that company, and then left to join the National Bank of St. Joseph, where he eventually became president. In 1905 he organized the Burnes National Bank and was its president until his death. The business of that bank was purchased in 1941 by the First National Bank.

In 1886 he married Miss Ida Collins and they had three children: C. C. Burnes who married Miss Marjorie Cox; Virginia who married Webb Wheeler, Jr.; and Marguerite who married James S. Boyd.

Lewis C. Burnes died on August 26, 1916, at the age of fifty-six. He was playing golf at the St. Joseph Country Club with his son-in-law, Webb Wheeler, Jr., when he suffered a fatal heart attack.