William B.M. Burrell

WILLIAM B.M. BURRELL was born in Hatboro PA on July 16, 1865 to the Reverend William H. and Elizabeth Burrell. Reverend William H. Burrell was a successful and well known Methodist minister. He was one of the founders of Ocean City NJ, and was famous in the days before marriage licenses as “the marrying minister.”

Census records show that the Burrell family had moved to Philadelphia by 1870. The 1880 census shows the Burrell family still in Philadelphia, living at 1630 North 13th Street. At that time the family included, besides William M.B., older siblings Margaret, Lilly, and Harry, and a younger sister, Alma.

By 1888 the Burrell family had moved to 43 Cooper Street in Camden. William M.B. Burrell was working as a bookkeeper and attending the Renouard College of Embalming in Philadelphia. After graduating in 1891, he opened up a funeral parlor in Camden, where he plied his trade for many years. In 1893 he married Caroline “Carrie” Hatton, the daughter of Dr. Louis Hatton of Camden. A son, Horace, was born in 1896.

By 1910 William B.M. had established his home and business at 427 Market Street. His in-laws, the Hattons resided there as well. His son Horace Burrell would graduate from Pennsylvania State University with an engineering degree, and served as Second Lieutenant with the United States Army during World War I. Carrie Burrell passed away on July 31, 1925.

William Burrell remarried after the death of his first wife. At the time of the 1930 Census he was still living and working at 427 Market Street with his second wife Elinor, and his sister Alma.

By the fall of 1936 William B.M. Burrell was not listed in the New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory.

William B.M. Burrell was active in many professional, fraternal, and other organizations. His fraternal ties included the Masons, the Shriners, the Elks, the Moose, the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He served on Camden’s Board of Health, and was on the official board of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church. He taught Sunday School at the First Baptist Church and was a member of the Usher’s Union of the First Presbyterian Church. He also was a member of the Camden Chamber of Commerce, the Camden Club, and the Camden County Historical Society.

WILLIAM B. M. BURRELL—The profession of the mortician is an exacting one requiring tact, intuition and skill of a high order. Among those who have been notably successful in this calling in South Jersey is William B. M. Burrell, of No. 427 Market Street, Camden.

Rev. William H. Burrell, father of Mr. Burrell, was for fifty years a successful and faithful pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was one of the founders of Ocean City, New Jersey. He is a grandson of General Seeley, who served as aide to General Washington during the Revolutionary War. He married Elizabeth Backus, daughter of Jacob Backus, of Wilmington, Delaware.

William B. M. Burrell, son of Rev. William H. and Elizabeth (Backus) Burrell, was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, July 16, 1865. After receiving a careful education in the public schools of his native city he entered the Renouard College of Embalming in Philadelphia, and later continued his studies in the F. A. Sullivan School of Philadelphia. After his graduation from Renouard College of Embalming in 1891, he opened an undertaker’s establishment in Camden, and in that city has continued to the present time. During the more than three decades which have passed since he first opened his modest “parlors” in Camden, his business has steadily grown and at the present time this is one of the best known establishments of its kind in the country. Tactful, courteous and unobtrusive in his sympathy he renders his service with a delicacy and tact which are extremely helpful to those whom he serves. He has been very active in the affairs of his profession outside his own business. He is a member and past president of the New Jersey State Funeral Directors’ Association, past president of the West Jersey Funeral Directors’ Association, and from 1916 to 1919 he was a member of the New Jersey State Embalmers and Undertakers Association, also a member of the National Selected Morticians. In addition to his professional activities in connection with his own business and with his associational affiliations Mr. Burrell is also a member of the board of directors of the Twentieth Century Building and Loan Association, and of the Cottage Building and Loan Association. He has taken an active interest in local public affairs, and was a member of the old Board of Health, of Camden. He is well known in fraternal circles, being a member of Camden Lodge, No. 15, Free and Accepted Masons; of Siloam Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; a life member of Van Hook Council, Royal and Select Masters; of Cyrene Commandery, Knights Templar; and of Excelsior Consistory, in which he holds the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of Lu Lu Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of which body he served as a member of the band for eight years, from 1901 to 1909; and he is a member of the Camden Shrine Club. He is also a member of Camden Forest, No. 5, Tall Cedars of Lebanon; of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Loyal Order of Moose; Junior Order United American Mechanics; Improved Order of Red Men; Royal Arcanum; Camden Lodge, No. 1, American Order of United Workmen; and of the Young Men’s Christian Association. He is a member of the Camden Chamber of Commerce, of the Camden Club, and of the Camden Historical Society. His religious affiliation is with the Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church, which he serves as a member of the official board. He is also past president of the Men’s Bible Class of the First Baptist Church Sunday School, and a member of the Ushers’ Union, of the First Presbyterian Church, of Camden, New Jersey.

At Camden, New Jersey, in 1893, William B. M. Burrell married Carrie Hatton, daughter of Dr. Louis and Laura V. (Foulks) Hatton, of Camden. To Mr. and Mrs. Burrell was born one son, Horace H. Burrell, May 18, 1896, who graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 1916, with the degree of Mining Engineer. He is traffic manager for the Bell Telephone Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. During the World War he served with the Balloon Service as second lieutenant. The death of Mrs. Burrell occurred July 31, 1925.