Samuel Burdett

Samuel Burdett (c. 1846-1905) was a remarkable African-American pioneer, yet today is virtually unknown. Born in Kentucky, he joined the Union Army at a young age, participating in the late campaigns in the Eastern Theater and was present at General Robert. E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865. His regiment-the 109th U. S. Colored Troops-was sent to Texas at the end of the war and released from service on March 21, 1866. Burdett signed on with the newly created all-black 9th Cavalry of the U. S. Regular Army. By the time he had fulfilled his five-year enlistment, he had risen to the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant, the second highest enlisted rank in the army, and had become the first and only African-American cavalry veterinarian to serve before at least the First World War. In 1883, after some 20 years of active service, Burdett took his discharge in Kansas, where he remained for several years as a farmer, horse rancher, and breeder of race horses. He became active in both the local (all-black) chapter of the veterans' organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, in Republican party politics, and in various African-American fraternal organization. He served as Register of Deeds for Lyon County, undoubtedly a rarity for a black man. Burdett moved to Seattle with his wife Belle in 1890, where he opened up a successful veterinary practice. He became one of Seattle's most prominent black professionals by 1900. During this time, Dr. Burdett attempted several failed business ventures including short-lived insurance and benefit agencies, a newspaper, and a Mining and Loan Company. In 1891, Burdett founded the Cornerstone Grand Lodge of the York Masons with Conrad Rideout and William Gross. Burdett continued his active interest in local politics and African-American welfare in Seattle. He was regularly a delegate, and sometimes an officer, in county and local Republican conventions. In 1900, he was elected as King County, Washington, wreckmaster, responsible for salvaging shipwrecks and clearing industrial logging debris in the coastal areas near Seattle. In his later years, two missions consumed much of his energy. The first was protection of African-Americans and punishment of perpetrators of lynching. Burdett in 1901 helped organize the anti-lynching "International Council of the World," and later that year he authored and published a chronology of lynching incidents in the United States titled "A Test of Lynch Law: an Expose of Mob Violence and the Courts of Hell." This 100+ page book was advertised as containing "A twenty year record of every lynching in the United States, as well as the probable guilt or innocence of the victim." Burdett's other mission was to colonize western Washington State with black farmers. Although progress toward attracting black settlers was slow, Burdett's own farm prospered: Burdett had a good home built, with fifteen or twenty acres of wheat growing and other farm produce. Bud sadly, on June 28, 1905, while working very hard in the heat to bring in a large wheat crop, the 400-pound Burdett died suddenly of an apparent heart attack still only in his 50s. Burdett left a significant legacy as a political and community leader and activist, and as the first-and only-black veterinarian in the U. S. Army in pre-modern times.