BURROWS, J. C.,  Bee Picayune, 11 Apr 1946

FOUNDER OF CITY'S OLDEST STORE.
J. C. Burrows, founder of Beeville's oldest retail store (now Burrows Hardware Co) succumbed Friday night 
April 5, 1946, after an illness that has kept him confined to a local hospital for several weeks. His transition 
occurred the day after his 88th birthday anniversary.
	
Funeral services were held at the First Presbyterian Church by Rev. P. P. Dawson. Interment was in the 
Glenwood Cemetery.
	
Joseph Charles Burrows was born April 4, 1859 in Breathitt County, Kentucky, a son of Charles and Demaris 
(Hieronymus) Burrows. His mother died when he was 18 months old. After a brief period in the home of his 
maternal grandparents in an adjoining county, he was taken into the home of his aunt, Mrs. Annie T. Spilman, 
in another region of Kentucky. He lived with his aunt for two years and then along with an older brother, went 
to live with an uncle. His uncle died and he returned to the home of his r aunt.
	
He attended the village schools and later went to the Center College in Kentucky to study the hardware business. 
He went into partnership with his brother J. S. Burrows and both came to Rockport, Texas to start a new business. 
Before coming to South Texas he had been employed in a hardware store in Gainesville, and following the opening 
for a settlement of the Indian Territory he managed a hardware business in Oklahoma City for a brief period. 

Returning to Gainesville, he married Miss Monna Dills on April 16, 1890 and soon afterward they moved to Rockport. 
Three years later Mr. Burrows leaving his brother, Jim, to manage the Burrows Brothers Hardware Store in Rockport, 
opened a similar store in Beeville.
	
A short time later, the Rockport store was closed and James S. Burrows joined his brother in Beeville, and the 
business was continued under the firm name of Burrows Brothers until J. S. Burrows disposed of his interest to 
his brother, who formed the Burrows Hardware Co., a corporation, now Beeville's oldest store.
	
Mr. Burrows was instrumental in organizing the Beeville Bank & Trust Co. ( now State Bank & Trust Co.,) in 1906, later 
serving the institution as president for several years. At the time of his death he was an honorary vice president of this 
banking house. He also was one of the leading figures in bringing :he consolidation of the Beeville Bee and the Beeville 
Picayune on May 31, 1928 and was elected vice president of the Beeville Publishing Co., publishers of the Bee Picayune, 
holding that office until his death.
	
Mr. Burrows stated in his memoirs, written a number of years ago that "the reason we incorporated our business into 
Burrows Hardware Co., was to sell some of the stock to our employers, s0 that they, instead of working FOR us, could 
work WITH us."
	
One daughter, Rissa May, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Burrows. She married Sid B. Malone and was the mother of three 
children. Her untimely death occurred Oct. 30, 1927.
	
In the closing paragraph of Mr. Burrows' brief autobiography, he paid a glowing tribute to the employees of Burrows 
Hardware Co., and added: "I wish to state further that whatever I am, and what success I have made is due to the love 
and influence of two good women, my dearly beloved wife and my dear departed aunt, Mrs. Annie T. Spilman."