William was born in Groton MA on December 26, 1810. He married Almira Waity Smith, born March 7, 1838, on July 4, 1833 in Groton. She was the daughter of Denison Smith. The genealogy of the Descendants of Rev Nehemiah Smith, available on Ancestry.com, provides the above information, otherwise not verified, about Almira and her family. She and William had seven children: Almira (1838-1870, William T (1840 – ), Francis (1843-1843), Fannie (1847-1866), Judson (1849-1869), Sarah (1852-1876), and Mary (1855-1876). The family lived generally in the Poquonock area of Groton where Almira was born. The 1850 census for Groton, by which time William appears to have retired from the sea, records him as “farmer.” William died in Groton on December 20, 1858, Almira on December 22, 1892. Their common gravestone in Starr Burying Ground in Groton, shown on Find a Grave, shows William as “Capt. W. T. Burrows” and Almira as “Almira W. Smith” and under that “His Wife”.
William was issued Seamen’s Protection Certificate #6568 in New London on October 12, 1826. The certificate shows him 6’ 0” in height with light eyes and light hair. New London Crew Lists shows William serving on the crew of several ships during the years 1825-1837, but the dates of several of these voyages are either before or after dates the at-sea dates of these ships. Only two crew positions could be verified: TUSCARORA (AS2518) for her 1834–1835 voyage (AV14172) and TAMPICO (AS2716) for her 1837 voyage (AV13710).
Following his at sea period as crew, William served as master of two ships with New London as home port:
ANN HOWARD (AS0877): (schooner, 71 tons, built in Oracoke NC in 1821, sold in 1842). He served for two brief voyages, in 1838 (AV17252) and 1839 (AV10102). Neither voyage is shown in Starbuck, Colby or Decker. No other information was found about those two voyages.
There is no record of William sailing on any later voyages.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw (Mystic Seaport Museum) July 2024