I easily found Creed Burnett many years ago (like about 25) both here:

Marriage Bonds of Bedford County, VA

and in the 1830 Campbell County, Virginia census.

Based on his age in 1830 – about 31 – and that fact that there were three children in his household at the time, it appeared that his marriage to Mary Ann Williams, daughter of Samuel Allen Williams and Peggy Blair, was at least a second marriage.

Sure enough, I found another marriage record to Elizabeth Finch, in Campbell County, Virginia, on 11 December 1820.

Then I promptly lost Creed Burnett. He was not in the 1840 Virginia census. I had no idea if he died or had moved, but this was long before the internet age and I had plenty of other Williams fish to catch so I dropped him for quite a while. To this day, I’ve never found him in 1840.

However, he reappeared in 1850 in Osage County, Missouri.

If the children’s birthplaces are correct, then Creed and his family clearly migrated to Missouri between the births of Minerva, born in 1834 and Lucinda, born in 1836. Creed’s wife, Mary Ann, had died between 1848 and 1850.

I wasn’t actually surprised to find Creed Burnett in Osage County because Mary Ann’s parents had also migrated to Missouri and lived in Callaway County, which borders Osage to the north,  in 1840.

Once Creed Burnett was found in Osage County, I found a third marriage record for him to widow Sally Hull:

Creed Burnett & Mrs. Sally Hull, Marriage Record

Even with all these details, I still was unable to flesh out all the children of Creed Burnett – three likely with Elizabeth Finch, at least six with Mary Ann Williams . To make matters a bit more difficult, Creed died sometime between 1850 and 1860, when Sally was enumerated as the head of household:

Sally E. Burnett, 1860

John and Martha are actually children of John Hull. George is a mystery, as he isn’t found in either the Hull or Burnett homes in 1850 unless he is James Burnett and the name and age were incorrectly recorded.

It appears that “Cred,” or Creed T. Burnett, aged 4 in 1860, and Mary Ellen, aged 2, were Creed’s children with Sally.

Therefore, Creed Burnett had the following known surviving children:

With Elizabeth Finch:
1. Son, born 1821-1825, Virginia
2. Daughter, born 1821-1825, Virginia
3. Son, born 1826-1830, Virginia

With Mary Ann Williams:
4. Minerva, born c1834, Missouri
5. Lucinda, born c1836, Missouri
6. James, born c1840, Missouri
7. William, born c1842, Missouri
8. Sarah, born c1844, Missouri
9. Eliza, born c1848, Missouri

With a gap between February 1830, when Mary Ann and Creed married and 1834, it is possible there is a missing daughter who had married before 1850 or a child who died young.

With Mrs. Sally Hull:
10. Creed T., born c1856, Missouri
11. Mary Ellen, born c1858, Missouri

I tried checking Burnett marriages in Callaway, Osage and Gasconade Counties (Osage was formed from Gasconade in 1841), but there were too many Burnetts to be able to quickly sort them out.

What to do to solve this dilemma? Probate records to the rescue. FamilySearch has great digitized probate records for Missouri. From them, I discovered that Creed Burnett died before 25 May 1857 in Osage County. There was a final distribution noted in February 1862, listing ten heirs:

Heirs of Creed Burnett, 1862

We have:
1. Charles H. Burnett
2. Charles H. Walker for Mary K. Walker
3. Minerva J. Burnett
4. Lucinda M. Higbee
5. Jane E. Burnett
6. William A. Burnett
7. Sarah V. Burnett
8. Anna E. Crouch
9. Creed T. Burnett
10. Mary E. Burnett

Comparing this list to the 1830 census, it looks like one son predeceased Creed and there is one extra daughter.

Further research produced the following families:

Children of Creed Burnett:

1. Charles H., born c1823, Virginia: died 1870-1880, probably Osage County, Missouri; married Martha Davis, 23 December 1847, Osage County, Missouri
2. Son, born 1826-1830; died young
3. Mary Katherine, born 8 July 1824, Virginia; died 10 July 1910, Hartline, Grant County, Washington; married Charles Kilgore Walker, 22 December 1844, Osage County, Missouri. He was born 17 November 1818, Tennessee; died 14 December 1895, probably Cedar County, Missouri.
4. Anna E(lizabeth?), born c1830 (I think she might be a daughter of Mary Ann); died after 1860; married William H. Crouch, 19 July 1847, Osage County, Missouri. He was born c1813, Virginia; died after 1860. I think they are the William and Elizabeth Crouch, born Virginia and living in 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri. They had children Harrison, born c1848, Sarah, born c1851, and Frances, born c1854, all in Missouri and eleven month old Martha, born c1859 in Illinois. I can’t find any of these people after the 1860 census.
5. Minerva J., born c1834, Virginia; died after 25 February 1862; not found after the 1850 census. She may be the M.J. Burnett who married William Lyon on 25 September 1857 in Osage County, Missouri. He has not been found elsewhere either.
6. Lucinda M., born 31 October 1835, Callaway County, Missouri; died 31 August 1919, Osage County, Missouri; married Alfred Augustus Higbee, 18 March 1858, Osage County, Missouri. He was born 12 December 1834, Coshocton County, Ohio; died 14 April 1919, Osage County, Missouri.
7. James A., born c1840, Missouri; died 20 June 1863, Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi; married Rebecca Jane Coffelt, 6 June 1861, Osage County, Missouri. She was born c1843, Tennessee and married (2) George Washington Wolfe before 1870. James and Rebecca had one son, Marcus Lafayette, born in March 1862. The State Historical Society of Missouri has a small collection of letters that he wrote to his wife during the war. He served in Co. H, 26th Regiment of MO Volunteers.
8. William, born c1842, Missouri; died after 25 February 1862, when he received his share of his father’s estate.
9. Sarah Virginia, born 3 March 1845, Osage County, Missouri; died 9 February 1911, Osage County, Missouri; married Dr. Darius M. Caughell, 3 October 1860, Osage County, Missouri. He was born May 1835 in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada; died 26 September 1901, probably Osage County, Missouri.
10. Eliza, born c1848, Missouri; died before 25 May 1857, as no guardian was appointed for her.
11. Creed Taylor, born c1854, Missouri; died between 1920-1930, probably Osage County, Missouri; married Lucinda A. Williams, daughter of Samuel L. Williams, 30 August 1881, Osage County, Missouri. She was a cousin, born 25 May 1864, Missouri; died 3 January 1961, Dalhart, Hartley County, Texas.
12. Mary Ellen, born 12 January 1857, Osage County, Missouri; died 16 December 1931, Osage County, Missouri; unmarried.

Creed Burnett is not a direct line ancestor of my husband and he certainly was way more work than I ever expected, but I hope this will help anyone else who might be researching this family.