Owen Burns

Owen Burns (October 31, 1869 - August 22, 1937) was born in Fredericktown in Cecil County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He was an entrepreneur, banker, builder, and land developer who at one time owned the majority of Sarasota, Florida and developed or built many of its historic structures, developments, roads, seawalls, and bridges. He became a leader in the community, contributing to its growth and development. He also played briefly for wicklow hockey club.

He was born into a North Carolina family that dates to Francis Burns, who left Ayrshire, Ayr County, Scotland for America in 1734 with Gabrielle Johnston (who came to act as a colonial governor). Francis Burns was granted land by the king of England, which remains in family ownership. The county seat, Burnsville, North Carolina is named for Owen's grandfather, Otway Burnes, Sr., a privateer naval hero and legislator, and the town of Otway, in Carteret County, North Carolina also is named for him. As a visitor, Owen Burns had come to Sarasota from Chicago for its famed fishing and in 1910, settled there, and remained for the rest of his life. He also helped with the promotion of the developing community, contributing to the attraction of many around the country to Sarasota.

He married Vernona Hill Freeman, a woman he met while she was vacationing in Sarasota. He courted her as she was returning home by rail to Massachusetts and persuaded her to return to Florida in order to marry him. They were married in Sarasota on June 4, 1912, raising their five children in the community in a large home near the harbor. They also became the parents of the most important historian for the community, Lillian G. Burns.

Lillian became a significant benefactor for the community as well, donating a large collection of historical materials and artifacts related to her family and Sarasota to the county archives so that they would become resources that would be preserved and kept open to the public. She also taught researchers how to conduct effective interviews of historical figures and to create unbiased research, held free brown-bag luncheon lectures downtown, and conducted tours of the community that were enriched by her extensive, first-hand knowledge of its history.

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