The soap tree first came to the notice of Baron Von Humboldt, the great traveler, as the natives were using it in cleansing clothing and various other articles in Central America. It was not until many years afterward that it became an article of commerce and its valuable qualities adapted to general use in this country. The establishment of a factory in Peoria making a specialty of this article, has added largely to the importance of its various industries and Mr. Burt is given great credit for the part which he has played in thus adding to the manufacturing interests of the city. He is an enterprising business-man, popular among the people and occupies no secondary position in either business or social circles.

A native of Orange County, N. Y., Mr. Burt was born April 23, 1823, the son of Foght and Elizabeth (Welling) Burt, both of whom were likewise natives of the Empire State. The first representatives of the family in America came soon after the landing of the “Mayflower” and were familiarly known throughout New England during the Colonial days. They were people, honest, industrious and enterprising and mostly became well-to-do. The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Henry Burt, the ancestor of our subject, and the founder of the family in America, at Springfield, Mass., is to be celebrated in that city October 3, 1890.

The father of our subject was a hatter by trade and remained a resident of his native State until 1834. He then removed with his family to Ohio where he changed his occupation and turned his attention to farming, settling in Coshocton County. He followed agricultural pursuits until advancing years warned him it was time to retire from active labor, then in 1880 joined his son in Peoria and died in the eighty-seventh year of his age in November, 1887. The wife and mother had preceded her husband to the silent land, her death taking place in Van Wert, Ohio, in 1878. The family consisted of three children of whom R. W., our subject, was the eldest. Thomas H. died a few years since in Michigan. Josephine is the wife of W. O. Brown of Chicago, Ill.

The subject of this notice was a lad of eleven years when his parents removed from New York State to Ohio, where he grew up on the farm and obtained a practical education in the common school. He interested himself in farming pursuits until 1853, in the meantime keeping abreast of the times by a course of reading and indulging his tastes for good books and periodicals. He was especially interested in newspaper work and finally became editor of the Progressive Age, at Coshocton, which he purchased in the year mentioned and which he conducted three years. The results of this enterprise not being entirely satisfactory, Mr. Burt abandoned the newspaper field and embarked in the coal and grocery trade in which he continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. He watched the conflict a few months and then decided that he must have a hand in the preservation of the Union. He accordingly enlisted December 3, 1861, in Company G, Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, upon the organization of which he was elected Second Lieutenant. He went with his company to the seat of war and after the battle of Arkansas Post, was promoted to a First Lieutenancy.

At the expiration of the first term of enlistment, Lieut. Burt re-entered the ranks in March, 1864, as Captain of Company H, Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, which he commanded until the close of the war and was mustered out July 15, 1865. he participated in about thirty battles and skirmishes, including Ft. Donelson, Shiloh, Milliken’s Bend, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, Jackson, Mission ridge, Lookout Mountain, Ringgold, Resaca, the siege of Atlanta and Jonesboro. He went with Sherman on the march to the sea and then returned up through the Carolinas to Washington where he was present at the grand Review. Mr. Burt is a poet of no mean talent and wrote many war songs, a number of which were published, including “Sherman and the Boys in Blue,” “General Logan and the Fifteenth Army Corps” and various others which served to while away many a tedious hour in camp and on the march. Prior to the Civil War Mr. Burt had served in the Mexican War as a private in Company B, Third Ohio Infantry, one year.

Upon leaving the service Mr. Burt established himself in the grocery business at Peoria, in which he had had considerable experience, having been a Government store-keeper for ten years. Gradually he became interested in the manufacture of soap and commenced in a modest manner, being remarkably fortunate with his experiments, and finally became convinced that he could turn his talents in this direction to good advantage. He finally decided to make a business of this and established himself in a convenient building occupying Nos. 117 and 119 Hamilton Street, where he has all the machinery and equipments necessary for prosecuting the business in a successful manner. He gives employment to twenty-five men and girls and finds a market for his product all over the United States. Mr. F. E. Leonard became a partner March 4, 1889, the firm being known as R. W. Burt & Co.

The subject of this notice was married in Ohio, January 26, 1848, to Miss Malona Evans, a native of Ohio and who by her union with our subject became the mother of four children. The eldest of these, a son Oliver died at the age of seven years; Evelyn is the wife of J. S. Starr, Collector of United States Revenue at Peoria; Isaac E. is a crayon artist of marked talent and is a resident of Minneapolis, Minn.; Lulu M., is the wife of William B. Cravens of Kansas City. Mrs. Malona Burt departed this life at her home in Peoria, January 1, 1873.

Mr. Burt contracted a second marriage July 13, 1876, with Miss Betsey Cotton. This lady was born in Onondaga, N. Y. Mr. Burt, politically, is a sound Republican and religiously, a Universalist. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic at Peoria and is also identified with the Masonic fraternity. He was at one time the Senior Vice-Commander of Bryner Post, No. 67, G. A. R. of this city. At the battle of Resaca, Ga., he was shot through the cheek, losing all his teeth, but rapidly recovered and returned after thirty days to his command.