Date:  ca. 1920

Image Number:  B419cdB28

Comments:   William Edward Burgess (1871-1935) was a photographer and historian, who lived his adult years in Scottsville, Virginia.  He was known to all as 'Willie' and worked out of Idylwood, his combination home and photo studio located in the eastern part of Scottsville that lies in Fluvanna County.  An avid photographer since his teenaged years, Burgess carried his large box camera and tripod everywhere.  He seemed determined to photograph everything he encountered, often appearing as if from thin air to take a family portrait or record a town event.  Sometimes Burgess had to beg his busy subjects to stand perfectly still for the long exposures required for successful early photographs.  But fortunately for historians, many Scottsvillians granted Burgess the time he needed photographically to capture the grace and ambience of town life during the early 1900's.

Burgess was a gifted photographic technician.  His studio, located under a solid glass roof in his Idylwood home, contained state of the art equipment. And when the photographic tools he needed weren't available, Burgess improvised.  He washed his photo prints in a special, handmade box, which he immersed in the swift Hardware River waters near his home.  Because of his thorough print washing, Burgess photographs retain their archival quality more than 100 years later.  Burgess also was fascinated with broad photographic landscapes, initially piecing photos together to create a representative panoramic view.  Soon Burgess owned an early panoramic camera, which he used to record such events as this 1890 race track scene at Scottsville's James River Valley Fair grounds.  Additional panoramic photos by Burgess may be found in the 'Business' section of this collection; they may be recognized not only by their length but also by the characteristic bend in each scene's middle caused by lens distortion.

Deeply artistic in temperament, Burgess loved beauty, saw it everywhere, and strove to capture it unblemished in his photographs.  Particularly representative of his artistry are the hand tinted portraits Burgess created from his black and white photos.  He used a special desk with attached seat that allowed him to pull a glass covered top into his lap with the subject photo affixed for tinting.  At this desk, Burgess tinted his portraits with color brush strokes so delicate that the resulting works often are mistaken for oil paintings.  Shown here is an exquisite hand tinted photo of his son, William Harold, which Burgess completed about 1910.  Other examples of his hand tinting talents are included in the 'Portrait' section of this collection.

A devoted family man, Burgess married Ellen Gentry Cornett (1871-1912) on October 4, 1899, and the happy, married couple are shown here in their wedding photo.  This photo was taken by J.D. Merrill of Washington, DC, and provided courtesy of Rita and William Burgess of Palmyra, Virginia.  The Burgesses became the parents of three boys:  Lawrence, George (1903-1913), and William Harold (1907).  Their doting father frequently photographed his three sons, and the boys, as they grew older, also assisted Burgess with certain photographic chores.  His youngest son, William Harold, told of helping his father wash prints in the Hardware River, a task that probably came often due to his father's photographic prolificacy.  In 1912, Gentry Burgess died, and George, their middle son, died suddenly and tragically the following year.  The loss of his wife and son saddened Burgess for the rest of his life.  He retained a housekeeper/photo assistant to help him raise his children and never remarried.

On July 20, 1935, William Edward Burgess died of a heart attack during a photo shoot in Altavista, Virginia.  He was buried besides his wife and young son in the Burgess Family Cemetery in Locust Grove, Virginia. 

The first three photos were provided by A. Raymon Thacker of Scottsville, Virginia.  Raymon served as Scottsville's mayor for over 30 years and was a close friend of Willie Burgess.

The Burgess wedding photo was provided by Rita and William Burgess of Palmyra, Virginia; William is the grandson of William 'Willie' Edward and Ellen Gentry (Cornett) Burgess.