Louis E. Burgner Papers

Louis Elvero Burgner was born in Fremont, Ohio on November 15, 1874 to Jacob (1833-1913) and Rebecca "Rachel" M. Miller Burgner (1832-1897). He had three siblings: Mary Alice (1862-1862), Sarah Katherine "Kittie" (1866-1949), and Linnaeus Peter (1870-1934). In 1885, at age eleven, he came to live in Oberlin. He attended Oberlin Public Schools and was enrolled in the Academy in 1893‑95. He married Harriett "Hattie" Elizabeth "Eliza" Durfee (1875-1960) on September 1, 1897. In 1898, he bought the insurance and real estate business of Charles Seth Brown in Oberlin and continued in that business until his death in 1948.

In 1899, Mr. Burgner was elected Justice of Peace and held that office for ten years. Also in 1899, he was vice president of the Cinder Path Association and, when the Oberlin Electric and Heating Plant was given a franchise for steam heating, Mr. Burgner was one of the incorporators. In 1906, when Peoples Banking Company was incorporated, he was a member of the original board and he was secretary and treasurer at the time of his death.

Mr. Burgner was on the board of Allen Hospital for 25 years and was a director of the Oberlin Missionary Association for 15 years. During World War I, he chaired five successful Liberty Bond drives and a Victory Loan Drive in Oberlin and its surrounding townships. He was a member of First Church and for twenty years, served as a member of its board of trustees. He also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and as an officer of the Lorain County Insurance Agents' Association.

The Burgner family lived at 171 East College Street for 39 years. The couple had two daughters, Rebecca Durfee (1900-2004) Oberlin Conservatory '22 and Katherine Maude "Trink" (1903-1993), Oberlin College '24. Mrs. Burgner helped to organize a Red Cross chapter in Oberlin, the first in Ohio, and served as its president for the first two years until it was required that the position be filled by a man. She and Mr. Burgner organized the first Hospital Bazaar in Oberlin. In 1955, Mrs. Burgner was the oldest active member of the Oberlin Women's Club, having joined it in 1906.

Louis E. Burgner died Jan. 1, 1948, after a brief illness.