Burnett, T. R. (Thomas R.), 1842-1916

Thomas R. Burnett (1842-1916), newspaperman, journalist, and Church of Christ evangelist, moved to Texas from Tennessee in 1850.

While serving in Polignac's Brigade, Texas Cavalry, in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, Burnett wrote and published a compilation of poetry and short stories, The Confederate Rhymes. Besides this compilation, Burnett produced several works of religious poetry and religious dialogs during his lifetime. Following the Civil War, Burnett became a journalist, founding the Bonham News and the Ladonia Enterprise. Burnett also established the Christian Messenger in Bonham in 1876 after his conversion to the Church of Christ. By 1898, Burnett started Burnett's Budget, a religious publication, which originally began as a column written by Burnett in the Gospel Advocate. He published Burnett's Budget until his death in 1916.