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The Burgess family consists of grandfather Jacob Burgess, his son Chalon Burgess and his wife Emma, their son's Edward Sandford Burgess (and his wife Irene) and Theodore Chalon Burgess (and his wife Laura May and their daughter Helena), and their daughter Sarah Julia Burgess who inherited and donated the family papers as well as her brother Edward's rare manuscript and book collection to UO Special Collections and University Archives.

Sarah Julia Burgess (who went by Julia) was born in Panama, New York in 1870. She graduated from Wellesley in 1894 and taught in western New York state public schools, in Westfield, Tonawanda, and Silver Creek. She earned her A.M. at Radcliffe in 1901. After the death of her mother in 1907, Julia accepted an assistant professorship in English at the University of Oregon where she taught until she retired in 1941. She wrote poetry and articles, supported women's suffrage and temperance, and made several private investments in land and timber claims around Eugene, Oregon. She was an avid traveler to Europe, Alaska, the Middle East, and New England and many of her photographs are preserved in the collection.

Sarah Julia Burgess produced two manuscripts, one a memorial to her brother Edward Sandford Burgess, and the other an unpublished catalog of the Burgess Collection of rare medieval manuscripts, incunabula, and rare or first edition books from the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, now housed in the Rare Books collection of Special Collections and University Archives of the University of Oregon. She was the surviving member of her family and her estate included papers and possessions of her parents, brother's and other family members. It is these family records that formed the Burgess family papers.

Chalon Burgess (1817-1903) was a pastor who served towns in western New York from 1850-1898. He graduated from the State Normal School of Fredonia, New York in 1840 and received his diploma from Hamilton College in 1844. He taught school in Buffalo and Nunda, New York from 1846-1848, and then attended Auburn Theological Seminary and graduated in 1849. Chalon then began his long career as a Presbyterian minister.

Edward Burgess was the oldest child of the family and he left home when his sister was still an infant. He graduated from Fredonia in 1875, and received an A.B. in classical studies from Hamilton College in 1879. He taught at several schools for the next fifteen years, and then returned to college to earn a Ph.D. in botany at Columbia University in 1899. He was a professor at Hunter College from 1895-1925, becoming dean of the biology department. He published several books and articles on botany, anthropology, and Cape Cod history. He also collected rare books and manuscripts which were donated to UO Special Collections by his sister Sarah Julia Burgess and which now make up the Edward Burgess Manuscript Collection, the Edward Burgess Early Printed Book Collection, and the Edward Burgess 19th and 20th Century Book Collection

Theodore Burgess was the middle child of the family and also graduated from Fredonia (1879). He graduated from Hamilton with an A.B. and as valedictorian, and in 1886 he earned his A.M from the same college. Between 1883 and 1896 he was an instructor at Fredonia. In 1898 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. In 1897 he began a long career at Bradley Polytechnic Institute, starting as instructor, then dean, and finally, president of the Institute (1897-1925).