Local History - Ed Burgett

MIDDLEBURGH – Charles Edward Burgett, known to everyone as “Ed” was a machinist and pattern maker in Middleburgh from the late 1890s until his death in 1933. He was well known at the time for his gas engines and his development of a very early car in Schoharie County. He was born in the Town of Fulton in 1876 to Hattie Hager and Peter Burgett, the oldest of nine children, and with both of his parents the descendants of the earliest Palatine and Dutch settlers in the Schoharie Valley. The family moved to Hobart in 1888 but Ed returned to Middleburgh by 1896 at age 20. He began his career at Edison Electric in Schenectady in 1896, where he made cast iron part patterns, including the patterns for all the castings for the first trolley car made in Schenectady. His entrepreneurial instincts resulted in his opening of a shop in a garage behind the Baker Hotel on Baker Ave, where he repaired bicycles and started selling bicycles. An ad in 1897 (when he was 21) in the Middleburgh Gazette stated “If you want to purchase a bicycle, don’t go away from home to get it, but let your home dealer, Mr C.E. Burgett, who is agency for every make of wheel, order it for you, and save you money. He can do it”. In 1898, there were numerous ads in the Middleburgh Gazette for new bicycles and bicycle repairs. In 1898, he “has the agency” for Trenton and Syracuse Model D bicycles. According to the Middleburgh Gazette, in 1898, he also “secured the sale agency for the celebrated Beffle Boiler and engines. If you need anything in this line, you can make contact by calling Mr Burgett”. Also that spring, the Middleburgh Gazette reported that “if you want to see a neat job of shafting, just call in at Borst and Rockstroh’s Meat Market and see the work done by our efficient machinist, Mr Ed Burgett…” And later that year, the paper reported that he “has manufactured a bicycle for his own use. The workmanship is evidence that Mr Burgett is an expert machinist.” He was only 22!. Throughout 1898, the Gazette continued to report his accomplishments with bicycles including a report that “CE Burgett rides a neat new bicycle of his own making. He thinks it will carry him to Richmondville one of these days.” He initially built a steam boiler and installed it on a tandem bike. As a pattern maker and machinist, Ed made his own designs and patterns, molded and turned out items on a milling machine and lathe. He designed the patterns in his Middleburgh shop and transported them to Albany for casting and then returned to his shop for finishing.  

In 1899, when he was 23, the Middleburgh Gazette reported that “CE Burgett is building an automobile and he will make it work if any man can.” He was listed as a mechanic in the 1899 Middleburgh Directory. The bike ads stopped in the Gazette and the ads began for engines and machinist work. He moved his machine shop to the Dibble Building on Railroad Ave in 1901, but later that year his shop was moved to 138 Wells Ave and was called the Central Garage -the building is still standing. 

In 1899, there also began articles about his friend, Squire Cook West, who was established as a builder and a “factory owner with machinery”. Squire was to become a close associate and collaborator in the years to come.  In 1902, it was reported in the Middleburgh Gazette that “Squire West and C. Edward Burgett are engaged in placing the new electric plant in Frisbieville. There are more references to Ed’s building an automobile and ads for his manufactured gas engines including special designs for running such items as cream separators, water pumps, butter churns, etc, as well as continuing collaborations with Squire West. 

Ed Burgett’s engines were ¾  HP and 3 HP mostly air cooled but also some water cooled Hit and Miss style, which refers to the way the engine governs speed measured in revolutions per minute. They ran much slower than modern engines and operated with a speed and firing /free wheeling rhythm that created a unique beat. The power from these machines was generally transferred by a flat belt driven on a slightly barrel shaped cylinder attached to a flywheel. The belt does not fly off but is drawn to the fastest Moving portion of the cylinder by centrifugal force. The engines were used by local farmers and businesses and are now a treasured rarity. Only six are presently known to exist although there are often unsubstantiated claims of more. All six are owned by Schoharie County residents. Mildred purchased one for Howard in the 1960s and Francis also owned one which went to a collector who lovingly restored it. In 1978, The Hudson Mohawk Chapter of the Pioneer Gas Engine Assn, which was founded in 1967, the 1900 Burgett Gas Engine was chosen as the logo for the chapter. You can some years get a look at “The Burgett” at the chapter’s annual Gas Up outside Schoharie. 

The creation of the Burgett automobile was notable throughout the County. After his construction of a steam boiler on a bike, he then made patterns and built a two cylinder steam boiler with reverse gear. He constructed the boilers, running gear, engine and finishing parts. The wood box for seating was built by his friend, Squire Cook West, the builder with whom he frequently collaborated. Ed and the car appeared at the Fairgrounds in Cobleskill in September, 1901 and was featured in a lengthy article  in the Cobleskill Times and has been reprinted in the Cobleskill Times in 1926 and in the Times Journal in 1987. The 1926 article (from the 1901 article) reported that “In September 1901, the first auto to be seen in Cobleskill steamed in on the fairgrounds at the annual agricultural exhibition. This two cylinder machine was made at Middleburgh by C.E.Burgett, the county’s well known mechanic who now operates a widely known machine shop at this place.  When the Burgett steamer entered the gates of the fairgrounds 25 years ago, it was the biggest attraction at the show. Officials of the fair association, realizing the value of entertainment, requested the Middleburgh manufacturer give an exhibition of its mechanical performance on the race track in front of the grandstand, which he did. ‘it’s a plaything’, ‘it’s not practical’ and ‘it will never replace the horse’ were criticisms heard on every hand; but the crowd marveled.”

The article continued: “But Burgett knew. His mechanical mind which conceived the machine saw beyond and afar and he believed then that the rose was to have competition. This man who built the first auto in Schoharie County at his machine shop here, constructing the boiler, running gear, engine and all but the pneumatic tires and a few finishing parts, won fame that carried beyond county lines. To ride in this first auto was the height of pleasure, not alone to the young boy, but the grownup as well. Mr Burgett frequently drove this machine into Albany and up to Saratoga where it attracted attention.  As a mechanic, Mr Burgett has kept pace with the progress of the age. His shop here is equipped with new machinery and tools throughout and the motto of his business ‘No Job Too Difficult’ does not overestimate his mechanical ability.”  

Eventually the car was sold but in the early 1930s, Ed asked Howard and Francis to purchase the car back and destroy it, which they did. It was not to profit from the parts and copper, but to protect its history and was very important to his sons to respect his wishes. 

Ed married Carrie Scoville in 1902 and their marriage resulted in three children: Mildred (Schindley) in 1905, Francis in 1912 and Howard in 1914. In 1920, Ed bought the Second Empire style house at the corner of Wells Ave and Railroad Ave /Grove St Extension for $2500. The family’s prior home location is unknown but was likely in the same area since Howard recalled playing in the dirt around the M&S Railroad and Francis actually built a little cart to run on the tracks when he was a young teenager. Ed’s father, Peter died in 1916 in Oneonta where the rest of the family had relocated. Ed discontinued his lease on the Central Garage property in 1931 when he was 55. That same year, his brother, Seward, died suddenly at age 50 of a heart issue and his sister, Mollie, died the following year.  Ed may have been experiencing some health issues as well. In September, 1933, The Schenectady Gazette carried an article about a missing Middleburgh man, Edward Burgett, who “left his home in Middleburgh September 1 to ride to Albany with Bergh’s express truck plying between this village and that city. Bergh (sic) left the truck near the warehouse of the Albany Hardware and Iron Company after telling the driver that he wanted to see the new Albany-Rensselaer bridge and that he would return in an hour. After waiting an hour and a half the driver, believing that Burgett had returned to his Middleburgh home by some other means, left Albany on the return trip to find on his arrival in Middleburgh that Burgett had not been seen. Because his wife and family felt that he would return, no alarm was turned in until Friday (8th) when Sheriff Shelmandine of Schoharie asked that it be broadcast over WGY. State Police and local officers are following down any leads”. The Gazette article continues to note that Ed had never left home before without letting his family know his plans. It also indicated that he had been ill for sometime and that suicide was a theory by “some”. It is unknown whether his body was ever recovered. Attempts to locate a death certificate have not been successful and the situation was never discussed by Howard with his wife or friends. Howard, who was 19 at the time, was extremely close to his father and was devastated. One of his close friends when they were young men told this author after Howard’s death in 1976 about an incident at the time.  Howard was a calm, sensitive, generally happy young man who returned from a “secret” trip to Albany in a withdrawn and seriously despondent state, but which Howard would not discuss. This friend always believed that Howard had been called to Albany to identify his father’s body. 

Carrie, Mildred and Howard continued to live in the Wells Ave home until 1942 when Howard married Hattie Campbell and Mildred married Clyde Schindley and the home was sold. Francis was already on his own. Carrie lived the remainder of her life with Mildred and always in close proximity to Howard and his family. Ed Burgett’s living descendants include two grandchildren, both Middleburgh residents, four great grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.