Description

Robert H. Burmister

Robert Henry Burmister (b. 1847 – d. 1926) was born August 17, 1847 in Neukalen, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. His father’s name was Frederick Burmister. He died May 15, 1926 in Prescott, Arizona.

He came to Prescott, in 1874 as a member of the firm of Levi Bashford & Co. That firm became the Bashford & Burmister, which in 1892, was organized as a stock company, of which he was president. In 1900, with his two sons, he started another commercial concern, R. H. Burmister & Sons Co, where he was president until 1913 when he closed it. 

After retiring from the mercantile business, he devoted his time to several mining interests. He served as Prescott’s mayor in 1900 and filled a position on the Arizona State Board of Equalization. In 1917 he was an officer of the Yavapai County Savings Bank. He also established a real estate business.

In 1873, Robert Burmister married his first wife, Margaret Forman “Maggie” Bashford (b. 1850 – d. 1917) in in Wisconsin. Born June 8, 1950 in Clyde, New York, Maggie’s family moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin where her father entered into politics and became the Governor of Wisconsin (1855 – 1858). Her father traveled to Prescott in early 1864 where he was involved with several businesses and was a member of the Arizona Upper Legislative House. The family, however, appears to have remained in Wisconsin.

The Burmisters had three children: Robert Bashford Burmister (b. 1874 – d. 1945), Howard Coles Burmister (1880 – 1956), and Helen Frances Burmister (b. 1886 – d. 1974). The family home in Prescott was at 116 S. Mt. Vernon Avenue. Located in the heart of Prescott's historic downtown, The Burmister Building is a vibrant shopping destination with a rich history.

After arriving in Prescott with her husband, Maggie was active in Prescott’s social life including being a member of the History and Poetry Study group, the Monday Club and the First Congregational Church. She died July 28, 1917 in San Francisco, California while visiting their daughter Helen and their son Robert. She is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. Maggie is honored in the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden at the Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, Arizona.

A few years before his death, Robert married Elma T. Burmister. She survived him and died January 16, 1937 in Unadilla, Georgia where she had moved to live with her sister, Mrs. J. M. Holland. She was a daughter of the late Justice Tolar of the supreme court of Alabama.

Sources: Family Search; Margaret (Bashford) Burmister profile in the Sharlot Hall Museum’s Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden; Robert Bashford obituary (unattributed) and Elma T. Burmister obituary (unattributed) in Sharlot Hall Museum Research Center files.