Rufus C. Burleson, of Waco, was born near Decatur, Alabama, on August 7, 1823. He was educated in Nashville University and in November 1840 was licensed by the First Baptist Church of the Tennessee capital to preach, and in 1845 was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry. On June 10, 1847, he was graduated from the Western Baptist Theological Seminary at Covington, Kentucky, and the following year accepted the pastorate of the church in Houston, Texas. His ministerial labors there continued until 1861 when he was elected President of Baylor University at Independence. This institution was in 1886 removed to Waco. In 1879 he was elected President Emeritus and retired from the active management of the institution. During the war between the States, he served as chaplain of the 15th Texas infantry regiment, C. S. A. with the rank of captain. Dr. Burleson was justly distinguished as a preacher and as an educator. Among the famous people converted under his preaching or baptized by him may be mentioned Mrs. Dickinson, a survivor of the fall of the Alamo; Gen. Sam Houston, Judge A. S. Lipscomb, who was Secretary of State of the Republic of Texas; and Judge W. E. Donley, of the Texas Supreme Court. Mrs. Dickinson was baptized while he was pastor of the church at Houston. The baptism of Gen. Houston occurred November 19, 1854, in the presence of a large concourse of people, in a little clear creek called Rocky, about one mile south of Independence. Dr. Burleson's first cousin, Gen. Edward Burleson, was one of the heroes of the battle of San Jacinto, and afterward Commander-in-chief of the regular army of the Republic of Texas. On the 2nd day of January 1853, Dr. Burleson was married at Independence to Miss Georgia Jenkins. He died in Waco, May 14, 1901, and is survived by his widow and several children. "Texans Who Wore the Gray," Volume I; by Sid S. Johnson
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