Administrative/Biographical History
Louis E. Burgner was born in Fremont, Ohio on November 15, 1874. In 1885, at age eleven, he came to live in Oberlin. He attended Oberlin Public Schools and was enrolled in the Academy in 1893‑95. He married Harriett Durfee September 1, 1897. In 1898, he bought the insurance and real estate business of Charles Seth Brown in Oberlin and continued in that business until his death in 1948.
In 1899, Mr. Burgner was elected Justice of Peace and held that office for ten years. Also in 1899, he was vice president of the Cinder Path Assn. and, when the Oberlin Electric and Heating Plant was given a franchise for steam heating, Mr. Burgner was one of the incorporators. In 1906, when Peoples Banking Company was incorporated, he was a member of the original board and he was secretary and treasurer at the time of his death.
Mr. Burgner was on the board of Allen Hospital for 25 years and was a director of the Oberlin Missionary Assn. for 15 years. During World War I, he chaired five successful Liberty Bond drives and a Victory Loan Drive in Oberlin and its surrounding townships. He was a member of First Church and for twenty years, served as a member of its board of trustees. He also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and as an officer of the Lorain County Insurance Agents' Assn.
The Burgner family lived at 171 E. College St. for 39 years. There were two daughters ‑Rebecca (Mrs. Douglas Decherd) Oberlin Conservatory '22 and Katherine (Mrs. Frank Huntley), Oberlin College '24. Mrs. Burgner helped to organize a Red Cross chapter in Oberlin, the first in Ohio, and served as its president for the first two years until it was required that the position be filled by a man. She and Mr. Burgner organized the first Hospital Bazaar in Oberlin. In 1955, Mrs. Burgner was the oldest active member of the Oberlin Women's Club, having joined it in 1906.
Louis E. Burgner died Jan. 1, 1948 after a brief illness.
Administrative InformationSeries 1. Liberty Loan Files, 1917-1919, n.d.
This series comprises promotional literature, correspondence, notes and newspaper clippings concerning Liberty Loan drives during 1918-19 held to raise money in support of the nation's war effort. Burgner was the successful chairman for Russia Township and three neighboring townships during each of the five Liberty Loan drives held there. Oberlin is in Russia Township.
Series 2. Hawaiian Volcano Association, 1923, 1925-29, n.d.,
Contains correspondence with persons, mainly in Hawaii, stemming from Burgner's interest in insurance for earthquake damages. The correspondents include volcanologist T.A. Jaggar and L.W. de Vis-Norton, Secretary of the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association.
Series 3. Miscellaneous, 1860, 1918
This series holds two items: An 1860 letter and a 1918 pamphlet from the Shanghai Men’s Total Abstinence League by George A Huntley titled “Alcohol and the Next Generation.” The handwritten letter is addressed to Jacob Burgner, father of Louis Burgner, by Don A. Pease telling of the reasons why Pease left the superintendancy of the Fremont, Ohio school system.
Note: Entry taken from William E. Bigglestone's "[preliminary] Guide to the Oberlin College Archives," which was prepared as individual entry sheets in a three-ring binder during the early 1980s.
INVENTORY
Box 1
Series 1. Liberty Loan Files, 1917-1919, n.d.
Copies of Newspaper Clippings & Telegrams, 1918-19
Correspondence & Notes, 1918-19, n.d. (2f)
Printed Materials, 1917-19, n.d. (2f)
Series 2. Hawaiian Volcano Association, 1923, 1925-29, n.d.
General Correspondence, 1925-27, n.d.
Correspondence of Louis Burgner and de Vis-Norton, 1925-29, n.d.
Correspondence of Louis Burgner and T.A. Jaggar, 1923, 1925-27
Newspaper Clippings, 1927, n.d.
Pamphlets & Printed Matter, 1925-26, 1929, n.d.
Series 3. Miscellaneous, 1860, 1918
Letter from Don A. Pease to Jacob Burgner, 1860
Pamphlet, “Alcohol and the Next Generation,” by George A. Huntley, 1918
