His early years were spent on the Grandfather Stidham farm and later on a farm two miles east of Buda, Ill. Before he came of age he began to learn telegraphy. Following this he attended school at Normal, Ill. and also took some work in Cross's Business College, Bloomington, Ill. He then became a telegraph operator on the C.B.&Q. R.R. in Illinois and later at stations on the Santa Fe R.R. in Colorado and in California.

In later years he lived in Huntington, W. Va. and became interested in selling insurance and in the development of land reputed to be rich in coal, iron and oil. The latter part of his life was spent in Detroit, Michigan with his children.

At about the age of 13 he suffered a severe scalp wound due to being run over by a loaded wagon. He recovered from this accident without serious after effects. He was subject to sciatica at various times in his life and from rheumatism.

[Burton was a principal in a scheme to develop oil and gas in an area in Kentucky near West Virginia circa the late teens/early twenties. He claimed his share was worth $500,000 at one point, although he could not sell at the time, but that later their lawyer cheated them in some way by engineering a takeover by a larger rival, leaving him with nothing. He ended his days managing a Western Union office in Detroit.]