{{Short description|American football player (1886–1910)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox college football player |name=Francis Burr |image= |birth_date={{birth date|1886|9|15|mf=y}} |birth_place=[[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts]], U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|1910|12|5|1886|9|15|mf=y}} |death_place=[[Boston]], Massachusetts, U.S. |currentposition=[[Guard (gridiron football)|Guard]] |pastschools=[[Harvard Crimson football|Harvard]] (1905–1908) |highlights= * 2× Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1905 College Football All-America Team|1905]], [[1906 College Football All-America Team|1906]]) * Second-team All-American ([[1907 College Football All-America Team|1907]]) }} '''Francis Hardon Burr''' (September 15, 1886 – December 5, 1910) was an American [[American football|football]] player. He was a first-team All-American [[Guard (gridiron football)|guard]] in 1906 and captain of the [[1908 Harvard Crimson football team]]. After he died of [[typhoid fever]] in 1910, the Francis H. Burr Award was established in his honor.
==Biography== Burr was raised in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], the son of Herman M. Burr. He attended the [[Phillips Academy|Phillips-Andover Academy]] before enrolling at [[Harvard University]] in 1905.<ref>{{cite news|title=Untimely Summons: Death Ends Promising Career of Francis H. Burr of Harvard|newspaper=The Post-Standard|date=1910-12-05}}</ref> He was a starter at the [[Guard (American football)|guard]] position for the [[Harvard Crimson football|Harvard football]] team for four years from 1905 to 1908 and also did the punting and place-kicking for the team.<ref name=WP/> He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1906 and as the captain of the 1908 Harvard football team.<ref>{{cite web |title=Walter Camp Football Foundation |url=http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards// |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330065940/http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards |archive-date=2009-03-30 }}</ref><ref name=CW>{{cite news|author=Caspar Whitney|title=The View-Point|year=1907|publisher=The Outing Magazine|page=537|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa9hAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='Bob' Edgren Picks Out An All-American Team: Yale and Princeton Predominate His Choice|publisher=The Post-Standard (Syracuse)|date=1905-12-03}}</ref><ref name=AA>{{cite news|title='Philistine' Is Generous: Sun Accords Syracuse Bank Amid First Sixtten|publisher=The Post-Standard|date=1906-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=New Football Produces Individual Brilliancy: Many Players Merit Places on Fanciful All-American Team|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1906-12-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Choose Eckey Over Libbey: Eastern Authorities Give Maroon Star Place on All American|newspaper=Lake County Times (Hammond, IN)|date=1906-12-15}}</ref> In addition to playing four years on the football team, Burr also competed for two years on Harvard's track team, one year on the baseball team and one year on the tennis team.<ref>{{cite news|title=HARVARD ATHLETE DEAD: Francis H. Burr Was One of the Best Known Football Players|newspaper=Naugatuck Daily News|date=1910-12-05}}</ref> He was also the first marshal of his class and president of his freshman class.<ref name=Mar>{{cite news|title=F. J. MARDULIER '30 WINS BURR AWARD: Excelled in Hurdles on Last Year's Team--Ranks High Among Students at Engineering School|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1929-10-25|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1929/10/25/f-j-mardulier-30-wins-burr/}}</ref>
In 1909, he enrolled at Harvard Law School, and in 1910, he became the chief lineman coach at Harvard while in his second year as a law student. In early October 1910, he became ill with [[typhoid fever]]. He died at Des Brisay Hospital in December 1910 at age 24 after his third relapse.<ref name=WP>{{cite news|title=F. H. BURR, HARVARD'S 1908 FOOTBALL CAPTAIN DIES: Succumbs to Typhoid Fever After Long Illness—Famous as Athlete, and Coached Linemen This Season—Made Memorable Speech at Mass Meeting When His Team Beat Yale|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=1910-12-05}}</ref> Burr's funeral was held at the Appleton Chapel in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], and all recitations at Harvard were suspended for one hour on the day of his funeral.<ref>{{cite news|title=Burr's Funeral Held|newspaper=The Post-Standard|date=1910-12-07}}</ref>
In 1914, Burr's friends established the Francis H. Burr Award in his honor. The award was given each year to a senior, selected by the Dean of Harvard College and the Chairman of the Athletic Committee, who "combines as nearly as possible Burr's remarkable qualities of character, leadership, scholarship, and athletic ability."<ref>{{cite news|title=FRANCIS H. BURR AWARD GIVEN TO CHESTER LITMAN: Awarded to Senior Combination of Character, Scholarship, Ability in Athletics, and Leadership|publisher=Harvard Crimson|date=1934-10-10|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1934/10/10/francis-h-burr-award-given-to/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=FOR FRANCIS BURR MEMORIAL: Harvard Scholarship In Name of Late Football Star|newspaper=New Brunswick Times|date=1914-01-15}}</ref> Past recipients of the Francis H. Burr Award include Henry Dunker (1924),<ref>{{cite news|title=BURR SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED TO DUNKER: Scholarship Established in Memory of Francis H. Burr '09--Dunker Is President of Student Council|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1924-11-15|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1924/11/15/burr-scholarship-awarded-to-dunker-phenry/}}</ref> J.P. Chase (1927),<ref>{{cite news|title=J.P. CHASE AWARDED BURR SCHOLARSHIP GIVEN FOR YEAR: Confer Bonaparte Award Upon A. S. Reinhart--Granted for Highest Standing in Government|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1927-11-17|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1927/11/17/jp-chase-awarded-burr-scholarship-pin/}}</ref> F. J. Mardulier (1929),<ref name=Mar/> Vernon Munroe Jr. (1930),<ref>{{cite news|title=MUNROE, KOWARSKY AND SHUEBRUK WIN IMPORTANT AWARDS: Peter Shuebruk '33 Awarded Wendell Scholarship -- Napoleon Bonaparte Prize Goes to Kowarsky|date=1930-11-01|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1930/11/1/munroe-kowarsky-and-shuebruk-win-important/}}</ref> [[Barry Wood (American football)|Barry Wood]] (1931),<ref>{{cite news|title=GIVE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS TO WOOD, POPPER, AND BURR: Is Given Prize for Outstanding Senior Entering Law School--Government Scholarship Awarded to Popper|date=1931-10-27|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1931/10/27/give-scholarship-awards-to-wood-popper/}}</ref> Richard Ames (1933),<ref>{{cite news|title=AMES WINS AWARD OF 1933 FRANCIS BURR SCHOLARSHIP: Barry Wood, Vernon Munroe, Previous Winners--Dean, Athletic Committee Pick Recipient|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1933-10-31|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1933/10/31/ames-wins-award-of-1933-francis/}}</ref> Chester Litman (1934),<ref>{{cite news|title=FRANCIS H. BURR AWARD GIVEN TO CHESTER LITMAN: Awarded to Senior Combination of Character, Scholarship, Ability in Athletics, and Leadership|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1934-10-10|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1934/10/10/francis-h-burr-award-given-to/}}</ref> Richard H. Sullivan (1938),<ref>{{cite news|title=SULLIVAN AWARDED BURR SCHOLARSHIP: Student Council President, Phi Beta Kappa Society, Basketball Squad, and Album Business Manage|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1938-11-16|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1938/11/16/sullivan-awarded-burr-scholarship-prichard-h/}}</ref> Loren G. MacKinney (1941),<ref>{{cite news|title=MacKinney Given Francis Burr Award As Outstanding Senior Class Scholar-Athlete: Scholarship Holder Wins Coveted Prize|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1941-11-17|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1941/11/17/mackinney-given-francis-burr-award-as/}}</ref> Gary Singleterry,<ref>{{cite news|title=Colburn Receives Bingham Award At Annual Senior Athletic Dinner|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1970-05-19|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/5/19/colburn-receives-bingham-award-at-annual/}}</ref> and Richard K. Hausler.<ref>{{cite news|title=Awards|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=1972-05-31}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave}}
{{1905 College Football Consensus All-Americans}} {{1906 College Football Consensus All-Americans}} {{1908 Harvard Crimson football navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burr, Francis}} [[Category:1886 births]] [[Category:1910 deaths]] [[Category:American football guards]] [[Category:Harvard Crimson football players]] [[Category:All-American college football players]] [[Category:Phillips Academy alumni]] [[Category:Players of American football from Brookline, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Deaths from typhoid fever in Massachusetts]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]