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Andrew
Mizell Burton
A.
M. Burton “A Prince and a Great Man”
"Know
ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?"
(2 Sam. 3: 38.)
"I
pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." (2 Kings 2: 9.) Andrew Mizell Burton was an extraordinary man from every point of view. He lived in a fabulous era of progress and development. He was a part of that era, and a factor in its marvels. His life was a fulfillment of the American dream that any boy can rise to the heights of success and achievement. He
was born in very modest circumstances and was reared on a farm in Trousdale
County, Tennessee. His total formal education consisted of no more than twenty
months of schooling. As a lad, he worked in the tobacco fields for fifty cents a
day. He
walked a cow to Nashville-a distance of forty miles from his home-to provide
milk for a baby of a kinsman. In Nashville he secured work as a day laborer at
the Tennessee Centennial grounds for a dollar a day. Even
under these circumstances, he managed to save something of what he earned each
day. He got a job selling insurance in Nashville, and his excellent native
abilities soon brought him to the position of State Agent. When that company
went out of business, he decided to form a company of his own. The
very thought of a poor country boy without formal education founding and
building an insurance company was amazing-and still is. He persuaded five
others, including among them Mrs. Helena Johnson, to invest with him, and
established the new company. In
the years that followed, A. M. Burton achieved distinguished leadership in many
fields of endeavor and became nationally and internationally known and
appreciated. The business that he founded in 1903-the Life and Casualty
Insurance Company of Tennessee-and over which he presided as president for
forty-eight years is now one of the nation's largest and strongest insurance
firms with nearly three billion dollars of insurance in force. He
was baptized at the Highland Avenue church of Christ in Nashville in 1910. His
growing interest in religion led him to make contributions to more than 1000
Churches of Christ throughout the world, and he was instrumental in the
establishment and development of Central church of Christ in downtown
Nashville. With
little education himself, he became the chief inspiration and support of David
Lipscomb College and the Nashville Christian Institute and made personal
contributions to numerous educational institutions throughout the nation and
the world. His
acts of benevolence included gifts to homes for orphans, for the aged, for the
sick, and for, many other related services to troubled humanity. A.
M. Burton had several special qualities, each of which would be rare, and in
combination would be found only once in an age. Among the qualities that stand
out in the memories of those who knew him best are these: Vision-He
possessed the ability to see farther and clearer than other men. At the turn of
the century, he dreamed of building the Life and Casualty Insurance Company;
and more than twenty-five years before the Life and Casualty Tower was erected
he had a picture produced by an artist of what the building would look like. He
kept this picture on his desk through all those years. His
plan for Central church of Christ included the daily use of radio-a new and
phenomenal means of communication at that time; and a church building open every
day to serve the poor through providing clothing, shelter, and other help where
needed. Through his leadership the church established a day home where working
mothers could leave their children, a home for working girls who had come to
Nashville as strangers in a large city, and a home for boys. He
dreamed of Lipscomb's becoming a senior college at a time when its assets were
small and its enrollment in college a mere 200. His vision enabled him to see
that the boys coming back from the war would need to go to school and there
would not be enough schools to serve them. These dreams led to the establishment
of the Lipscomb Expansion Program and the subsequent growth of Lipscomb to a
fully developed senior college. These are only a few instances.
He
had many other dreams and plans which never reached the stage of fulfillment.
He often outlined plans for a hospital and for special services of many kinds
for the sick in body and mind, the crippled, the blind, and the unfortunate. He
dreamed of a major vocational school that would enable poor boys to receive an
education without cost by working half a day and going to school half a day.
Concern
for the poor-Unlike many men of wealth and power, A. M. Burton never lost the
common touch. Throughout his life he was deeply concerned about the poor,
the blind, the orphan, and the crippled. He had a special collection of the
Scriptures translated into Braille and made available without cost to the
blind.
He
often spoke of the fact that his success in business related back to the poor
and underprivileged people who were the first to buy policies in the Life and
Casualty Insurance Company. He had a genuine concern for the underprivileged,
regardless of the reason for their poverty, and often was heard to say that high
taxes were a blessing-a strange statement, in the eyes of many, for a man of
great wealth. In this connection, he liked to quote Leviticus 25:10,11:
"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout
the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and
ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man
unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you."
It
was his philosophy that modern tax policies are necessary to accomplish the same
purpose as the Year of Jubilee. Optimism-While
A. M. Burton had moments when he was discouraged and fearful, as does every man,
his general spirit was optimistic. He believed in the adage, "It can be
done," no matter what it is. When changes became necessary, he was quick to
see and accept the new and the different, while retaining complete loyalty to
the eternal principles of righteousness. Among the mottoes he often repeated
was, "Nothing succeeds like success." No matter how vast or
complicated the undertaking, he believed it could be done and proceeded to do
it. Generosity-Perhaps
A. M. Burton was best known for his generosity as a philanthropist. No one will
ever know the total amount of money which he gave away. He gave David Lipscomb
College more than any other Tennessean has ever given to anything. To him
giving was a privilege and a joy. He gave away millions as easily and naturally
as most men might hand a piece of change to a beggar in the street. The
last gift he made was the establishment of a fund to be known as the A. M.
Burton-Marshall Keeble Scholarship Fund to help underprivileged young people. It
has been estimated that if he had kept all the wealth which came into his hands,
he would have died one of the nation's wealthiest men with more than
$100,000,000. Instead, he gave it all away and became richer still. His
generosity was expressed in numerous little ways, as well as in the larger, more
monumental gifts. He liked to fill his pockets with tiny rosebuds and hand them
out to office workers and others whom he met along the way as he went by the
College or at the Life and Casualty Insurance Company. After
he retired, he began raising chickens. It gave him much pleasure to give friends
who visited him from time to time a dozen eggs to take home with them. The
last time Mrs. Pullias, Clay, Jr., and I went to see him, he had just come back
from the hospital. When we rose to leave, he took Mrs. Pullias by the arm and
led her out to a magnolia tree in the yard. With his own hands, he broke off a
high hanging blossom and handed it to her with a smile. This was typical of his
entire life. Faith-A.
M. Burton had an unwavering faith in the wisdom of God. He came to believe
sincerely and often said, "God will show the way that will work out for the
best." In my very last conversation with him, only a few days before he
died, he told me: "I
am ready to go. God has been good to me. I do not have an ache or pain. I look
to the future without fear, or even anxiety." Since
the death of A. M. Burton, many have mentioned that some monument should be
prepared for him. This seems to me unnecessary. He built his own memorials,
which will stand as monuments of good works in his honor, to the good of
humanity, and to the glory of God through all the generations to come. When
one approaches Nashville from any direction, the first building that comes
into view is the Life and Casualty Tower-a monument in the business world to
the memory of A. M. Burton. When
one walks on the campus of David Lipscomb College all that he sees is a memorial
to the memory of this man. With the exception of the home of David Lipscomb,
which still stands, A. M. Burton had a vital part in the planning and
construction of every major building on the campus. The Lipscomb of today is for
him a dream come true. In
downtown Nashville Central church of Christ is a memorial to him. The Nashville
Christian Institute is another monument in his honor, and lesser ones exist
all over the land and in distant lands in the form of the good which he did. Chairman
Harry R. Leathers of the Lipscomb Board of Directors paid this touching tribute
to him: "In the passing of A. M. Burton the cause of Christ has lost a
great leader-great, by the Bible definition-'But he that is greatest among you
shall be your servant.' During his long and useful life he did much to relieve
the poor, support Christian education, and advance the kingdom of God
throughout the world. I count it a joy and a blessing to have served with him
for more than twenty-five years on the Lipscomb Board of Directors. His faith,
vision, and humility were exceeded only by his liberality in giving to righteous
causes. Only eternity can measure his influence for good." One
of his business associates said just before his funeral service, "When I
think of what would not
have been
without A. M. Burton, I realize the debt owed to him by so many for so
long." The man who is now president of the Life and Casualty Insurance
Company, Guilford Dudley, Jr., expressed well what so many feel as they think of
A. M. Burton's life: "A. M. Burton has 'gone away.' Somehow or other even
though I was well aware that he was 87 years old on his last birthday, February
2, I always thought he would outlive us all. Somehow I think I was right and
though I was a pallbearer at his funeral, I still think he will outlive us all
. . . . Yes, I think he will outlive us all, for he was a truly great man, and
his good works will live after him." In
trying to understand his full stature as a man, I would paraphrase the words
used to describe the incomparable Winston Churchill, "The oldest among us
has never seen his equal and the youngest among us will never live to see such a
man again." On
behalf of a vast host of people who will always appreciate the life and work
of A. M. Burton, our prayers and best wishes reach out to Mrs. Burton, who
shared with him an abundant life for more than sixty years, and to every member
of the family in the loss of one so dear to so many.
Directions To The Grave Of A.M. Burton Woodlawn Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee, is located behind the 100 Oaks Shopping Center that faces I-65 just south of the I-440 Interchange. From 100 Oaks travel east on Thompson Lane and turn right at the first entrance to Woodlawn's South Side Park (across from main part of cemetery). Take the first left and road will bear around to the right. Stop the car around the trashcan and look to your left. About mid-section of Lakeview is a tree. Go just about to the tree and look to the left.
GPS: N 36º
06' 49.4" x WO 86º 45' 35.6" To see map click
on blinking button!
   Lillie Armstrong Oct. 22, 1886 Mar. 3, 1981  Andrew Mizell Feb. 2, 1879 Aug. 1, 1966 |
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