James Dallas Burrus

James Dallas Burrus (14 October 1846 – 5 December 1928) was an African-American educator, druggist and philanthropist.

James Dallas Burrus was born at Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee, the son of William C. J. Burrus and Nancy Burrus. The couple had three sons: James Dallas Burrus, John Houston Burrus, and Preston Robert Burrus.

William C. J. Burrus (WCJ Burrus) was a plantation owner, lawyer, and politician. Nancy Burrus was a slave owned by WCJ Burrus, from mulatto and American Indian extraction that had been bought at a slave auction in Nashville. William C. J. Burrus was born on 28 December 1815 and died on 25 May 1859. He was buried in Burrus Cemetery on his estate Cherry Lane Acres, Rutherford County, Tennessee. The will of WCJ Burrus made provision for his slave wife to inherit his estate. The courts of Rutherford County, Tennessee did not recognize the provision or the will. The estate, Nancy Burrus and her three sons became the property of a relative of WCJ Burrus. After the Civil War, Nancy Burrus married a Mr. Brown and became Nancy Brown.

In 1928, Burrus died on a streetcar at Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. The certificate of death listed the cause as chronic myocarditis and contributory factor as old age. His occupation at the time of death was druggist and he was single. Burrus was the first negro to earn a bachelor of arts degree from a college south of the Mason-Dixon line. In his will he left $100,000 to Fisk University. The announcement of his death made the front page of newspapers across the country in the United States.

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