Elzy Burroughs' family leased and operated a sandstone quarry in the Aquia Creek area of Stafford County.
Known as Aquia sandstone, material from quarries in this area was utilized in the construction of Mount Vernon, the United States Capitol building, the White House, and the first lighthouse constructed at Cape Henry in Princess Anne County, Virginia, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
Elzy Burroughs is known to have moved to the Norfolk, Virginia area in 1810, before the end of his keeping service, and sold New Point Comfort Island.
During the War of 1812 Elzy was a Captain in command of the 20th Regiment Local Militia in Princess Anne County, and may have served on the staff of Brigadier General Robert Barraud Taylor, who was in charge of military operations in the Hampton Roads area.
The house still stands today, was renamed "Buyrningwood Farm" after being sold to the Buyrn family in the early 1930s, and is located near the modern Floyd E. Kellam High School.
Elzy's place of burial at Cedar Grove became the Burroughs Family Cemetery, which is now within sight of the modern Virginia Beach Municipal Center.