Held in slavery until the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865), Burgan first learned to read from reviewing the homework of white children on the farm.

In the fall of 1873 he enrolled in the State Normal school at Terre Haute, working as a cook and housekeeper to pay his board.

In the fall of 1874 he was appointed to a position as an assistant mail agent by J. H. Walker, which further helped pay for his education.

In the fall of 1875 he began teaching in nearby Lost Creek and shortly later he graduated from the State Normal School.

In 1877 he began to preach in Lost Creek, and in September 1878 enrolled at Wilberforce University to study for the ministry where in his final two years he was on scholarship.