[2] He was raised in Troy, New York,[1] and served an apprenticeship in the Watervliet Government Arsenal, learning gunsmithing.

He moved to Florida for health reasons in 1837, and brought his wife and two children in August 1839.

With the Armed Occupation Act, he filed a claim to settle in the area now known as Ankona, just south of present-day Fort Pierce, which was then called Susanna.

In order to supplement his income, he purchased a schooner, which he named "The Josephine" which he used to become a commercial fisherman.

[citation needed] After hostilities with natives, in August 1849, the Burnham's and most of the other settlers left the colony and fled to safety in St.