Lyman, Professor W. D. "An Illustrated History of Walla Walla County, State of Washington." W.H. Lever, Publisher; 1901. p. 303. CHARLES E. BURROWS who retains the responsible position of secretary and manager of the Walla Walla Gas & Electric Company, whose offices are at 11 South Third street, is a citizen contributed to Walla Walla by the old Empire state, since the place of his nativity was the city of Troy, New York, where he was born on the 12th of January, 1828. He continued to reside in the state of his birth until he had attained the age of twenty-four years, receiving his elementary education in the public schools, after which he pursued a thorough academic course, laying aside his studies at the age of seventeen. He was thereafter engaged for some time in the mercantile business, after which he was employed as deputy in the commissary department of the Panama Railroad. Mr. Burrows came to California in 1852 and was employed as bookkeeper in a jobbing house at Sacramento until 1859, when he engaged in the gas business in Yreka, in the same state, continuing to reside there until 1864. Having become thoroughly familiar with the manufacturing of gas, he extended his scope of operations in this line, building gas works in Santa Cruz county, California, Seattle, Washington, and Salem, Oregon. Mr. Burrows' advent in Walla Walla dates back to 1885, when he came hither and effected the purchase of the gas works and also gave the city one of its most valuable public improvements by building the electric works, supplying both light and power. To this feature of the city's equipment due reference will be made in connection with the specific description of its status. In his religious adherency our subject, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he became a member in 1851 while residing in New York. At Yreka, California, in the year 1861, Mr. Burrows was united in marriage to Miss Frances S. Wadsworth, who is a descendant of the historic Wadsworth of Charter Oak fame in New England. Our subject and his wife have four living children, namely: Mary E.; Ella F.; Charles E., who is a clerk in the gas office; and Albert J., who went to Manila as a member of Company I, and who is now holding a clerkship in the office of the gas company. * * * * Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in April 2007 by Diana Smith. Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the individual featured in the biographies.