Kinship: The sixth great-granduncle of the post–World War II Smith generation.

William Slocum Burling was born 12 July 1777 in Orange County, New York, where his parents had taken refuge during the British occupation of New York City. A lifelong member of the Society of Friends, he later settled in Canandaigua, Ontario County, and became a respected member of the Farmington Meeting. His obituary in the Ontario Republican Times (March 18, 1863) recalled that he had witnessed the evacuation of New York by the British in 1783, the inauguration of George Washington in 1789, and the earliest Hudson River steamboat trials in 1807. He also took part in the establishment of the first free school in New York City.

In Canandaigua he was remembered for his courtesy, energy, and charity. The obituary described his “light step, animated aspect, and cheerful greeting,” qualities that endured well into his eighties. He died there on 15 March 1863, aged 85. Funeral services were held at his home on Gibson Street and at the Farmington Friends Meeting House. He was buried in the Friends Cemetery at Farmington beside his wife, Elizabeth Earle Burling (1778–1861).