Lydia VanBlaricom Burbank
(First wife of Daniel Mark Burbank) (1814-1894)
Of Lydia Vanblaricom Burbank, first wife of the pioneer, our great grandfather Daniel Mark Burbank we know very little.
She was born December 10, 1816 in Switzerland County, Indiana. On the 31st of December 1835 she and grandfather Burbank were married one mile southeast of Naples, Illinois. They made their home at Naples and he piloted boats on the river. He could see his family only twice a week.
In 1836 Lydia took small pox and was very sick. She lost her baby and very nearly lost her own life. Augustus Ripley, named for Grandpa Burbank's youngest brother, was born to her 12 January 1838. In September of that year, at just 22 years of age, she died leaving her eight month old baby. Margaret Burbank Coonrad, a sister of Daniel Mark Burbank, took the baby to care for it, "it pined away" and died ten days later. She is buried at Naples, Illinois.