Rufus Burleson died in 1901. The following year, a committee including a 30 year old Pat Neff commissioned a statue of Burleson to be placed in the quadrangle on the Baylor University campus surrounded by the four recently constructed buildings: Old Main, Georgia Burleson Hall, the Carroll Science Building and the Carroll Library and Chapel. The sculptor chosen was Pompeo Coppini, an Italian-born artist living in San Antonio. Later works by Coppini include the statue of George Washington on the University of Texas campus, the statue of Sul Ross on the campus of Texas A&M University, the Alamo memorial in San Antonio and the statue of Judge Baylor also on the Baylor campus.
Coppini’s autobiography, From Dawn to Sunset, relates the August 8, 1903 session when the committee and Georgia Burleson were invited to inspect the clay model for the statue. In attendance were members of the committee, including Pat Neff, Georgia Burleson and a granddaughter of the Burlesons. Coppini states that all he had to work from was a poor photograph and a small portrait engraving of the subject. However, with other information that had been provided to him, he felt that he had been able to build an image of Burleson in his mind.
The artist also relates that he needed a subject to pose for the work and he had found an old man on the street to serve in this capacity. In contrast to the well known teetotaler Burleson, the man was “a dissipated whiskey drinker, reduced by the habit to the level of a bum,” but that the man served his purpose. Coppini continued: “You may think that it was sacrilegious to use such a man to help me make a good likeness of Burleson; on the contrary, it turned out to be a real inspiration to the better conception and idealization to the man who fought and taught against such a state of degeneration. The old man [the model] seemed to be happy when he was holding the Holy Bible.”
The committee viewed the statue in silence, examining it from every angle while Mrs. Burleson and her granddaughter remained seated at a distance. The little girl exclaimed, “Grandma, that is Grandpa!” after which Georgia let out a cry and left the room. Coppini’s wife escorted Georgia to their bedroom and the others followed. Coppini was concerned that Georgia was disappointed, but was assured by Pat Neff that there was no trouble at all. Coppini relates that Neff told him that the statue was so lifelike that Georgia could not look at it any longer without breaking down. Coppini viewed the success of this statue as a solid early step in his Texas career. (1)
According to Martha Cooper Garrett, the granddaughter who was not named in Coppini’s account was her mother, Emma King Burleson Cooper.
(1) Looking Back at Baylor, Kent Keeth, p. 25
Georgia Jenkins was a strong willed person, like her husband Rufus. Their relationship began in 1849 when they met at a Sons of Temperance rally in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas when Georgia was 16 years old. Rufus Burleson, then 10 years older and pastor of the congregation that was to become First Baptist Church of Houston, was slated to receive a silk banner from the Sons of Temperance. The banner was presented to him by Georgia. She evidently made a distinct impression in Rufus and later that year, he made the following entry in his diary, “My mind on one subject is fixed—my manner of life I have resolved to change—if my health and God’s providence permit—I need the sympathy of a pious and lovely woman at all times.”
The daughter of the late Pleasant Cicero and Harriett Ann Daniel Jenkins, Georgia received her secondary education at Judson Female Institute at Marion, Alabama. Upon her return to Texas, she and Rufus married on January 3, 1853 at Independence, the ceremony performed by their long time friend Henry L. Graves, the first president of Baylor University. The wedding took place on the Baylor campus.
Rufus was the natural successor to Baylor President Graves and in 1951, he was selected to serve as president of the university, a post that he was to hold for ten years. Burleson acknowledged his reliance on Georgia’s advice and counsel in his administrative decisions throughout his career. They were well matched and Georgia is credited for influencing the expansion of coeducation at Baylor. Ultimately a disagreement over this same issue would lead to Rufus’ departure in 1861 from the Independence, Texas university and his move to Waco to serve as president of the newer but growing Waco University. Baylor at Independence always separated male and female students with Baylor Female College having its own board of trustees, something that disturbed Rufus. Undoubtedly Rufus had a strong following among the professors and upon his resignation and departure from Baylor at Independence, virtually all of the instructors of the male branch of the college went with him to become professors of the Baptist supported Waco University.
Rufus and Georgia devoted their efforts to developing Waco University. Georgia served as matron of the second major structure on the campus, a women's dormitory named in her honor, Georgia Burleson Hall. Though there were strict rules of propriety for the female students, Georgia and Rufus strongly believed in coeducation which was practiced in the classrooms and in Sunday worship services. The two universities were merged in 1887 and took the name of the Independence institution. The men's branch of Baylor moved to Waco. The women's branch of Baylor at Independence became Mary Hardin-Baylor and was moved to Belton, Texas.
Rufus and Georgia were married over 48 years until his death at the age of 77 on May 14, 1901. Following his death, Georgia continued to live in Waco until her death at the age of 90 on June 11, 1924.
