John Puryear was one of two sons of Richard C. Puryear along with his
brother Ricard C. "Little Dick" Puryear, Jr. and father, Dick Puryear
lived in a section located a few miles West of Burnt Corn and was named them. They were slave dealers who came South from Virginia and
settled in Burnt Corn. They all were dealing in slaves trading and brought quite a few slaves to Burnt Corn and sold them to plantation
owners.
John Puryear the only one living after the Civil War was a victim of the Yankee raid that passed through Burnt Corn. They had been
informed that he had sold slaves and had a lot of money, but he refused to tell them where the money was and they tied a rope around
his neck and pulled him up on a limb of a tree, but he still refused to tell them. He had given his money to a lady friend,
Mrs. Mary Moseley for safe keeping. Mrs. Moseley was the widow of
Asa Moseley,
