 His plant specimens are in the herbarium of Kew Gardens.Burke got married in England in December 1842 and later settled in the United States.He subsequently went on a joint expedition with collectors from Kew to Hudson Bay and California, settled 180 acres in Cass County, Missouri, successfully participated in the California Gold Rush on 1849, and served as a First Lieutenant in the Union Army during the United States Civil War (even as family members served in the Confederate Army).