Aaron Burr’s Descendants Work to Polish His Image : History: They say the third U.S. vice president was a patriot and does not deserve a school-textbook reputation as a villain.

ANNANDALE, Va. — Young F. Burr Anderson squirmed during his grade-school history lesson as he listened to the tale of a fatal duel and the greed and treason ascribed to his most famous relative, Aaron Burr.

“When you have the name Burr as part of your name and you hear those things, it makes you very uncomfortable,” Anderson recalled.

As president of a club dedicated to protecting the reputation of the nation’s third vice president, Anderson hopes to prevent similar embarrassment among future generations.

“He’s been severely maligned by almost every history book that you read,” the 63-year-old Anderson said. “He is portrayed as a villain--avaricious and ambitious. We think this is grossly unfair.”

True, he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. And true, he engaged in a bit of creative foreign policy that resulted in charges of treason.

But the details are usually missing from the textbooks, Anderson said. Often lost as well is mention of Burr the patriot, the man who served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, then in Congress and as vice president to Thomas Jefferson.

The Aaron Burr Assn. pleads with publishers for reassessment and harangues newspaper editors whenever Burr is smeared in print.

Many of the group’s 200 members are distant relatives of Burr, who had no direct descendants. Anderson, who edits the group’s newsletter from his Virginia home, has a great-great-great-great grandfather who was Burr’s third cousin.

Several members are trying mightily to get Burr’s severe visage placed on a postage stamp. (As one Burr admirer puts it: If a demonstrated scoundrel like Richard Nixon gets a stamp, why not Burr?)

All that is laudable, but probably not very effective, said Sean Wilentz, who teaches American history at Princeton University, Burr’s alma mater.

“They’re essentially right,” he said, “but history does like scoundrels, and Burr did not play by the rules.”

The story of Burr’s 1804 duel with Hamilton captures the romance and fervor of a time when men were willing to die for honor.

To hear Anderson tell it, the aristocratic Burr was practically forced into the duel by friends who could not bear to hear his name besmirched by the social-climbing Hamilton.

“Hamilton was running around saying all these terrible things about Burr,” Anderson said.

Then there’s the matter of the pistols. Hamilton chose the weapons and supplied the guns--both with hair triggers, Anderson said. “People say Burr was devious, but look at that!” the historian said.

In any event, Burr admirers say the most important thing to remember about the duel is this: Hamilton fired first.

Perhaps because of the hair trigger, he missed. Burr’s shot hit Hamilton in the abdomen. He died a few hours later, and a murder warrant was issued. The vice president never tried to hide, and the matter was eventually dropped.

Hamilton’s reputation was probably enhanced by the duel, while Burr was finished as a national leader. Gallingly for the Burr camp, Hamilton’s ambition and penchant for undemocratic government are given the same scant treatment by history as Burr’s accomplishments. Plus, Hamilton’s picture is on the $10 bill.

A few years after the duel, Burr was hauled into court to answer charges that he tried to undermine the government by conspiring to found a nation on America’s western flank.

“He was acquitted, of course. That’s usually left out,” Anderson said.

Burr was trying to keep the United States from losing its southwestern territories to Spain when he led an army to claim the land in 1807, Anderson said.

His reputation in tatters, Burr moved to Europe, later returning home to New York City, where he died in 1836.

Quite apart from Anderson’s efforts, one recent event just might help burnish Burr’s image.

Among the tide of Republicans newly elected to Congress is Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, a Winston-Salem businessman.

“I am honored to be the first Burr to serve in the U.S. Congress in over 120 years and to continue the Burr family tradition of public service,” Burr said recently.

He is the third member of his family elected to Congress and the first Republican. Albert George Burr, an Illinois Democrat, served two terms in the House, from 1867 to 1871.