He was born on December 13, 1730, in
Elizabeth, New Jersey. Burnet graduated from
Princeton University in 1749, studied medicine under Dr. Staats in
White Plains, New York, and started his practice in
Newark, New Jersey. He was a member of Newark's
Committee of Safety in 1775 before he joined the
Continental Army as a surgeon. He opened a hospital in Newark for wounded soldiers, and ran it throughout the
Revolution. He was appointed Surgeon General for the Eastern Region in 1776, and also held that position until the war ended in 1783. Burnet was elected to the Continental Congress in 1780 and served from December 11, 1780, until his resignation on April 1, 1781, when he was forced to leave this service by the press of other duties and his wife's illness. Later that year he began serving as a judge in
Essex County. He also led the
New Jersey Medical Society in 1787. He was a member of The
Society of the Cincinnati in the state of New Jersey, taking the seat of his brother Ichabod upon his death. He died in
Newark, New Jersey, on October 7, 1791, aged 60, and was interred in that city's
First Presbyterian Church Cemetery. ==Family==