Dr. Burr was born in Lansing, Michigan, where he attended local schools. His medical studies were at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and he graduated in 1878. His psychiatric career began as an Assistant Physician at the Eastern Michigan State Hospital in Pontiac in 1878, and went on to become Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent in 1889.
In 1894, Dr. Burr moved to become Medical Director of Oak Grove, a private mental hospital in Flint, Michigan, where he remained for 26 years.He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Detroit Academy of Medicine, the President of the Michigan State Medical Society, the Chairman of its Council, the Societie Medico-Psycholoque of Paris, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. In 1906, he became a member of the American Neurological Association. Dr. Burr published several books and some 80 papers on psychiatry. In 1930, a two volume medical history of Michigan was published, and he was awarded an honorary M.A. degree by the University of Michigan. His textbook for nurses, titled “Practical Psychology and Psychiatry,” went through six editions.
Dr. Burr served as Secretary and Vice President of the American Medico-Psychological Association and President (1905–06).