There is a George W. Burnett listed in the 1850 Daviess County, Indiana
Census, in Madison Township. This could be his father. There are also
several Sho(e)makers listed in Madison Township as well. They are listed
sequentially in the census transcription, so it might be the right one.
Daviess County had at least one courthouse fire, but I don't know when.
Here's a link to the census on line
ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/in/daviess/census/1850/madison.txt
John