Burton died on 10 February 1860 in New York City. At the time of his death, he had collected a library of over 100,000 volumes, especially rich in books by and relating to William Shakespeare. He left his fortune to charity but his wife Elizabeth, from whom he had separated 26 years earlier, arrived from England to claim dower. Judgment initially went against her but after a series of appeals the Supreme Court upheld her claim, thus establishing the rights of an alien to dower in the United States.