Burnap ran a dry goods bus­iness in Brook­lyn, though he grad­u­at­ed from the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Par­is with a mu­sic de­gree, and for 37 years played the or­gan at the Re­formed Church in Brook­lyn Heights. He was a pro­li­fic com­pos­er, and helped ed­it the fol­low­ing:

• Hymns of the Church, 1869
• Hymns of Pray­er and Praise, 1871
• Hymns and Songs of Praise, 1874

• Hughes, p. 336
• Hustad, p. 215
• New York Trib­une, Vol­ume LX, num­ber 19747, 9 Dec­em­ber 1900, p. 1 (gives his mid­dle name as Cicero)
• Nutter, p. 454
• Reynolds, p. 260 (in­cor­rect­ly gives his mid­dle name as Christ­o­pher)

1. Amesbury
2. Blumen
3. Boston
4. Cantus
5. Cara
6. Cochran
7. Ephratah
8. Hinchman
9. Holy Guide
10. Inasmuch
11. Jakarta
12. New Year’s Day
13. Serenity
14. Tennent