Benjamin Butler is one of those problem people.
A few years ago I made a chart of the children who are enumerated in his households between 1850 and 1880. Of course, pre-1880 census enumerations do not give relationship to the head of the household and it’s possible all these children are not his. Some of them at the very least could have been children of his second wife, Nancy Wolfe. It’s also possible that what I think are two separate individuals are one and the same–just enumerated under a different name. In this case I don’t think that’s the case given the non-census details that I have, but it’s always a possibility.
Benjamin has been located in the following federal censuses:
- 1850: St. Clair County, Michigan.
- 1870: Union County, Iowa.
- 1880: Vernon County, Missouri.
I need to update the chart. That’s one of the problem with making charts like this–keeping them updated.
And while the public trees on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, and other sites do have issues, it may be worth my time to search for these individuals in case someone has done some work on them. In some cases, this can be a lot of people to research from scratch. I’m not hoping to find more information on Benjamin using the trees, but it’s possible on his children. And, as always, I’m looking for hints in those trees–not information that I’ll use as being “established” simply because it is in the tree. Someone may have put information in a tree on one of these people that I have had difficulty finding for one reason or another.
I still have a lot of census blanks for these children.
I’m not certain my DNA results at this point will help me with Benjamin. We’ll discuss that in a future post.
And while the sources are not included in this post, I do have them. Never put down an event in a chart or other compilation without a source for it. Failing to do so can be a good way to add to your confusion.
| Name | Approximate year of birth (source) | Location (source) | 1850 | 1870 | 1880 | Know death location? | Misc. |
| Alfred | 1842 (1850) | Canada (1850) | yes | St. Joseph Co. Michigan | Probably the Alfred Butler who died in 1895 in St. Joseph County, Michigan. This Alfred married in 1891 and indicated his parents were Benjamin and Margaret (Stevens) Butler and was born approximately 1842. | ||
| Landen | 1844 (1850) | Canada (1850) | yes | Probably the Lee Butler (born 1848? In MI) living in Vernon County, MO. | Vernon County, Missouri, or nearby? | Very possibly is the Leander Butler who married Mrs. Mary Powell in Vernon Co. MO I 1878. This Leander is dead by 1910 (wife a widow in Vernon County, MO). | |
| Mary | 1846 (1850) | Michigan (1850) | yes | ||||
| George | 1848 (1850) | Michigan (1850) | yes | Wapello County, Iowa | Wapello County, Iowa 1910s. | Married 1869 Davis County, IA. | |
| Ellen | 1854 (1860) | Iowa (1870) Missouri (1880) | Na | Yes | Yes (with her own family) | Married 1870 Davis County, IA | |
| Harriet | 1856 (1860) | Michigan (1870) | Na | Yes | |||
| Charles | 1861 (1860) | Kansas (1870) | Na | Yes | |||
| Benjamin F. | 1865 (1870)
1864 (1880) |
Illinois (1870, 1880) | Na | Yes | Yes | Vernon County, Missouri. | Died November 1940 in Vernon County, Missouri |
| Alice | 1868 (1870) | Michigan (1880) | Na | Yes | |||
| Sarah | 1872 (1880) | Iowa (1880) | Na | Na | Yes | 1960 in Stanislaus County, CA as Sarah (Butler) Shaw Ray. | |
| Lecta | 1875 (1880) | Iowa (1880) | Na | Na | Yes | Doniphan County, KS area. | Died in 1968 in Kansas as Electa Painter-buried in Doniphan County. |
| Lila | 1879 (1880) | Nebraska (1880) | Na | Na | Yes | ||
| Rebecca | 1882 (1900) | Missouri | Na | Na | Na | Died 1958 Nodaway County, Missouri |
2 Responses
I believe Leander Butler was married to Theressa Langdon before Mary Powell. She died in1873. Leander and Theressa had two children Daniel 1869-1880 and Rosa L. Butler 1871-1960. Theressa Langdon was married before Leander to a David Brothers. They had one daughter Martha Brothers. I believe he passed away in the civil war.
Thanks for posting that, Nicki.
—Michael