I’ve made some headway on Benjamin Butler’s “children.” As expected, I’ve located more of the boys than the girls. And for the people I’ve been fortunate enough to locate, I still need to more fully flesh out their lives in an attempt to gather additional information on more children.
Based upon what I know now, it seems that Benjamin left “children” in Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri, all places where I know he lived. Others moved west.
[summary from previous blog post]
Benjamin Butler (probably born about 1819 in New York State) has a been a thorn in my genealogical side for some time. He moved quite a bit and simply cannot be located thus far in the 1860 census.
Benjamin has been located in the following federal censuses:
- 1850: St. Clair County, Michigan.
- 1870: Davis County, Iowa [corrected on 31 Dec 2013].
- 1880: Vernon County, Missouri.
[updated chart]
| me | 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 |
I’m still finding the chart helpful–even without the sources attached. I’ve got them, but this chart is to help me stay organized and focused. And to remind me that I’ve got more work to do.
And I also use it because I’m not entering these people in my database yet–because I’m not certain they are all Benjamin’s children. Even if they are all Benjamin’s children, he had at least two known wives.
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