Avoiding Relationships

Benjamin Butler and his “children” are one of those situations where immediate entry into a genealogical database may be premature–especially when that genealogical database forces one to enter parent-child relationships. Benjamin was born about 1819 probably in New York State and spent most of his “reproductive life” in Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas at a time when those locations were not keeping civil birth records. The family were not members of any church that kept any sort of records and his probate only mentions his wife.

Census records provide information on Benjamin and his children. Benjamin’s penchant for moving also suggests that he may have left adult children behind after he moved on to a new area. All of Benjamin’s children may not have eventually followed him to Vernon County, Missouri. They could have remained in Michigan, Iowa, or where he lived in between.

Benjamin has been located in the following federal censuses:

• 1850: St. Clair County, Michigan.
• 1860: not located.
• 1870: Davis County, Iowa.
• 1880: Vernon County, Missouri.

• the common nature of the Butler surname
• the fact that Benjamin had at least two wives (Margaret Stephens and Nancy Wolf), may have had a third and that these children do not all have the same mother
• the possibility that one of these individuals, while enumerated with Benjamin in a census as a “Butler” may have actually been a step-child
• the ages could be slightly off or the places of birth could be incorrect
• these individuals (in later records where they are adults) may have consistently given information that was inconsistent with their census enumerations

The chart was meant to help organize my search for these individuals based upon their being enumerated with Benjamin in a census and was not meant to contain all the information on them. The goal was to locate additional information to confirm their parentage. Care has to be taken in later records to make certain that the “same person” has actually been located. That has been the difficulty with some of the children whose first names were more common.

This is a family where entering in all relationships into a database may be premature.

I’m still finding the chart helpful–even without the sources attached. I’ve got them, but this chart is meant to summarize and be  a quick reference for me. It is not meant to include every detail I’ve found.