Henry Butter (1816 - 1880)

Born 3 Jul 1816 in England, United Kingdom

Husband of Susan Eliza (O'Neal) Butter — married 30 Dec 1847 in Forest Hill, Rapides, Louisiana, United States

Descendants

Died 20 Nov 1880 at age 64 in Forest Hill, Rapides, Louisiana, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Virginia Fields [send private message]

Biography

Henry was a Saddler and Tanner

Henry Butter migrated from England to Louisiana.

Biography for HENRY BUTTER(S) 1816 - 1880

According to family tradition and some records, Henry Butter was born in England on 3 July 1816. He came to America sometime before 1847 as he married Susan Eliza O'Neal 30 December 1847 in Rapides Parish Louisiana. They lived in what became known as the Forest Hill area south of Alexandria, Louisiana. Henry died 20 November 1880 and was buried in the Butters Cemetery on land he donated for a community cemetery.

There are no vital records to substantiate any of the above events. The Rapides Parish Courthouse was burned during the Civil War and all records were destroyed. The reason these dates exist is because there once was a Bible record that a descendant copied as follows: "Henry Butter a native of Great Britten (sic) was born on 3rd day of July 1816. Baptized on 5th day of September 1849 and was received as a citizen of the United States in District Court of Rapides Parish on November 12 A.D. 1850." It further stated "Henry Butter and Susan Eliza O'Neal were united in marriage by Rev. H. Roberts in Rapides Parish on 30th day of December A.D. 1847" The whereabouts of this Bible today is unknown. There are, however, surviving church records from the Spring Hill Baptist Church that support this information. In the roster of member information Henry Butter was received by Baptism on September 4, 1849 ( probably baptized the following day). Susan E. O'Neal was received by baptism on December 28, 1846.

There are four census records for Henry Butter. In the first, 1850, he is 33 years old, his occupation is Sadler and his birthplace is England. He is married to Susan Butter, age 16, born in Alabama; they have one child, William Butter, age 6/12, born in Louisiana. The surname has been corrected from Butler to Butter for the 1850 census. ^[1]

In the 1860 census, Henry is 44 years old and born in England. Susan E. is 25 years old and they have five children: William, 11; Ann, 7; Sarah, 5; Ellen, 3; and Henry, 2. ^[2]

In 1870 Henry is 54, a farmer and born in England. Susan is 35, born in Alabama and they have six children in the household (the first two from the previous census have moved out): Sarah, 15; Ellen, 12; Henry, 11; Susan, 10; Warren, 5; and Eugene, 3/12 with a note that he was born in April of that year. This census date was 8 July 1870.^[3]

The last census for Henry was taken on 29 June 1880. He was listed as 63 years old, married, born in England, father born in Scotland and mother born in England. Eliza is listed as 46, wife, born in Alabama, parents born in North or South Carolina. There are still five children living at home: Henry, 21; Virginia, 20; Sarah, 18; Eugene, 12; Charles, 7.^[4] Henry died later that same year on 20 November 1880.

Up to this point, Henry has always said that his birthplace was England. There is one document that surfaced in Rapides Parish where he is registering to vote on the 5 October 1872 and he says he was born in France. This document states that Henry personally came before the Supervisor of Registration and was duly sworn, affirmed deposed and says that his name is Henry Butter and that he was born in France in the year 1816. He says he is now a resident of Spring Hill Ward in Rapides Parish. Why did he change his story now? We can only guess and here is one scenario. He was English through and through and did not want to be classified or known as being French. In the census records he was not sworn to tell the truth so he stayed true to his heritage. On this document he was sworn to tell the truth so perhaps he did. Maybe his father was serving in the military or his occupation took the family to reside in France for a period of time and that is where Henry was born.

There was an interview on 1 October 1961 with Mrs. Ruth Britt (granddaughter of Henry and Susan) of Glenmora, Louisiana. She stated the following in the interview: "Henry Butter was a well educated man - I remember the books they had - Shakespeare I read many times - lots of the books I did not understand. Susan Eliza told me while we were sitting on the porch many times about the few 'star groups' that she knew. She would say you know your Grandfather (Henry Butter) studied Astronomy and he could explain it all to you. I also remember seeing the books on Astronomy in their Library."

In the same interview Mrs. Britt quoted Susan Eliza as saying that Henry Butter often spoke of the terrible London fogs.

At this time (2015) there has been found a ship passenger list with a Henry Butter arriving in the port of New Orleans 24 May 1842 on the HMS Lord Seaton, departed from Liverpool, England and Henry Butter is listed as a citizen of Ireland. There is a possibility that this could be our Henry since the timeline is right. Maybe Ireland was erroneously written by his name. We cannot be absolutely sure that this is our Henry Butter who ended up in Rapides Parish Louisiana.

During the approximately thirty-five years that Henry lived in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, he farmed as most rural people did in those days. Crops cultivated on the property in the early years was cotton, corn, potatoes (both Irish and Sweet) and a variety of vegetables. He also built quite a reputation as a tanner and saddle-maker. People came from miles away to have him make them a saddle. He had a tannery located on Hurricane Creek about a quarter mile from the house. On the tannery site, there were large vats used in the tanning process. Water was diverted from the creek for use in the tanning yard.

The house that Henry and Susan built was begun in the late 1850's and was being built by Susan's brothers. Construction was interrupted when the O'Neal boys had to leave to fight during the Civil War. Much of the inside work was left unfinished until after the war. Nonetheless, the family lived in the house during those years. The house was built in what is called the Dog Trot design with two rooms on each side divided by an open center hall. The kitchen was originally extended from the back of the house as was the custom during that time. A carriage house and storage shed stood to the right of the house and a smoke house stood to the left nearer to the kitchen. The house and much of the property is still owned by a descendant of Henry and Susan O'Neal Butter and was occupied by the Butter family for about a hundred and forty-five years.

Henry was evidently a civic-minded gentleman. Not only did he serve as the church clerk for many years, he also served his community during and after the Civil War. Henry did not believe in slavery for himself and did not own any slaves. He did, however, believe in protecting his family and neighbors. Henry was appointed leader of one of the squad mates by the Governor. This was a group of about eight people who were to look after each other in sickness or any kind of trouble. The able-bodied men were all gone which left women, children and older men. Jayhawkers, Southern troop deserters, would gang up and raid various areas stealing bedding, food and cattle. Once, a group of about thirty came to the Butter house; Henry went out to reason with them and the family thought he was going to be killed. Only once did he have to run into the corn field and hide until the raiders were gone. (This Jayhawkers story was related by Henry's son John Henry Butter to his children and grandchildren.)

Henry Butter died on the 20 November 1880 in Forest Hill, Rapides Parish, Louisiana in the home he built and surrounded by his family. ^[5]

Henry’s eldest son, William Butter, entered the following into the records of the Spring Hill Baptist Church minutes on 3 September 1881. A note: Henry Butter served as the clerk of the church for many years. At his death, his son William took that job.

“We mourn the loss of our beloved Bro H Butter Deac of our Church called from us by our Heavenly Father Born July the 3 1816 a native of Great Britton Baptised on the 5 Sept 1849 Adopted as a citizen of the South in 1850 and died Nov 20th 1880............the end arrived when he might take a farwell (sic) of earth and He did so with calmness long to be remembered by those who new him when the hour of departure arrived to bid adieu to loved ones being approached by the Writer for a parting word His triumphant language was fear not Dear Son don’t be alarmed............his patient resignation and peace were exemplary. Wm Butter Clerk” (The Book of Records of the Spring Hill Baptist Church, Constituted August 8th, 1841)

[http://butterfamilyhistory.blogspot.com Butter Family History Blog including collateral lines Dunn, O'Neal, Graham, Henderson and Odom.

Biography compiled and written by Virginia Butter Fields

Research Note

For decades a search has been underway to connect Henry with his family in England. The family had always heard that there was a brother who had come to America but was in New York and then Chicago. There eviently had been correspondence between the families but all that was lost in a fire.

More recently - about 2016/17 I had found who I thought was Henry's brother John, who was naturalized in Sackett's Harbor, Jefferson County, New York. His papers gave his birth place as Chatham, Kent, England and there, I found his Christening record. Henry's record has still not appeared. I traced the family of John and found that he and his wife had died in Buffalo, Erie, New York. After their deaths, the surviving children had moved to Chicago. No living descendants have been found in order to do DNA testing. Both John and Henry named children some of the same names - notably, John Henry.

While sorting through the research papers of a deceased relative, I found a tiny newspaper clipping about the death of George E. Butters who had recently died and left a wife, mother, father and other relatives in Chicago. He also left a "host of other relatives in Louisiana, mostly residing near Forest Hill, Louisiana." Upon researching George, it has been found that he is the grandson of John Butters, the immigrant from England. So, George and his family had to have been the ones corresponding with the Forest Hill Butter family. We are definitely related to that branch of the family which confirms that Henry in Louisiana and John in New York were, indeed, brothers.

See the brief death notice on the images in this profile. The notice was sent to the Town Talk Newspaper in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. George E. Butters died in January 1901 and, according to his death certificate he is buried in the Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

Butter-100 21:36, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

DNA Research

• Paternal and maternal relationship is confirmed by a GedMatch test match between Virginia Butter Fields Gedmatch kit #T653391 and her third cousin MG Gedmatch kit #QG9158166. Their most recent common ancestors are their 2x great grandparents Henry Butter and Susan Eliza O'Neal. Estimated number of generations to MRCA=3.2, based on sharing 163.6 cM across 9 total-match segments.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJ8-522 : 29 October 2019), Henry Butler, Rapides parish, Rapides, Louisiana, United States; citing family 417, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFP7-42M : 18 March 2020), Henry Butler, 1860.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87N-KFC : 27 January 2020), Henry Butler, 1870.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDX8-J7M : 15 August 2017), Henry Butters in entry for Henry Butters, 1880; citing enumeration district ED 40, sheet 683B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d), roll 0466; FHL microfilm 1,254,466.
5. ↑ Death & Burial Find a Grave, database and images Find A Grave: Memorial #28211189 memorial page for Henry Butter (3 Jul 1816–20 Nov 1880), citing Butters Cemetery, Forest Hill, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by William Ertl (contributor 46787076) .