Butler, John & Susannah

the timeline is laid out using the assumption that Susannah was John's only wife which may not be the case.  
 
abt. 1805
Susannah, wife of John Butler is born in Tennessee [per 1850 census]
 
abt. 1806
John Butler is born in Kentucky

 
abt. 1824
is the best guess for a marriage between John Butler and Susannah  if she was his only wife. One does not seem to exist in Missouri records.  Since he was b. KY and she b. TN  Kentucky,  Indiana or Illinois would be the next most probable places to look  for a marriage


1825 June 5 Elizabeth Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler
in Missouri (per later census)  - there is a gap of about 6 years between Betsy and William which could mean an earlier marriage for John OR it could mean at least one child that died or one or two kids unaccounted for.

1830 census
John should be head of household in MO with at least one little girl who could be in the 0-5 slot or the 5-10 slot.  Ancestry does not show one that fits but there is a John "Butter" (which looks like it could be Butler" in Howard Co. MO with a wife and two little girls that might be him.  
 
abt. 1831
son William Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

abt. 1832
son John Butler Jr. is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

abt. 1835
dau. Millie Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

abt. 1837
son Jesse Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

abt. 1838
dau. Hannah Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

1839
son James Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

1840 U.S. Federal Census -
there are three John Butlers in Missouri listed as heads of household - the only one that could possibly fit by the family breakdown is John Butler in Buchanan Co. and helping add weight to this assumption is the Thornbrew/Thornbrough family who marries with Butlers in Buchanan Co. and also arrives in Madison Co. taking part in the same Primitive Baptist congregation in Iowa.

1840 U.S. Federal Census Crawford Twp. Buchanan Co. MO

John Butler

2 boys born 1836-1840 [Jesse & James]


2 boys born 1830-1836 [John Jr. & William]

1 male b. 1800-1810 [John]

1 girl b. 1836-1840 [ Hannah]

2 girls b. 1830-1836 [someone and Millie]

1 girl b. 1825-1830 [Elizabeth]

1 female b. 1800-1810 [Susannah]

abt. 1841
dau. Grace Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler

abt. 1843
son Samson/Sampson Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler in Missouri

1843 Sep 14
Ancestry shows a marriage for Mary Elizabeth Butler to "Matrumony Thornbrew".  The marriages in this county are nearly unreadable but when I go to the digital copy I think it says James Thornbrew and they misread "Matrimony" as a given name. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that James and Mary are also in Monroe Co. IA and are members of the Primitive Baptist Church.  On the 1850 census in IA Elizabeth says she is age 37 (b. abt. 1813) in KY making her a probable candidate to be John's sister or perhaps the widow of one of his brothers?

abt. 1844
dau. Martha A. Butler is born to John & Susannah Butler

------> abt. 1845/1846 the Butlers migrate from Missouri to Iowa

1846 Jun 1
Elizabeth "Betsy" Butler (dau. of John & Susannah)
marries Daniel Chenowith in Madison Co. IA - "Her father didn't have their cabin up yet so they were married out in the timber"


abt. 1846
son George Washington Butler is born in Iowa to John & Susannah Butler

1849
William Butler marries Anna Evans in Madison Co. IA

1850 U.S. Federal Census Madison Co. IA HH 822
John Butler age 44 Farmer $400 b. KY
Susannah Butler age 45 b. TN
John Butler age 18 Farmer b. MO
Millie Butler age 15 b. MO
Jessee Butler age 13 b. MO
Hannah Butler age 12 b. MO
James Butler age 11 b. MO
Grace Butler age 9 b. MO
Samson Butler age 7 b. MO
Martha A. Butler age 6 b. MO
George Wash. Butler age 4 b. IA

HH 835
William Butler age 19 Farmer $200 (or $300) MO
Anna Butler age 17 b. IN

HH 879
James Thornbrough age 38 Farmer b. OH
Elizabeth (Butler) Thornbrough age 37 b. KY
Luiza (?) Thornrough (beats me what this is) age 14 b. IN
Rebecca Thornbrough age 12 b. MO
Joseph L. Thornbrough age 10 b. MO
Paulina Thronbrough age 8 b. MO
James C. Thornbrough age 35 b. MO
next door to them is James Crawford age 38 b. NC with a wife Mary age 32 & kids

James & Elizabeth  had married 4 years earlier in Buchanan Co. MO  - the kids have to be from an  earlier marriage.  Elizabeth Butler Thornbrough seems like a possible candidate to be John Butler's sister or a widowed sister-in-law.  She was 7 years younger than John Butler and like John born in Kentucky.

HH 966
Daniel Chenoweth age 32 Farmer b. KY
Elizabeth Chenoweth age 25 b. MO [Elizabeth Butler d/o John & Susannah]
John Chenoweth age 3 b. IA
Hardin (?) Chenoweth age 1 b. IA

Primitive Baptist History says:

Middle River Church was the first church of any faith to be organized in what is now Madison County, Iowa. The early minutes of the church were destroyed by fire on November 7th, 1897, so part of the early history of the church has been lost.

In the summer of 1845 the Sac and Fox Indians were moved from Three River country, as this area was called, to a reservation in Kansas, opening the way for settlement by white men. On April 1, 1846, Hiram Hurst settled near where the town of Bevington now stands. He was a Primitive Baptist, and was later ordained to the ministry in Nebraska. On about May 3, 1846, the Clantons, Clarks and Guyes arrived. A few days later the Thornbrughs, Fidlers and Evans came.

In this number was Elder John Evans, who was the first minister of any faith to arrive in the county. He preached the first sermon, conducted the first funeral, married the first couple, and helped constitute the first church within the bounds of what is now Madison County. By the end of the year there were about three hundred settlers in the county.

Middle River Church was constituted in August 1847 at the home of John Butler. The presbytery was composed of Elders John Evans and William Hogan. The charter members were: John Butler, Susannah Butler, Samuel Crawford, Polly Crawford, Joshua Casebier, Louisa Casebier, James Thornburgh, Lemuel Thornburgh, Sarah Thornburgh, Sarah Fidler, Nancy Fidler, Acquilla Smith, Paulina Mendenhall, Matthew Jones, Betsy Chenowith, Asa Mills, Sarah Mills, William Gentry, Sarah Gentry, Widow Ellison, William Simmons, and Polly Simmons.

The first meetings were held in the crude pioneer homes of the members, including John Butler, William Gentry, James Thornburgh, Acquilla Smith, Samuel Crawford, and Elder John Evans. The membership soon increased to about fifty. Some of the other early family names who united with the church were Dorrell, Osburn, Pender, Casteel and Flynn.

In 1857 Elder John Evans sold his claim, but reserved and deeded two acres of land for a church and cemetery to Middle River Church. Work soon began on a meeting house, just east of the location of the present building. The building was enclosed and ready for the plasterers when the Civil War broke out, and the question of the abolition of slavery caused a division in the church. In September 1861, Elder Denison S. Tanneyhill, who was the pastor at that time, died, and meetings were discontinued for a time. There is a large cemetery, which is still in use, at the site of the present church, known as the Middle River Cemetery.

SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:

Baker, Banks, Blair, Bryant, Butler, Carter, Casebier, Chenowith, Crawford, Doty, Dummers, Durham, Ellison, Evans, Fidler, Frey, Gentry, Hartman, Henderson, Hood, Jaillite, Jessup, Jones, Jordan, Kellogg, Kemp, Kerrick, Kimbro, Mendenhall, Miller, Mills, Moore, Murphey, Nickelson, Osburn, Pender, Poffinbarger, Simmons, Smith, Tanneyhill, Terry, Thornbrugh, Wick, Wood, Woolery (incomplete list due to lack of records).

MT. PLEASANT

Mt. Pleasant Church, near Winterset, was organized in 1855, and united with the Mt. Pleasant Association.

SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:

Bishop, Burgess, Hooten, Riggs, Whitcomb, Whitted (very incomplete list due to loss of records).

NEW HOPE

New Hope Church, near Winterset, was organized in 1861, and united with the Mt. Pleasant Association.

SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:

Barker, Baugh, Berthoff, Casebier, Dickerson, Fields, Gentry, Harmon, Hooten, Marly (very incomplete list due to loss of record


you would think Susannah might be buried in the Primitive Baptist Cemetery but there seems to be no record of that

 
1860 Jul 16
son James Butler marries Anna Crawford at Winterset, Madison, Iowa