Person:Ellen Butler (4)

Judging by the family bible and samples of handwriting contained in it, Ellen probably had a "classic" education. What is presumed to be her handwriting is very even, looking much like today's calligraphy.

She came from Ireland and supposedly stayed with "a relative", General Benjamin Butler, in Boston. She met Thomas there or in Philadelphia, I believe. Daughter Fanny, on the 1930 census, says she was from the "Irish Free State."

On March 16, 1844, Sarah Jones Hildreth, second child of Dr. Israel Hildreth and Dolly (Jones), his wife, and General Benjamin F. Butler were married at St. Anne's Episcopal church in Lowell, so Ellen would probably have come before he was married.

The Family History Library (Mormons) show an Ellen Butler, father Thomas, mother Ellen, being baptized July 15, 1827 at Darlaston, near Wolverhampton, Saint Lawrence, Stafford, England. (Batch #C033971). This is the only record I turned up that came close to matching our Ellen Butler.

From Major Robert E. Butler

I can tell you a little about General Benjamin Butler. He was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, November 5, 1818. His parents were John Butler and Charlotte Ellison. Benjamin married Sarah Hildreth, May 16, 1844. They had one daughter, Blanche. General Butler wrote an autobiography entitled "Butler's Book". You may be able to find a copy in a major library, or get one through a library search program. I have no information about the ancestor you mentioned. It may interest you to know that we have an organization, The North American Region of the Butler Society. If this interests you, please let me know. I wish I could be of more help, and good luck to you. Best regards, Major Robert E. Butler

His father, John Butler, commanded a cavalry company in the war of 1812, afterwards commanding a merchant vessel, on board of which he died in 1819, when Benjamin, the subject of this sketch, was but a few months old.

For more information on Gen. Butler re: Butler's Book - Benjamin F. Butler; BUTLER The Damdest Yankee - Dick Nolan - Presidio Press; General Butler in New Orleans - James Parton; Stormy Petrel, The Life and Times of Benjamin F. Butler - Howard P. Nash Jr. - Fairleigh Dikinson Univ. Press; "Beast" Butler - Robert Werlich - Quaker Press; Lincoln's Scapegoat General - Richard S. West Jr. - Houghton Mifflin; Stormy Ben Butler - Robert S. Holzman - MacMillan & Co.

Genealogy - William Allen Butler? According to Irish Family Histories, Benjamin Franklin Butler's branch was "of Ulster stock - Scotch-Irish."

From Columbia County, NY GenWeb site

Benjamin Franklin Butler

The son of Colonel Medad Butler, was born in Kinderhook (the part which is now Stuyvesant), Dec. 15, 1795. He studied law with Martin Van Buren, and on being admitted to the bar, in 1817, became his partner. He was appointed district attorney of Albany county in 1821, and held the office four or five years. In 1825 he was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the statutes of New York, and in 1828 was a member of the State Assembly. He was attorney-general of the United States under General Jackson in 1831-34, and acting secretary of war from October, 1836, to March, 1837, and from 1838 to 1841 he was United States district attorney for the southern district of New York. He was district attorney of the United States for the southern district of New York by appointment of President Polk (after declining the office of secretary of war, tendered by him), from March 1845, till September, 1848, when he was removed. He afterwards returned to the practice of the law in New York city, and was principal professor of law in the University of the City of New York, of which he had been one of the founders. During the greater part of his life he was an influential member of the Democratic party; but on the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill abolishing the Missouri compromise he joined the Republicans, and voted for Fremont in 1856.

From the Morning Patriot newspaper Saturday, August 4, 1888 p. 38

Mrs. Thomas Willmore returns today from a visit to Stockbridge. She will be accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. E.J. Bott.

From A Corner of Ingham - Stockbridge

It was a Canadian company, The Grand Trunk, which finally built a road from South Lyon to Jackson through the village. Farmers for miles around, as well as merchants and trades people, subscribed liberally to the project. Most townships along the route appropriated funds. Some farmers donated rights of way through their farms; others gave logs for railroad ties in lieu of cash. The road was known as the Michigan Air Line. It was planned as a part of a short cut from Port Huron to Chicago. For some reason it never got beyond Jackson, but it did give Stockbridge a rail outlet... One of our men... took the noon train for Jackson intending to come back on the afternoon train at five o'clock...

From History of The Michigan Central Railroad Company and its predecessors from the 1913 Annual Report of The New York Central Railroad System.

Michigan Air Line Railroad Company

This Company is a consolidation of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Michigan and the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Indiana, Articles of Consolidation being dated July 14, 1868, and filed August 27, 1868. There was a further consolidation with the St. Joseph Valley Railroad Company October 7, 1870. The road was complete in February, 1871.

The Massachusetts Archives at Columbia Point did not find a record of the marriage of Thomas Willmore and Ellen Butler 1841-1850 in their records or in the Mormon Microfilm index to Boston marriages 1800-1849.

Possible Ellen Butlers found in

Passenger and Immigration Lists: New York, 1820-1850 Age: 22 Gender: F Port of Departure: Liverpool Country of Origin: Ireland Family Identification: 30162563 Ship Name: Isabella Port of Arrival: New York Date of Arrival: Oct 12, 1844 Microfilm Serial Number: M237 Microfilm Roll Number: 56

Passenger and Immigration Lists: New York, 1820-1850 Age: 26? Gender: U Port of Departure: Liverpool Country of Origin: Ireland Family Identification: 30127156 Ship Name: Tallahassee Port of Arrival: New York Date of Arrival: Sep 22, 1843 Microfilm Serial Number: M237 Microfilm Roll Number: 53

Passenger and Immigration Lists: New York, 1820-1850 Age: 24 Gender: F Port of Departure: Liverpool Country of Origin: Great Britain Family Identification: 30026046 Ship Name: Nashville Port of Arrival: New York Date of Arrival: Aug 20, 1840 Microfilm Serial Number: M237 Microfilm Roll Number: 43

Passenger and Immigration Lists: New York, 1820-1850 Age: 18 Gender: U Port of Departure: Liverpool Country of Origin: Ireland Family Identification: 30012829 Ship Name: Caledonia Port of Arrival: New York Date of Arrival: May 29, 1840 Microfilm Serial Number: M237 Microfilm Roll Number: 42

From West to Far Michigan

... farmers harvested grass from these lands for hay and seasonally grazed their livestock on these wetlands. M. Shoemaker, who settled in Jackson County in 1830, later recounted that "For hay [early immigrants] found a ready, abundant and excellent supply in the grasses on the marshes, which were on the borders of all the streams and lakes in the county. This was a most favorable circumstance for the pioneer, as it enabled him to feed his teams and winter his stock... at an expense much less than he could otherwise have done."

... Immigrants had to procure land before they could start farms, and most settlers purchased it directly from the U.S. government. The perceived quality, availability, state of improvement, or accessibility of land determined its cost, and the value of land generally increased as a region was colonized... Land values and prices rose as the length of time a region was occupied increased, but other variables also affected the actual value of particular tracts.

... In assessing the quality of wilderness land, prospective settlers considered the expense of preparing it for the plow. Consequently, they preferred prairies, and, to a lesser extent, openings, rather than bear the high costs of clearing heavily forested tracts.

1. ↑ Vital Records - Miscellaneous Sources
   Death Certificate from Jackson Co, MI # 131.