Last updated 3 Apr 2006
Several Butler and allied families living in Carroll Co. TN included people born in South Carolina. John Butler, the progenitor of this branch, is said to have been born in Montgomery Co. NC, but moved to SC for a time before finally coming to Carroll Co. TN. These people generally lived in the 8th district, west and south of Huntingdon. Most of the other Butlers in the county, including many born in North Carolina, lived in the 18th district and other nearby locations on the east side of the county near the Big Sandy River. At this time, the relationship between the families in the 8th district and those in the 18th district et al. has not been determined.
Below is a tentative description of this SC family; the basic family description is from the data of Carl D. Ward, whose wife is a g-gdau. of the son Thomas Christopher Butler shown below. All data should be verified before incorporating it into your records.
Family of John Butler
John Butler, b. ca. 1770 Montgomery Co. NC, d. ca. 1830-40 Carroll Co. TN, mar. 24 Nov 1786 in Westmoreland Co. VA to Mary Shoats (Westmoreland mar. record says Shoots, no first name; surname might be Stoot/Stott, Smoot, Short, Choate or even Scates/Skates), b. ca. 1770 VA, d. aft 1850. Her father is probably George Shoats, whose will dated 8 Apr 1790 was proven 25 May 1790 in Westmoreland Co. VA; the will mentions daughter Mary Butler and daughter Elizabeth Shoats (from Westmoreland Co. VA will bk. XVIII). Also note a mar. of Elizabeth Shoats and William Redman 24 Feb 1795 Westmoreland Co. VA, possibly the same Elizabeth Shoats mentioned in the above will.Eight known children of John Butler and Mary Shoats:
1. John Butler b. 1798
2. William Butler b. 1800
3. Mary Butler b. Apr 1802
4. Sarah Butler b. Oct 1808
5. Thomas Christopher Butler b. ca. 1810 SC, d. ca. 1882 Nevada Co.
AR, mar. 1st Margaret Mary Brumbelow b. ca. 1818 TN, d. ca. 1850-55; mar.
2nd ca. 1856 in Hempstead Co. AR to widow Margaret Ann (Lewis) Chandler
(b. 24 Mar 1829, possibly in Hempstead Co. AR, d. 5 Feb 1902 Nevada Co.
AR). Thomas had 5 known ch. by his first wife; he had 10 additional
ch. by his second wife, who had 2 ch. from her previous mar. to unk. Chandler;.
See census records below.
6. Cynthia Butler b. 1812 SC, d. 1853 Hempstead Co. AR, mar. Joshua
Brumbelow b. ca. 1786, d. 8 Feb 1865 Sevier Co. AR . See census records below.
7. Horatio Butler b. 16 Dec 1815 SC, d. aft 1860, mar. (1) 25 Jul 1845 Carroll Co. TN to Mary A. Whitesides, who was b. ca. 1829 TN and d. between 1850 and 1856, mar. (2) 29 Aug 1856 Carroll Co. TN to Camille Lindsey who was b. ca. 1841 NC and is bur. in Greenhill Cem., Cameron, LeFlore Co. OK. The original record of Horatio's second marriage apparently states "Haratio" Butler and "C. Smiley Lindy"; it is likely that "C. Smiley" is a misreading of "Camiley", a dimunitive of Camille/Camilla, and that Lindy is a mispelling of Lindsey; her parents appear to be Eli M. and Jane Lindsey who are enum. in Maury Co. TN 1850 (ch. include a dau. Camilla age 8 b. NC) and in the 6th dist. of Carroll Co. TN 1860. Although some sources state that an Eli M. Lindsey mar. a Jane Rowland 13 Apr 1850 in White Co. TN, other sources state that this latter groom's name was Eli W. Lindsey rather than Eli M.; until more information is available or the original marriage record is inspected, it will be assumed that the White Co. mar. record does not apply to the Eli Lindsey in Carroll Co. Also, records which give Camille's name as Cornelia are probably based on a misreading of handwriting at some point.
See census records below.
8. James C. Butler b. 1820
As it is about 12 years between John Butler's mar. to Mary Shoats and the birth of the first ch. noted above, it is possible that there were other ch. born prior to 1798.
Land of John Butler
Two of John Butler's sons lived in the 8th district of Carroll Co. TN per the census of 1850, so it is likely that John Butler owned land there. Further support for this is given in the will of Nimrod Kelly (b. ca. 1769 VA) dated 25 Apr 1850 in Carroll Co. TN; Nimrod Kelly describes his land, which he left to his dau. Narcissa Kelly, as "my land on which I now live lying in the State of Tennessee and in the County of Carroll and on Reedy Creek on the new Jackson Road it being land settled by Old John Butler". The New Jackson Road ran from Huntingdon to the southwest corner of the county and along the southern border of the 8th district. From this land description and the 1850 census, this land was certainly in the 8th district. Families living in the 8th district in 1850 included several with heads of households (or their spouses) born in SC, including (in the order enumerated in the census) Horatio Butler (son of John), George Letsinger/Ledsinger, John Letsinger/Ledsinger, William A. Jones, Jacob Black, Isles Cooper, Valentine H. Kelly, Hannah Kelly, Jeremiah Walton, William Eskew, Jesse Giles, Elizabeth Jolly, Joseph Allman, Barton Hicks, Samuel Black, William Hicks, David Armstrong, Jane Armstrong, James Waugh, John Jarrod, Johnathan Armstrong, John B. Armstrong, Benjamin Darnal, Elias Armstrong, G. P. Jacobs, Henry Hicks, John Merrett, A. B. McKee, Edward Cumby, Thomas Butler (son of John), Joseph M. Jolly, Joseph A. Churchwell, Joseph Cannon, Thomas Ayres, Andrew Neely, and James G. Townson (Townsend). Among the above, the Hicks, Black, and Kelly families were closely connected with one another due to intermarriage; study of these and other 8th district families who had previously lived for a time in SC could possibly shed light on the ancestors of the John Butler family.Census Data
Census data for Thomas Butler (son of John)1830, Carroll Co. TN, p. 184: Thomas Butler 00001-1001 (may not be same Thomas; this 1830 Thomas is probably the Thomas Butler who is identified in Carroll Co. TN deeds and other sources as the son of James Butler of Simpson Co. KY and his wife Charity Lowe; James Butler in turn was a son of William Butler who is often called "the Regulator", as he was a principal in the Regulator movement in NC. Also see the census data for William L. Butler below)Census data for Cynthia (Butler) Brumbelow, dau. of John Butler
1840, Carroll Co. TN, p. 50: Thomas Butler 00002-10012001 (this is prob. the Thomas b. SC; I would tentatively identify the people as follows: the two males are Thomas and a brother, most likely Horatio who had not married yet, while the females are dau. Amanda, then a group of three females including wife Margaret, and then the oldest female Mary (Shoats) Butler, mother of Thomas)1850 Carroll Co. TN, 8th dist., p. 82B, no. 1078:
Thomas Butler 36 M SC
Margaret M. Butler 32 F TN
Amanda C. Butler 12 F TN (married John D. or John B. Carrington 1856 Hempstead Co. AR)
Sarah M. T. Butler 10 F TN (Sarah Minerva Tennessee)
Mary V. Butler 6 F TN
America N. Butler 3 F TN (America Francis?)
Lawson H. Butler 6/12 M TN (Lawson Horatio)
1830, Carroll Co. TN, p.185: Joshua Brumbelo 01001-1001 (the younger male may be a son by an earlier mar. of Joshua, or someone else entirely, since Cynthia was b. ca. 1812 and prob. would not have married any earlier than 1825)Census data for Horatio Butler (son of John)1840, Carroll Co. TN, p. 52: Joshua Burnbelow 0020001-22001
1850, Hempstead Co. AR, Bodcan tsp., no. 50
Joshua Brumbelow 65 NC
Cynthia 38 SC
James A 18 TN
Sarah16 TN
Elisabeth A.14 TN (prob. mar. Robert J. Purtle 1853 Hempstead Co. AR)
Caroline10 TN
William L. 8 TN
Margaret 6 TN
Tennessee 4 TN (Mary Tennessee Brumbelow d. 11 Oct 1925 Checotah, McIntosh Co. OK, mar. James Alexander Rankin, Sr b. 22 Dec 1837 NC, d. 13 Nov 1913 Osage Co. OK )
1850, Carroll Co. TN, 8th dist., p. 78B, no. 1023:Census data for William L. Butler (see Thomas Butler census data above)
Horatio Butler 36 SC
Mary A. Butler 21 TN
John T. Butler 4 TN
Mary E. Butler 2 TN
John Whitesides 62 SC (prob. father of Mary A. Whitesides, wife of Horatio)
Mary Butler 80 VA (Mary Shoats, mother of Horatio)1860, Carroll Co. TN, 8th dist., p. 150, no. 982:
Horatio Butler 45 M SC
Camilie Butler 19 F NC (second wife)
John T. Butler 14 M TN
Mary E. Butler 12 F TN
James H. Butler 8 M TN
William L. Butler 3 M TN
1830, Carroll Co. TN, p. 184: 20001-11001 (adjacent to the 1830 Thomas Butler in this census and probably not the brother of Thomas b. SC; this William L. is known from Carroll Co. TN deeds and other data to be a son of James Butler and Charity Lowe. This William L. Butler and his brother Thomas Butler, brothers who were willed land in Carroll Co. by their father James Butler (will 1834 Simpson Co. KY), had lived in Carroll Co. around 1830 but moved to MS prior to 1840)
Other Possible Connections in Carroll Co. TN
Other Butlers found in Carroll Co. TN may be connected to the above SC Butler families. Specifically noted are Mariah Jane Butler b. (1815?) SC who mar. Patrick H. Salmons (or Solomons) 30 Jan 1844 Carroll Co. TN, and Frances P. Butler (b. 1816 SC?) who mar. William R. Salmons 9 Sep 1841 Carroll Co. TN. The surname Salmons is also seen as Salmon/Sallmon/Sammons/Solmons/etc., and may actually be Solomon. Patrick Salmons is apparently the son of a George Salmons (who apparently mar. Elizabeth West), probably the same as George "Sammons" enum. in the 1840 census of Carroll Co. TN, and had several siblings who lived in Carroll Co. TN and Henderson Co. TN; Wm. R. Salmons is likely a brother of Patrick, but this has not been proven. The Salmons family was from Greenville dist. SC. Although married in Carroll Co. TN, both Mariah and Francis (Butler) Salmons are found with their families in the 1850 census of Marshall Co. MS (Mariah's husband Patrick Salmons had apparently died between 1848 and the time the census was taken; Mariah mar. 2nd John Munn 11 Dec 1851 Marshall Co. MS, and had ch. by both husbands). Living a few house away from Mariah (Butler) Salmons in 1850 are a John Butler age 45 and a James Butler age 42 and their families; although both John and James Butler are b. SC, and James Butler's children include a Thomas, Horatio, and Maria (Mariah), their relationship to John and Mary (Shoats) Butler and Mariah and Francis (Butler) Salmons, if any, is unknown. Other Carroll Co. TN families are also found in the 1850 census of Marshall Co. MS, notably Elias Bennett Butler, a grandson of Elias Butler.