Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of John Butler

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Descendants of John Butler

6. BURNELL² BUTLER (JOHN¹) was born 16 August 1806 in Christian Co KY, and died 23 April 1870 in Karnes Co TX. He married SARAH ANN RICKS 02 July 1826 in Wayne Co MS, daughter of WILLIAM RICKS and MARTHA WARD. She was born 17 February 1811 in NC, and died 24 September 1900 in Karnes Co TX.

Notes for BURNELL BUTLER:
1810 Census John Butler in Christian Co KY
2 Males 0-10 (Burnell, Landon)
0 Males 10-16
1 Male 16-25 (William 24 married)
0 Males 26-45
1Male 45+ (John himself)
2 Females 0-10 (Martha and William's daughter)
2 Females 10-16 (Elizabeth, Margaret)
2 Females 16-25 (Susannah, William's wife Sophia)
1 Female 26-45 (Mary Ann)
0 Females 45+
2 slaves

MS Land Warrants
Patentee Name State County Issue Date Land Office Doc.Nr. AccessionSerial Nr.
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 1092 MS0640__.055
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 1870 MS0650__.323
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 2385 MS0660__.326
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 2386 MS0660__.327
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 3318 MS0680__.214
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 4155 MS0700__.015
BUTLER, BURNEL MS Scott 1/5/1841 Augusta 5588 MS0720__.368

US Census 1850 Scott Co MS
Family #2 Burnal (sic) Butler 45 KY, Sarah 39 SC, Woodward 20 MS, James 18 MS, William 16 MS, Mary A 14 MS, Ruthy 11 MS, Twins Robert and Elizabeth 8 MS, Albert 6 MS, Hulda 3 MS, Burnal P 6/12 MS. (Daughter Susan was already married to Elmer Johnson in 1845)

From Footprints of Hiram Rand Pullin by Geraldine Spenser
John Wofford had made the trip to TX and wrote back to the Butlers telling of the prairie with grasses to feed many cattle. Butler history tells of the trip during 1852 when Burnell Butler and Sarah Ann Ricks Butler came to Texas from Scott Co MS with their children. The trip was made overland in wagons; there were three ox-drawn wagons, the family and seven Negro slaves. With these wagons were the families of John Pullin and William Mills. In Sept 1852 the train set out for the limitless country of TX. In the cavalcade were numerous ox teams and a "hack" drawn by horses. Small children rode in this luxurious vehicle. For three months the party moved westward and they reached the San Antonio River on Dec 24 1852 to land described to them by Wofford. Here they set up tents and built homes. They settled just below Wofford's land (he settled in Karnes County in 1848 at what is now known as Wofford's Crossing) on the west side of the San Antonio River. Indian attack had been a problem as recently as Oct 1848 when there was a skirmish with Indian horse thieves at Escondido Creek just southwest of Wofford's Crossing. Karnes County was formed in 1854 from Bexar and Goliad Counties - the first Anglo settlement was in 1852 at Helena on the site of a Mexican settlement called Alamita on the road from San Antonio to Indianola. John and Mary Pullin with their sons Hiram, Thomas Leavin settled not far from the Butlers. Hiram and his wife Candacy Butler Pullin brought two small children with them from Mississippi with another born in Lavaca.

From Lavonne's Butler Family WebPage
In Sept 1852 Burnell Butler sold his land in MS to a Mr.Lay for $1 an acre ($1750) and moved to Texas traveling overland with his family nad 7 Negro slaves in ox-drawn wagons. On Christmas Eve they reached their son Woodford's camp on the west bank of the San Antonio River and there established their home. They were accompanied to Texas by 12 of their children (Woodward having been sent on ahead) ranging in age from 24 years to 1 year old and their granddaughter Jane Johnson age 6. Their 14th child Daniel was born 6 years later.

According to "Trail Drivers of Texas" pg. 479 - 480
In 1849 Woodward, then a youth of twenty years, left his home in MS to seek out a new location for the family. He crossed the Mississippi River into Louisiana where he remained long enough to make a crop and, selling out, journeyed on until he reached Karnes County, then a part of Goliad County in 1850, where he stayed on a tract of land near the San Antonio River. In Sept 1852 his father sold out in MS and started to join him with his wife, twelve children and seven Negro slaves, traveling in covered wagons (3) each drawn by two yoke of oxen, his wife Sarah driving a hack with a team of big horses and himself riding a fine saddle horse. They stopped at Jackson MS to bid goodbye to sister Martha Butler Porter. She drove down the road with them, riding in a great carriage with a Negro driver on a high seat in front, a barouche of the real Old South. They crossed the Mississippi River at Natchez, spending three months on the road. The families of John Pullin and his sons Hiram, Thomas and Calvin Pullin came with them, as well as John, Richard, Landon and Stephen Ricks. They reached the banks of Ecleto Creek on the west side of the San Antonio River, 6 miles from the future town of Kenedy on Dec 24, 1852. In the spring of 1853 Burnell cleared 14 acres, pushing back the brush to make a fence and planted corn. He made 50 bushels of corn to the acre. Also that spring he leased land and bought cattle. In Nov 1863 Woodward drove to Port Lavaca to bring the winter's supply of groceries. While there he contracted yellow fever and died.

The first Polish settlers came to TX in 1854 and settled in Panna Maria, Karnes County. In 1856 there was a severe drought and these poor immigrants were starving. The Butlers gave 12 steers to them and other families supplied corn to them.

Burnell was deaf and dumb - not certain whether from birth or from a childhood disease.
Religion - Baptist

Unconfirmed tradition says that Burnell had to commit his son Robert to a mental hospital in Austin. Robert escaped and made his way back to Karnes County. He murdered his father on April 23, 1870 by pushing him off a cliff. His older sister Susan was a witness and he killed her two days later. Then on May 20 Robert was shot to death by authorities on the steps of the Capitol Building in Austin.

Burnell's obituary in the Corpus Christi Weekly Advertise, May 20 1870 page 2:
"Burnell Butler died at his residence, seven miles below Helena on the west bank of the San Antonio River, on April 24. He had been a resident of Karnes County since 1845." (not accurate according to tax records)

Children of BURNELL BUTLER and SARAH RICKS are:

29.	i.		SUSAN COLLIER³ BUTLER, b. 24 May 1828, Rankin Co MS; d. 25 April 1870, Karnes Co TX.
	ii.		JOHN WOODWARD BUTLER, b. 28 March 1830, Rankin Co MS; d. 02 November 1863, Karnes Co TX.

Notes for JOHN WOODWARD BUTLER:
In 1849 Woodward, then a youth of twenty years, left his home in MS to seek out a new location for the family. He crossed the Mississippi River into Louisiana where he remained long enough to make a crop and, selling out, journeyed on until he reached Karnes County, then a part of Goliad County in 1850, where he stayed on a tract of land near the San Antonio River. In Sept 1852 his father sold out in MS and started to join him. In Nov 1863 Woodward died of yellow fever on a trip to Port Lavaca for the winter's groceries.

Here is the story of Woodward's death, as published in the Floresville Chronicle-Journal, Jan 18, 1968:
In 1853, Woodward took a slave to Indianola (near present Port Lavaca, TX) for winter supplies. An epidemic of yellow fever was raging along the coast, and Woodward contracted the disease. Becoming ill in route home, he made it to Yates Creek (just below the present town of Runge) and could go no further. His Negro companion hurried to the banks of the San Antonio River opposite the Butler ranch house. The river was at flood stage as a result of heavy rains. He finally made himself heard above the roar of the water to convey the news that Woodward was sick and needed help quickly. With darkness setting in, Sarah Butler saddled a horse, took some extra clothing and her medical supplies, and swam the river to nurse her son. She improvised a camp and nursed her son three or four days before he died. She and the Negro companion had to dig a grave and bury her own son. (The grave has been moved to the Butler Family Cemetery, Kenedy, TX)

30.	iii.	WILLIAM GREEN BUTLER, b. 14 June 1831, Scott Co MS; d. 20 June 1912, Karnes Co TX.
31.	iv.	JAMES B BUTLER, b. 21 January 1832, Rankin Co MS; d. 1910, Campbelton TX.
32.	v.	MARYANN BUTLER, b. 15 May 1836, Scott Co MS; d. 08 February 1915, Karnes Co TX.
33.	vi.	RUTH ELLEN BUTLER, b. 11 December 1838, Scott Co MS; d. 1925.
34.	vii.	ELIZABETH BUTLER, b. 13 September 1841, Scott Co MS - twin; d. 05 February 1879, Karnes Co TX.
	viii.	ROBERT ANDREW BUTLER, b. 13 September 1841, Scott Co MS - twin; d. 20 May 1870, Austin TX.

Notes for ROBERT ANDREW BUTLER:
Unconfirmed tradition says that Burnell had to commit his son Robert to a mental hospital in Austin. Robert escaped and made his way back to Karnes County. He murdered his father on April 23, 1870 by pushing him off a cliff. His older sister Susan was a witness and he killed her two days later. Then on May 20 Robert was shot to death by authorities on the steps of the Capitol Building in Austin.

35.	ix.	ALBERT BROWN BUTLER, b. 24 May 1844, Scott Co MS; d. 22 January 1927, Bee Co TX.
36.	x.	HULDA LOU BUTLER, b. 1846, Scott Co MS; d. 1884, Monterey, Mexico.
37.	xi.	PLEASANT BURNELL BUTLER, b. 13 September 1848, Scott Co MS; d. 17 August 1930, Karnes Co TX.
	xii.	GEORGE WASHINGTON BUTLER, b. 19 February 1851, Scott Co MS - twin; d. 04 August 1879, Karnes Co TX.

Notes for GEORGE WASHINGTON BUTLER:
From the Kenedy Advance-Times, June 23, 1982:
George Washington Butler (son of Burnell and Sarah) was killed in a gunfight in 1878 at age 28. He and a friend, John Cooper, rode their horses to Helena on a hot evening and went to a saloon where they drank. After an argument arose between them, they went out into the street for a shoot out. When the dust cleared they both lay dead, having shot each other.

38.	xiii.		MARQUIS LAFAYETTE BUTLER, b. 19 February 1851, Scott Co MS - twin; d. 06 February 1916, Karnes Co TX.
	xiv.		DANIEL WEBSTER BUTLER, b. 1858, Karnes Co TX; d. 1926, Karnes Co TX; m. (1) MARTHA SPENCER, 12 December 1881, Karnes Co TX; m. (2) ANN COLBREATH, 01 December 1891, Bee Co TX.

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