Below are outlined the first several generations of the Butler family originating with the immigration of James Butler to Louisa, Virginia in 1750. The Louisa County, VA historical records reflect his marriage to Mary Beckwith in 1758. James, it is said, was born in Dunboyne, Priestown, County Meath IR, which is about 15 miles northwest of Dublin. This general area is the historical home of a large and prominent branch of the Butler family now generally referred to as the “Dunboyne Branch”. Family lore indicates that James arrived in Virginia from Barbados. This has not been substantiated, although in the 1950’s my aunt seemed to have picked up this same theory as in her research there are old historical maps of Barbados indicating the presence of one or more Butler plantations in the mid-1700 period. There is little known documentation of James’ parents although Lord Dunboyne of the Butler Society writes in the “Happy Families” section of the Journal of the Butler Society in response to an inquiry:
“Said to have gone to Barbados "to take care of a family estate" and then, for unknown reasons, migrated to Louisa Co. Virginia, USA where he m. 6 July 1755 Mary Beckwith who d. 1758 giving birth to their son, William Aaron, who survived. Lord Dunboyne comments that whilst it is not possible to identify this individual with any degree of assurance on this basis of this information, one possible lead is that there was a James Butler b. c. 1730 of Tralee, Co. Kerry, son of Theobald Butler of Priestown, Co. Meath. Priestown was, for many centuries, part of the Dunboyne estate in Co. Meath.”
In a January ’04 visit to Ireland, I was able to identify that there was movement of elements of the Dunboyne Butler family to land owned by other family members to the Tralee, County Kerry area. I am in contact with professional genealogical research organization in Dublin and plan to commission them to see if additional family linage information can be found.
The information below was furnished to me by Hope Pees, another Butler researcher. In addition for those interested in this branch of the Butler family, there is an excellent website developed by Jill Butler with very complete information on the family. This web site’s URL is: www.mindspring.com/~butlerlj/genehome .
1. James BUTLER. Born 1730 in Ireland. Died 1783 in Virginia.
He married Mary BECKWITH, about 1758. Mary was born 1735 and died about 1758 while giving birth to William Aaron in Louisa, Virginia.
They had the following children:
2 i. William Aaron BUTLER Sr.
Second Generation
2. William Aaron BUTLER Sr. Son of James BUTLER & Mary BECKWITH. Born January 1, 1758 in Louisa County, Virginia. Died March 15, 1802 in Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia.
He married Frances “Fanny” POINDEXTER, January 1, 1778. Born April 6, 1762 in Louisa County, Virginia. Died June 10, 1830 in Amite County, Mississippi. Buried in Butler-Short Cemetery, Amite County, Mississippi.
3
i. William Aaron BUTLER
Jr.
4
ii. John BUTLER
5
iii. Jabez BUTLER
6
iv. George Pollard
BUTLER
Third Generation
3. William Aaron BUTLER Jr. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Sr. & Frances “Fanny” POINDEXTER. Born November 3, 1778 in Louisa County, Virginia. Died October 3, 1868.
He married Mary DAY, 1801 in Georgia.
They had the following children:
7
i. Zachariah BUTLER
8
ii. Robert Pollard
BUTLER
9
iii. Aaron Harris BUTLER
10
iv. Polly Mourning BUTLER
11
v. Mary BUTLER
4. John BUTLER. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Sr. & Frances
“Fanny” POINDEXTER.
Born December 17, 1784 in Hancock County, Georgia. Died May 7, 1852 in Caldwell
Parish, Louisiana.
He married Jennie “Gincy” HEARD, October 28, 1808 in Clark County, Georgia. Born February 6, 1789 in Georgia. Died September 16, 1864 in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana.
They had the following children:
12
i. Stephen BUTLER
13
ii. John BUTLER
14
iii. Lucy BUTLER
15
iv. Jabez BUTLER
16
v. Amanda
BUTLER
5. Jabez BUTLER. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Sr. & Frances
“Fanny” POINDEXTER.
Born 1795 in Wilkes County, Georgia.
He married Nancy Mc MILLAN, January 31, 1822 in Amite County, Mississippi.
They had the following children:
17
i. Mary BUTLER
18
ii. Victoria BUTLER
19
iii. Sarah BUTLER
20
iv. T. Jefferson BUTLER
21
v. John BUTLER
6. George Pollard BUTLER. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Sr. & Frances “Fanny” POINDEXTER. Born April 2, 1789 in Louisa County, Virginia. Died January 7, 1865 in Amite County, Mississippi.
He married Mary Faulkner “Polly” HEARD, daughter of Stephen HEARD Jr. & Caroline WILKINSON, August 16, 1803 in Clarke County, Georgia. Born 1784 in Virginia. Died 1852 in Amite, Mississippi.
Lived in Georgia.
They had the following children:
22
i. Eveline C.
BUTLER
23
ii. Annaliza Mapp
BUTLER
24
iii. Everett Pollard
BUTLER
25
iv. Elizabeth P. BUTLER
26
v. Young Gresham
BUTLER
27
vi. Emeline S. BUTLER
28
vii. Pollard P. BUTLER
29
viii. Decatur Noonan BUTLER Sr.
30
ix. George Putnam BUTLER
31
x. Ora “Orra” Heard
BUTLER
Fourth Generation
7. Zachariah BUTLER. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Jr. & Mary DAY.
8. Robert Pollard BUTLER. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Jr. &
Mary DAY. Born 1812.
He first married Emily DOBBYNS.
He second married Mary SAMPLE, about 1845.
9. Aaron Harris BUTLER. Son of William Aaron BUTLER Jr. &
Mary DAY. Born 1820. Died 1899.
He married Martha COLLINS, About 1843. Born 1825.
10. Polly Mourning BUTLER. Daughter of William Aaron BUTLER Jr. &
Mary DAY.
She married John KNOX, About 1831.
They had the following children:
32
i. John KNOX Jr.
33
ii. Mourning G.
KNOX
11. Mary BUTLER. Daughter of William Aaron BUTLER Jr. & Mary DAY.
Born About 1805 in Georgia. Died About 1889.
She married Isaiah CAIN, 1820 in Amite County, Mississippi. Born 1795 in North
Carolina. Died 1855.
Served in the War of 1812.