I cannot find my great-grandfather’s household on the 1910 census. His name is James Benjamin Butler. He appears on other censuses as follows:
- 1900: James, in his father’s household in the Ball Ground District, Murray County, Georgia.
- 1920: “J. B. Butter” in the Ball Ground District, Murray County, Georgia.
- 1930: “James B. Butler” in Chatsworth, Murray County, Georgia.
He should be found in Texas in 1910. His first five children were born in Quanah, Hardeman County, Texas between 1907 and 1916. Moreover, his second son was born in Quanah on February 14, 1910. So, 1910 in Hardeman County seems like a no-brainer. The only problem is I can’t find him.
I’ve searched every permutation of his name that I can think of in both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch (not just in Texas – the whole country). James, J. B., Jim, Butler, Butter. I’ve searched all Butlers born in Georgia in 1880, then again as a wild card search with the last name as But?er. I’ve also searched for his wife, Maud Angeline, and his two oldest sons, Floyd David and James Benjamin, Jr, again with any name combination I could come up with.
I found his sister, Mattie (Butler) Sampler and her husband in Quanah. His younger brother, William, lived with Mattie. I would have thought that Jim’s family lived somewhere nearby, but I’ve browsed through every page of the census images for Hardeman County and they are nowhere to be found.
If anyone know where to find this family on the 1910 census, please leave a comment. Also, please comment if you can think of any other ways to search. I’m out of ideas.