James B. Butler is as far back as I can go in the Butler line. He was my 3x-great-grandfather.
Thanks to his military history, I have quite a lot of information on James’ life as an adult. He was born sometime between about 1810 and 1824, according to various records. He was likely born in Virginia and may have moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina. My first confirmed location for him is Hall County, Georgia in 1837; this is where he enlisted in the Army to fight in the Florida Seminole Wars. After his return from Florida, he married Rhoda Qualls (Quarles) in Hall County in 1839. They later moved to Habersham County, then Cass County, where Rhoda died.
James had a sister named Susannah, who married John Fletcher Sullins. Supposedly, James was raised by Susannah and John. He also followed them from Hall County to Cass County as an adult. The Sullins’ moved to Alabama, but I have no records of James following them there. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in Adairsville, Cass County, and all records show him returning to Georgia on various furloughs. Military pension records show him as being in Bartow County (formerly known as Cass County) in 1872, when he had a stroke, and then being sent to the State Lunatic Asylum where he died in 1876.
If you have any information on James’ parents, please leave a comment. Any information would be most appreciated.
[…] 1876), the aforementioned rogue, deserves a post of his own. I’ve written a bit about him here. He fought in two wars, was a bigamist, and died in the State Lunatic Asylum at Milledgeville, […]