This view is looking East from where I live.  I call my place Château de Derrière.  This is a

sunrise  at  Château de Derrière  on  Buzzard Ridge Road  in  The Big Woods  in  Brandon Township, Jackson County, Iowa.

I'm looking East to Licking County, Ohio, Berkeley County, West Virginia, down the Potomac to Prince George's County, Maryland, across to Kent County, Delaware, up to Dutchess County, New York, up further to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and across the Atlantic to England from whence my paternal and many other of my ancestors came.

Welcome!

The Mayflower landed on this continent on 11/21/1620.  Of the 102 passengers on board, 66 were "Separatists" of the English Church.  The Separatists were also known as "Pilgrams".  As best as I can discern, my earliest BUTT/GREEN ancestors arrived on this continent around 1660/1680 respectively.  Subsequently, these two families inter- and intra-married extensively.

My BUTT/GREEN family history on this continent is rich indeed.  Volumes have been written about both.  Yet it is amazingly incomplete as well.  If fact, my known, paternal BUTT line truncates in the late 1700's with my gr gr grandfather Bazil Butt.

This site is dedicated to identifying the unknown parents, or father at least, of my gr gr grandfather, Bazil Butt, b. 3/13/1797, and to keeping all my ancestors "alive".  Bazil was always referred to by his Iowa descendants, both in writing and verbally, as Bazil Baker Butt.  Perhaps there was a BAKER family connection.  This is also an effort to bring as fully up-to-date as reasonable, with all the most current information available, my BUTT and GREEN family histories.  You might not understand that...it's an "Indian Thing".  This is a working document.  Please come back often as it will be updated frequently.  Thanks for coming.

This site has now been visited

times.

I am very much interested in any comments you might have about this site.  I am particularly interested in what you do NOT like, and how you think it can be improved.  I want this site to be interesting and easy to use.  Please send your comments to:

dennisbutt@prestontel.com

This site is far lengthier than I had anticipated.  It is not possible to get through it in "a short time".  Hours are required to get through it all.  Accordingly, I have put right up front the current status of the search for the parents of my gr gr grandfather, Bazil Butt, b. 3/13/1797.  Scrolling on down now will take you to that summary.

It is currently:

If you have interest in a particular name/word, you can hold down the Control Key and simultaneously type "F".  This will give you a window into which you can type the name/word.  Clicking on the "Find Next" button will take you to the first occurrence of that name/word.  Continuing to click on the "Find Next" button will take you to subsequent occurrences of that name/word.  You can do that with each section of the site.  This will allow you to avoid reading/viewing EVERYTHING.  You can get to the various sections by clicking on their link in the Table Of Contents, clicking on links within each section (if these links exist) and/or clicking on the various links at the end of each section.

Summary of what I currently know and/or believe. 

Here's a chart that illustrates what we know currently (11/19/2008) from DNA testing and known family trees.  If you can add anything to this, or if you find errors in this, please let me know.

The father of Thomas Butt of the Rev. War may have been Edward, who was a son of Thomas Butt and wife Sophia Duvall.  Mr. William Richardson had it that way.  Also, there are those who believe the father of Archibald Butt (father of Thomas Didimus Butt) was also this same Edward, son of Thomas Butt and wife Sophia Duvall.  I do not take issue with any of that.  I am just being very conservative here.  I have just not been able to find a way to prove this one way or the other with DNA testing.

However, if other relationships stated by Mr. Richardson are correct, then we have reason to believe the above mentioned Edward may not have been the father of Archibald and Thomas.  Mr. Richardson has this Edward listed as as just mentioned, as the son of Thomas Butt and wife Sophia Duvall, plus, that he was a grand son of Richard Butt of Batchelors Delight.  DNA testing has indicated that the men listed below are not of the genetic family of Richard Butt of Buttstown who Mr. Richardson has listed as the son of Richard Butt and Rachel Duvall and also a grandson of Richard Butt of Batchelors Delight.  According, if we have tested the DNA of the right person (i. e., if this man does indeed descends thru father-to-son relationships from Richard Butt of Buttstown), then none of the men listed below are of the same genetic family of Richard Butt of Batchelors Delight.  I and others are in the process of trying to find another male who descends thru father-to-son relationships from Richard Butt of Batchelors Delight.  If such a male can be found and if his DNA can be tested, we can know whether or not our current information is correct.  The search goes on.

As you will note, I do not yet have all the birth dates of all the men listed above.  I will add them to this chart when I find them.

The chart below illustrates what I currently think might be my entire BUTT/GREEN family tree on back to England, except of course, where it is truncated with my gr gr grandfather, Bazil Butt.  One can tell from this why my interest in identifying Bazil's parents, or father at least, is so intense.

You will note here also, that the parents of my gr gr gr grandfather, Andrew Houston are also unknown.  Andrew came to Iowa in 1848, 2 years after Iowa became a state.  He made claim to two military land grants.  More about all this can be found in the section titled:  Catherine Clarissa (Green) (Gould) "Katy" Butt, her parents, the Houston's and Sinkey's, which can be found in the Table Of Contents below.  It is thought that Andrew, his daughter Isabella and son-in-law, Rolla Green all died here in Jackson County, Iowa.  Their graves have never been located.  Some believe the grave yard they were buried in was destroyed by a person who purchased the land to use as pasture.  There was found some time ago, the remains of a graveyard (stones) in a hollow near Crabbtown where at one time, these people all lived.  I've been told that this land now belongs to a gentleman named Schnoor.  I continue to attempt to find more information about all this.  If you know anything about any of these people or any of this, please let me know.  

And again, if you know of anything to add here or if you know of errors in this, please let me know.

I have not added to this chart, ALL those (listed in the chart above this one) who we know from DNA are closely related to Bazil.  The chart would become too busy, but also, I do not know where they all fit into this BUTT tree, or indeed, if they even do.

Also, I have mentioned in this chart that "Richard Butt-4" "May have been a brother to Bazil's father".  As mentioned in the chart above this one, at this writing (11/20/2008) I am convinced he was.

The above charts seem to indicate that an entire BUTT family is yet to be identified.

This is a copy of Mr. William Richardson's chart with my notes added.  A copy of his original along with this marked up copy can be found elsewhere herein as well.  If you can add to this or correct it in any way, please let me know.

The above three charts summarize the current status of our Quest to identify the parents of Bazil Butt, b. 3/13/1797.  Anything and everything you can add to this will be much appreciated.  The balance of this site contains detail in which you may or may not have interest.

---End of Summary.---

What follows here is information that relates in one way or another to Bazil Butt, b. 3/13/1797.

It is lengthy yet incomplete and ever changing.  I'm sure it includes errors.  It includes information, the absolute truth about which I do not know how to verify.  I have included information here also that other BUTT people may find interesting.  For example, at one time the BUTT surname was very common.  Here's a clipping my father found somewhere.  I have no idea at all who this Wm. Butt might have been.

The first indication I had that there was more than one BUTT family on this continent came in 1967 when a Mrs. Dennis Butt went to work at the same place I was working.  Here we are together along with a caption about it all.

Here's an interesting exercise.  There are at this moment (8:00 P M Central Time, August 30, 2008) 305,015,425 people in the U.S.  There are 7,168 with the last name BUTT.  Butt is the 5,041st most popular last name.  Being so low on the list it might also be considered the 5,041st most unpopular name as well.

You might want to check to see how popular or unpopular you might be.

Recently, a distant cousin who reviewed this site indicated to me that she and her husband had a knife that has etched on its blade the words "BUTT BROS".  They purchased the knife at a flea market there in Central Ohio where they live.  I was extremely excited about that and offered to purchase the knife from them.  I collect old knives, among other things, and in particular, anything and everything that has to do with family.  They indicated that they had no interest in selling the knife.

A month or so later, this couple contacted me and told me that they had decided to give me the knife!!!!!!!  I couldn't believe the kindness and generosity of this couple.  It was a gesture that few people in this World would make.  They knew I would have purchased the knife.  They knew also that the price would not have been an issue. 

So, I want to give a special thanks here and now to Paul Birmelin and wife Barb.  Barb is a descendant of John Butt and second wife Sarah Houston.  From DNA we know that this John Butt was very closely related to my gr gr grandfather Bazil Butt.  Many believe in fact, that John and Bazil were brothers or, perhaps, cousins.  So, it's almost certain that in this way, Barb and I are cousins of some order.  But in addition, Sarah Houston whose parents were Andrew Houston and Elizabeth Green, was a sister to my gr gr grandmother, Isabella Jane Houston whose husband was Rolla Green.  This makes Barb and me cousins for certain.

Below are three pictures of the knife.  The knife is the size of a steak knife.  When I was very young, some hardware, grocery and other such stores sometimes gave away things like bowls, spoons, etc., that had on them the name of the store.  I have several such items.  This knife reminds me of that kind of item.  Indeed, it was not intended to be used as a knife.

I have done a Google search on "BUTT BROS".  I found a Butt Bros (Fish Salesmen) Ltd. and a Butt Bros & Cooke Ltd. both in the UK.  I don't know what the latter does.  I also found a Butt Bros Tobacco Co. in New York.  I found the site of a person who collects cigarette packs.  That collection includes a Butt Bros pack.  I have contacted the person who has the collection and asked what that person might be able to tell me about this company.  I have not received a reply to my inquiry.  And lastly, I found a Butt Bros. in New Zealand about which I know nothing more.  Beyond all this I know nothing about this knife.  What an incredible find this is.  If anyone knows anything about this knife, I sure would appreciate having the information.  What a treasure it is.  It will be impossible for me to ever thank Paul and Barb enough.

One more note on this:  There is a grocery chain in Texas called H-E-B.  It is run by a BUTT family to which I am not genetically related.  It has been suggested that this knife may have been a "give-away" by that company.

DNA testing has identified at least 5 genetically different BUTT families currently living in the U. S.  In the words of Tom Butt of Richmond, California, "the East Coast was crawling with BUTT people in the late 1700's!"  They were after all, some of the first of the White people to come to this continent.  Tom and I are not genetically related.

Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

As mentioned above, if you have interest in a particular name/word, you can go to each one of these areas in the Table Of Content, hold down the Control Key and simultaneously type "F".  This will give you a window into which you can type the name/word.  Hitting the "Find Next" key will take you to the first occurrence of that name/word.  Continuing to hit the "Find Next" key will take you to subsequent occurrences of that name/word.  This will allow you to avoid reading everything in that area.

Without art, life would be unbearable.

As already mentioned, this site has become much larger than I had anticipated.

And, I am finding/being provided more information almost daily to add.  Depending upon the computer and internet connection being used, the site can be very difficult to access and navigate.  I am doing all I know to improve this situation.  I've broken the site into the sections listed in the above Table of Contents.  I've reduced the sizes of some fonts, graphics, etc.  I've also added thumbnails throughout.

With most Windows Operating Systems you can zoom-in and zoom-out by holding down the Control "Ctrl" key and simultaneously turning the wheel on the mouse.  This sometimes distorts certain items.  

You can navigate between the parts or sections in a couple of ways I know of.  First you can click on a link in the Table of Content.  Doing so will take you to that particular section.  Then when you've finished with that section you can use the "Back" button in your browser title bar to take you back to where you came from.  I've included hyperlinks at the end of each section that will allow you to go from the end of each section to the various other sections.

If you want to stay with the Who was Bazil Butt? section now, just scroll down to that heading.  It's directly below.  All the information about Bazil Butt is right there.  You'll find links therein that will take you to some of the other sections.  If while going thru the Bazil Butt section you decide to go to one of the other sections, clicking the "BACK" button in your Browser while in that section will return you to where you were in the Bazil Butt story.

As mentioned, Thumbnails have been used throughout.  In case you are not familiar with them, a Thumbnail is a small version of the original picture/graphic.  When you come to one, if you click on the small picture, the full sized version will open.  If the full sized version is NOT larger than your screen, all you will see is the full sized version.  Some of the graphics are necessarily large.  If the picture is larger than your screen, a middle sized version that fits in your screen will appear.  The cursor will turn into a magnifying glass with a "+" or "-" sign in it.  Clicking on the graphic with the magnifying glass will toggle from full sized to medium sized.  When you're in medium sized view, clicking on a particular part of the picture with the magnifying glass cursor will bring up the full sized picture centered on the place where you clicked.  You can scroll both up and down and/or side to side when viewing a picture that is larger than your screen.  

To return to the place where you were when you opened the Thumbnail and to reduce the picture back to Thumbnail size, simply click on the "BACK" button in your Bowser title bar.  Note that clicking on the "X" button in the upper right-hand corner will close out the entire web site.

The last thing I want to do is limit the amount of information provided by this site.  Instead, I will continue to do my best to find ways to make it easier to access and use the ever increasing amount of information included in the site.  In the end, I do have 50 years of gatherins and, as mentioned, I'm receiving more practically every day.

And lastly, please feel free to download, copy, etc. any information, pictures, etc. you would like from this site.

My name is Dennis William Butt.

I was born February 4, 1940 in the hospital in Maquoketa, Jackson County, Iowa.  I was raised one County South in Clinton County.  I currently live in Brandon Township, Jackson County, Iowa, in the midst of what used to be called "The Big Woods".  I will talk much about The Big Woods, Brandon Township and Jackson County, Iowa in the section titled "Catherine Clarissa (Green) (Gould) "Katy" Butt, her parents, the Houston's and Sinkey's".  This lady was my gr grandmother.  There are different spellings and orderings of her names.  I call her "Katy", as did my father and his father.

I live ~1/4 of a mile as the crow flies, both to the East and North of the South branch of the Maquoketa River ~1/4 of a mile North of the Millertown Bridge, and ~45 miles West of the Mississippi.  The town of Maquoketa, Iowa is about 20 minutes to the East.

From DNA, I know my paternal ancestors, father-to-son only, no women included, were British.

I'm often asked about the word "Maquoketa".  There are different interpretations.  My understanding at the moment is that it's a combination of corrupted French and Indigenous words that suggest "Little Bear" or perhaps just "Bear".  In any event, it seems likely to me that the word takes its origin from the fact that The Big Woods, through which the two branches of this river ran, was, prior to the time it was occupied by Whites, home to a very large community of Black Bears.  For this reason and others, The Big Woods was avoided by both Indigenous people and French trappers.  There is a creek that runs on the South side of The Big Woods called Big Bear creek, or, simply, Bear creek.  

The Wapsipinicon is the next major river to the South.  The word "Wapsipinicon" is an Indigenous word that describes that river as being one along which "swan potatoes" or artichokes can be found.  This suggests that the word "Maquoketa" is similarly descriptive.

I describe in the section about my gr grandmother, Catherine Clarissa "Katy" (Green) (Gould) Butt, the area in which I live.  Some of my ancestors were among the first to come to Jackson County.  My gr gr gr grandfather, Andrew Houston came here in 1848, two years after Iowa became a state.  Many other of his descendants are still here.

You can go now to a history of my father, Henry Morgan "Toad" Butt, his father Squire George Butt and his father Morgan Green Butt by clicking on the below "A Trip from Toad back to Bazil" link.  If you do that, at the end of that section you can come back here by simply clicking the "Back" button in your browser title bar.  Or at the end of that section you will find links to all the other sections.  If you want to skip the "Trip from Toad back to Bazil" section, you can scroll down to the section directly below.

Goto  A Trip from Toad back to Bazil.

who was Bazil Butt, b. 3/13/1797 - d. 11/16/1854?

Below is a picture and some information about Bazil Butt and wife Mahala* (Green) Butt.  It's a scan of a page of information I copied while once visiting the Johnstown, Ohio Historical Society.  This is the only known picture of Bazil Butt.  At that time, this Historical Society was selling "Mahala Dolls" commemorating the assertion herein that Mahala "...was the first White child born in Monroe Township...", Licking County, Ohio.

*The name Mahala in an unspecified Indigenous word meaning: woman; tenderness.

Our quest here is to identify the parents, or at least the father, of this guy right here.  When Bazil enlisted in the military, he was 5' 8" tall and had blue eyes and light hair....`makes you wonder how his son Morgan Green "Morg" Butt, my gr grandfather got so tall...Morg was well over 6' tall.  There is a story about a Bazil Butt having part of an ear cut off in some kind of accident.

Here's a picture of Mahala in her later years.

Here's an obituary for Mahala:

Below is a scan of another picture I copied during this visit to the Johnstown Historical Society. These are children of Bazil and Mahala Butt.  There is some very, very slight doubt about the two I have identified as Noah Fasset and Henry Stansbury Wilson.

As best I can determine, Leroy Hamilton is not in this picture.  Leroy Hamilton was the oldest child of Bazil and Mahala.  He died February 15, 1907.  The oldest here appears to be the one to the right of Morgan Green and that would be Reason Marlay as I have it labeled.  I'm sure this picture was taken in the Johnstown, Ohio area.

Here are two newspaper notes about trips Morgan Green Butt made to Ohio to visit friends and relatives.  These dates coincide with Morg's January 19th birth date.  Perhaps they were celebrating the occasion.  I doubt that this picture was taken during one of these trips.  Had it been, one would think Leroy Hamilton would have been in the picture as well.

Jackson Sentinel, Maquoketa, Iowa, Thursday, January 16, 1902

Daily Jottings.

SATURDAY--…Among our callers were Mrs. J. H. Doty of Baldwin, and Mrs. Butt of Monmouth, who informed us that next week, accompanied by Mr. Butts, they were going to their old home, Johnstown, Ohio, for a winter’s visit.

 

Jackson Sentinel, Maquoketa, Iowa, Thursday, January 12, 1905.

Monmouth. Wednesday, January 11, 1905.

Morgan Butt departed for Ohio, Monday morning, to visit friends and relatives.

Morgan Green Butt died in 1909.  My guess is that the above picture was taken around the time of, or perhaps even at, Leroy Hamilton's funeral in 1907.  This would make Morgan Green Butt 65 and Reason Marlay 75 years old at the time this picture was taken.

The picture below is another of eight of the eleven children of Bazil and Mahala.  This picture was inherited from my father Henry Morgan Butt.  It was given to dad by his cousin Carl Morgan "Tim" Ripperton.  Tim was a son of Lutie Mahala Butt and husband Frank Ripperton.  Lutie was a daughter of Morgan Green "Morg" Butt and second wife Clarissa Catherine (Green) (Gould) "Katy" Butt and a sister to my grandfather Squire George Butt.  The picture originally belonged to Lutie, Squire Butt's sister.

Morgan Green Butt is third from the left.  As best I can determine, from left to right, these are: Noah Fasset, Reason Marlay, Morgan Green, Henry Stansbury Wilson, Hazel Rignal "Tode", Charlotte Goodrich, Caroline Sofiiah and Leroy Hamilton.  The other three children were Addis Porter, Marie Jane, and Aby Adelia who died in 1849, 1859, and 1888 respectively.

My estimation is that this picture was taken in ~1895.  This would make Morgan Green Butt 53 years old when this picture was taken.  Leroy Hamilton, the oldest here would have been 68 and Henry Stansbury Wilson, the youngest would have been 51.  My guess is that it too was taken in Johnstown, Ohio.

With respect to the nickname "Tode".  There is no doubt that this is the spelling used for Hazel Rignal's nickname.  R. M. Green, renowned Historian who wrote the landmark, 800 page book titled "A Branch from The Green Tree", which includes much information about my BUTT family, spells it this way in his book.  He also spelled it this way in all the various letters and accompanying material I received from him.  The wife of Hazel Rignal "Tode" Butt was Nancy Ann Tippett.  Her nickname was "Tidy".  Here's an except from a letter I received from R. M. Green shortly after he and I met.

I was surprised to learn that I run across more on Morgan Green Butt and his son Squire, than appears in my book "The Green Tree".  Actually, I remember his brother Hazel Rignal "Tode" Butt, and his wife Nancy (Tippett) Butt, very well. They used to attend our Green/Willison reunions there at Johnstown, every year.  You see, I was born in 1906, myself, and in those days, "family" was about all people had to talk about at a get-to-gether.  Fortunately, I had a good memory, and remembered grand-dads and the older ones talking about "poor old blind Ky Green; Hair-lip George Green, Tode and Tidy Butt” and other such nick names.

I have searched all the dictionaries and encyclopedia's I know of for a definition of these words and have found nothing.  In particular, I searched for old English meanings thinking the Butt and Green people of that time were familiar perhaps, with some old English words or slang that have since been lost.  Again, I found nothing.  It could very well be that they just didn't know how to spell Toad.

Here's a newspaper article about my father, the Model T ford he assembled and the nick name.

Below is an enlargement of the newspaper article on the sides of the above picture.  Note the name spellings.  This was my first introduction to verbiage about my gr gr grandfather Bazil Butt and accordingly, I have used this spelling all my life.  I have also all my life, used the pronunciation of Bazil's name my father, his brothers and their mother used.  I am fully aware that others prefer different spellings and different pronunciations.

Part of Diadema* (Willison) Green's name is missing on the bottom of the first column and top of the second column.   Below is a transcription I've done of the above newspaper article that includes all the words.

*The name Diadema is an interesting one.  My understanding is that it's a Greek word that means headdress.  The Romans, and Persians used the word in that context.  I've found that the Pope's Tiara was called a diadema.  The indigenous people on this continent sometimes wear feathers in a headdress which could be called diadema as well.

Here's a scan of a photo copy of this article that may be more suitable for downloading.

Here's a great picture sent to me by Nancy and Bob Butte, Bob being the gr grandson of Hazel Rignal "Tode" and wife Nancy Ann "Tidy" (Tippett) Butt.  Tidy is the lady in the white dress, Tode is the gentleman to her left.  I have no idea who the others in the picture are, BUT, they look like they are straight from Shakespere!!!!.....look at that dude on the far right!!!!!  If anyone can identify the others in this picture I sure would love having the information!!!!

Here's a great picture sent to me by Cathleen (Butt) Lovetere, a descendant of Noah Fasset and wife Lucinda E. Kasson.

I am not certain who all these people are.  Cathleen has been told that the one on the far left sitting is Mahala and that the gentleman with the full beard sitting next to her is Noah Fasset.  As noted in the above article, Mahala died December 5, 1884.  At the time of Mahala's death, Noah Fasset would have been 50 years old.  Her oldest child, Leroy Hamilton would have been 57 years old.  The gentleman with the full beard appears to be near 70, and by comparing this picture to the others above, he does not appear to be Leroy Hamilton.

Bazil Butt died in 1854.  He was 57 years old at the time.  

Noah and Lucinda had five children: Cora Patience, William Ervin, Pearl Anna, Fred K. and Don.  They were born in 1856, 1858, 1863, 1869 and 1873 respectively.

There are three other men in this picture.  It might be that they are the three sons of Noah and Lucinda.  Then there are six women, three of whom could be wives of the three sons, two of whom could be the daughters of Noah and Lucinda and the last could be Lucinda herself.

I will hope someone can help me out with this.  Any one who can add to the identification of those in this picture is encouraged to do so.  These have all got to be people who we would all like to have positively identified.

In any event, thank you very much Cathleen for this wonderful picture.

Here's a picture sent to me by Lou Anne (Brake) Kirby.  This William Ervin Butt is a son of Noah Fassett "Woof" Butt and wife Lucinda E. Kasson.  This Mirvin (Mervin B.) Kasson is the son of Royal Kasson and wife Charlotte Goodrich Butt, the latter of course being the daughter of Bazil and Mahala.  The two below were first cousins, their common ancestors being Daniel Dennis KASSON and wife Elizabeth BARBER.

Here's a marked up 1875 map of Monroe Township, Licking County, Ohio where some of these people and some significant others lived.  The town being Johnstown.

I have an enlargement of the sideways newspaper article at the bottom of the above picture of the eight children of Bazil and Mahala.  It's an obituary for my gr grandmother, Clarissa Katherine (Green) (Gould) "Katy" Butt, the second wife of Morgan Green Butt.  Discussing this obituary here would side-track from Bazil so I've put all that information in the section called Catherine Clarissa (Green) (Gould) "Katy" Butt, her parents, the Houston's and the Sinkey's.  There's a lot of information in that section about Andrew Houston and his descendants.  There's also a lot of information about Jackson County, Iowa, Brandon Township and The Big Woods.  Reviewing that section will help "paint a picture" in the mind of the reader, of the Iowa descendants and relatives of Bazil Butt.

You can go to that section now by clicking on this link.

Goto Catherine Clarissa (Green) (Gould) "Katy" Butt, her parents, the Houston's and Sinkey's.

If you go to that section now, when you are finished you can simply click on the "Back" Button in the title bar of your browser to bring you back here.  There are other links at the end of that section that will take you to the other sections in the site.

If you prefer, you can continue the Bazil Butt story below.

Bazil Baker Butt

My father, his brothers that I knew, and their mother always referred to Bazil, not just as Bazil, or Bazil Butt, but ALWAYS both verbally and in writing, as Bazil Baker Butt, as if it were all the one word; BAZILBAKERBUTT.  I have school books that belonged to my father and his brothers.  One of the younger brothers of my father was Benjamin Joseph Butt.  Inside the front cover of one of his books he wrote:  "Benjermin Joseph Bazil Baker Butt".  The "r" in "Benjermin" is his, not mine.  He was about 10 years old when he wrote this line.

In the "Writings of my father Henry Morgan "Toad" Butt" section you will find some family history.  You'll note there that dad refers to his gr grandfather as Bazil Baker Butt. 

According to my father, the name Bazil Baker Butt was used by his father, Squire George Butt and wife Hattie Eva Nettie (Willman) Butt, and that it was also used by Morgan Green Butt, son of Bazil and Mahala, and his wife Katy.  My father remembered Morgan Green Butt and his wife Clarissa Catherine (Katy), but only vaguely, so, my father was not able to confirm the latter from first-hand knowledge.

My father's nickname was "Toad", or "Tode", or "Toady", or "Todey, or "Totie", etc.  As mentioned, Hazel Rignal Butt, a brother of Morgan Green Butt had the nickname "Tode".  This was passed on by Morgan Green Butt, first to my grandfather Squire George Butt, and then my father Henry Morgan Butt.  The name Bazil Baker Butt was surely passed on to the rest of us by Morgan as was the name "Tode" exactly in the same way.  My guess is that Morgan Green Butt actually called is father Bazil Baker Butt.

In any event, the name BAKER has a particular significance.

I have a 435 page, extensively end noted document titled "Descendants of William Green".  This is an excerpt from that document:

Child of GEORGE GREEN and DIADEMA WILLISON is:

i. MAHALA⁴ GREEN, m. BAZIL BAKER.

I do not know who authored this document.

Here's a newspaper clipping that may be the source of the above.

MORGAN GREEN BUTT   CLARISSA CATHERINE GREEN

Morgan Green Butt, son of Basil Baker and Mahala (Green) Butt, was born on 19 January 1842 in Licking Co., Ohio. He died on 8 May 1909 in Jackson Co., Iowa and was buried in Monmouth Cem., Monmouth, Iowa. He married 2nd Clarissa Catherine Green, daughter of Rolla and Isabel (Huston) Green, on 10 March 1879. Catherine was born on 1 January 1850 in Licking Co., Ohio. She died on 7 March 1909 in Monmouth, Iowa and was buried in Monmouth Cem., Monmouth, Iowa.  Morgan married 1st Mary Isobel Sinkey. Morgan and Mary had one daughter, Byra Ann.  Catherine married 1st Elijah Gould on 5 December 1870. Elijah and Catherine had three children.

Morgan Green Butt and first wife Mary Sinkey actually had two daughters; Ida June and Byra Ann.  Ida died in infancy.

Leroy Hamilton Butt, the oldest child of Bazil and Mahala named a daughter Mahala D. Butt.  She was born in 1858.  I do not know what the "D" stands for.  My guess would be Diadema, the first name of Mahala's mother.  Clearly though, she was named after Leroy Hamilton's mother.  Leroy Hamilton also named a son Bazil Baker Butt.  He was born in 1865.  This Bazil Baker Butt is some times referred to as Baker Bazil Butt.  This perhaps, to differentiate him from his grandfather.  In the 1870 and 1880 census' he was referred to as Bazil Butt and Baker Butt respectively.  In the BUTT family reunion minutes for year 1931 he was referred to as "Baker".   This son was clearly named after Leroy Hamilton's father.  Here's an 1870 census that includes Leroy Hamilton, wife Clarissa E. (Overturf) and their family, including Mahala D. and Bazil B. 

Morgan Green Butt and 2nd wife Clarissa Katherine "Katy" (Green) (Gould) Butt named a daughter Lutie Mahala (Mrs. Lutie Ripperton in Katy's obituary) and another Lydia Adelia (Mrs. Delia Nowachek in Katy's obituary).  Morgan had a sister named Aby Adelia.  My father's next older brother's name was George Addis.  Morgan had a brother named Addis Porter.  Both of my fathers names along with his nickname were passed on from family members.  Family names were frequently passed on from generation to generation.

A burning question is, and has always been for me; why was Bazil ALWAYS referred to by his Iowa descendants as Bazil Baker Butt?  Middle names were used prior to the Civil War, but not always, and for that reason I've never consider the name "Baker" to be Bazil's middle name.  I would not be surprised, if "Baker" was Bazil's mother's maiden name.  The name Baker is found frequently in the area's where Bazil and his relatives are known to have been.  But, I've never found a direct nexus between Bazil and any BAKER family.  I'm still looking for such a connection.  This may be the best clue we have about who Bazil's parents might have been.

You will have noted in the above "Bazil and Mahala Butt Family Record" newspaper article that a stone was placed on the spot where Bazil was killed.  Below is a picture of that stone.  This picture has been in my family since I can remember.  Again note the spelling, "Bazil".

The stone was not in its original spot in this picture.  It was moved from its original spot to this fence line in ~1916.  It was later removed from this spot (and broken in the process) to Green Hill Cemetery where a part of it is now located.  Below is an excerpt from a letter to me from R M Green, the author of "A Branch from The Green Tree".

"I don't want to seem like I'm trying to take any praise or honor from Bud Butte for having moved the Basil Butt stone to Green Hill Cemetery.  Actually, I approve of the move in every way, and I was the one to show him a picture of the stone taken by Everett Buck, a grandson of Hazel Rignel Butt, in the first place.  In Bud's last letter, he included a copy of a letter to you from a Mrs. Janice Large, whom I am not familiar with, in which she mentioned that the stone had been moved from its original resting place to its new place in Green Hill Cemetery.  The stone hadn't been in the original place for at least 75 years.  I do not know who owned the property when Basil was killed on it, but Charles Pratt owned it when we lived nearby in 1913.  Charles Pratt sold out to Charles Stemen probably in 1915 or 16.  Stemen bought a new Huber tractor, and found that big stone out in his field caused him a lot of trouble and extra time working around, so decided it had to go, so using his new tractor, and his two sons, Dwight and Victor, they moved the stone out of the field into a  woods lot, where the maple sugar camp was located.  That would have been about 1916, for I have a 1916 White School picture showing we three Green kids and the four oldest Stemen kids were in White School at the same time.  The usual way of moving such obstacles from fields in those days was by using a stick of dynamite, so I always thought Charlie had done a very honorable thing.  He lived to 105 and I was a pallbearer for his funeral."

Bud Butte (Charles D. "Bud" Butte) who is mentioned above as having been the one who moved the stone is like me,  a gr gr grandson of Bazil and Mahala Butt.  Bud descends thru Hazel Rignol "Tode" Butt (mentioned above) and wife Nancy Ann "Tidy" Tippett, then their son Miles Edward Butt and wife Cordelia (Chase) Butt, and then finally thru their son Cecil Orr Butte and wife Hazel Catherine Richert.  Bud is a retired Army officer who at the time of this writing (Sept., 2007) lives in Florida.

Bud published his memoir.  Here's a portion of page 57 of that book.

The mention here by Bud of the "jug of corn", aka, "Moonshine", "White Lighting" or "Triple Twist" is significant.

The "Mahala Doll" has been mentioned previously.  Bud mentions it here again.  Here's a picture sent to me by De Vaughn of her Mahala doll.

Below is a picture of what remains of the Bazil Butt stone that is now in Green Hill Cemetery.  The stone was broken when it was removed from the fence line in the picture above to Green Hill Cemetery.  Again note the spelling of "Bazil".

These are the original stones in Green Hill Cemetery of first Bazil and then Mahala.  Here it's spelled Basil.

Note in the above, the stone in the right background.  That's the Bazil Butt stone.

The "Bazil and Mahala Butt Family Record" newspaper article also says Bazil Butt was born March 13, 1798 and that he was 14 years old when serving in the military.  Some of this may be incorrect.  By other accounts, Bazil was born March 13, 1797.  He served in the military as a Private from 8-26-1814 thru 12-10-1814 and, accordingly, if the latter of these birth dates is correct, then he was from 17 years and 5 months to 17 years and 9 months old when he served.

Below is a copy of a letter from the Veterans Administration that says in 1850 Bazil Butt was 53 years old, making his birth year 1797.  It also gives the dates of Bazil's service.  This letter was scanned by me from "A Branch from The Green Tree" By R M Green.

It's interesting to note that Bazil enlisted in "Charlestown, VA".  I'm not sure I know where that town is/was.  There is a current Charles Town, WV that is ~16 miles South/South-East of Martinsburg.  Perhaps this is the town referred to in the letter below.

The "Caroline Butt" mentioned in this letter was Caroline Sofiiah Butt, one of Bazil and Mahala's daughters.  "Rezen Green" was Mahala's brother.

Here's a document I received from Howard Butts of Martinsburg, W. V. that grants Mahala two plots of land; 40 and 120 acres for Bazil's service.  If I'm reading it right, Mahala sold the 120 acres to Bethuel Evans of El Dorado, Hunter County, Kansas.  

A clarification of the above:  The current Washington D C was referred to in the 17th century as "Washington City".  Accordingly, we know Bazil was mustered out of the Militia in the current Washington D. C.

The "Bazil and Mahala Butt Family Record" newspaper article says Bazil came to Licking County, Ohio in 1823.  This date is the same as noted in this 1916 "Butt Reunion" newspaper article, written by Horton J. Butt.  This came to me in a folder of Butt Family Reunion minutes.

Horton J. (James) Butt was a son of Hazel Rignal "Tode" Butt and therefore a grandson of Bazil and Mahala.  The "Bazil and Mahala Butt Family Record" newspaper article was written in August, 1917.  Perhaps the newspaper reporter had a copy of the 1916 article written by Horton J. Butt.

The author of the below document is unknown to me.  It was included in a folder of "Butt Family Reunion Minutes".  It can be determined that this document was written in 1939 and the author was either a great grand son or great grand daughter of Diadema (Willison) Green, and either a grand son or grand daughter of Bazil and Mahala, the latter of whom the author refers to as "Aunt Hale" and "Mum".  "Mum" being very British.

It's clear from this document that, in 1881, the year she died, Diadema (Willison) Green, Mahala's mother wrote a family history.  I have never been able to locate that document.  R. M. Green included some family history in "A Branch from The Green Tree".  It's not clear to me that any of that came from Diadema's writings.  I would be very surprised if this document does not still exist and as surprised if it does not reside somewhere near Johnstown, Ohio.  It would be very interesting reading indeed.

It is also clear from the above document that the author did not know who the parents of Bazil Butt were.  Quoting from the document:  "So this young man who married her eldest daughter [speaking of Diadema and Mahala] may have been a son of a friend or neighbor."  It's not clear from this document that Diadema's family history stated specifically that Bazil came from "Berkeley County, VA now WV", but it is clear, for what ever the reasons, this author thought that to be the case.

It is startling really, that even Bazil's grand children did not know who his parents were.

Below are two obituaries I acquired from the Johnstown Historical Society.