Thomas A. Butler

DAR Ancestor #: A017726
BUTLER, THOMAS Ancestor #: A017726
Service: SOUTH CAROLINA Rank(s): SERGEANT
Birth: 11-4-1763 PRINCE WILLIAM CO VIRGINIA
Death: POST 3-6-1816 EDGEFIELD DIST SOUTH CAROLINA
Service Source: SALLEY & WATES, STUB ENTRIES TO INDENTS, BOOKS U-W, P 35, LIBER U #218
Service Description: 1) MILITIA SERVICE
RESIDENCE: 1) District: NINETY SIX DIST - State: SOUTH CAROLINA
DAR proved wife: 1) ELIZABETH GRIGSBY
DAR proved children:
1) WINIFRED SUSANNAH m. [1] WILLIAM BAIRD
2) MARY m. [1] REUBEN CARPENTER
3) JAMES GRIGSBY m. [1] MARY ANN ALLEN

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 28 2024, 19:09:51 UTC

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From Anderson County, Tennessee Web Site
Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Norma Jean Butler
Thomas Butler, Sr.
From: "The Story of Oliver Springs, TN and Its People, Vol. IV, by Snyder E. Roberts

1. THOMAS2 BUTLER , SR (WILLIAM1) was born 11 November 1763 in Frederick Co. MD, and died 1834. He married CHARLOTTE RECTOR.

Although William Butler, Sr. RWS, was the revered patriarch of the Butler clan, it was his son, THOMAS A. BUTLER, SR., also a RWS, who paved the way for the families to move from VA to Poplar Creek in present Anderson County. Thomas A. Butler was the initiator and the leader in the family. On February 13, 1800, he bought from Charles McClung 1000 acres from the 5000-acre tract on Main Poplar Creek and parts of Brush Fork and Mountain Fork of Poplar Creek (Knox F, Vol. 2, pg. 8). He sold parts of his 1000 tract to his father, brothers and sisters who soon followed.

On April 4, 1834, Thomas Butler, Sr. made an affidavit in a RW pension application in Anderson County in which he stated that he was born Nov 11, 1763 in Frederick County, MD, and that his parents moved when he was young to Bedford County, VA, in that portion which was cut off later to form Campbell County, VA. He enlisted as a private horseman during the fall of 1780, and saw limited action at New London, Petersburg, and Portsmouth. He was verbally discharged after this tour of three months. Thomas A. again volunteered and marched with the army by old Jamestown to Williamsburg and on to the siege of Yorktown. The applicant was under the command of Col. Skipper the night that the British "spiked four of our canons." In his statement, Thomas A. says that he was standing beside a man by the name of VAUGHN when said Vaughn's head was shot off. He did much labor in throwing up batteries during the siege, and when the British magazine was blown up, he saw the bodies of many British soldiers flying up into the air. After the surrender of British Gen. Cornwallis, he was unable to serve as a guard of the prisoners, and was given a written discharge by Dr. Cogswell which certificate has long since been lost. This abstract contains the high points of the affidavit.

SAMUEL GALBRAITH and CHARLES Y. OLIVER submitted affidavits to the County Court to support the pension application. Four months after the above application, Thomas died (8/31/1834) and is probably buried in an unmarked grave near the Butler Cemetery.

Thomas A. erected a saw- and a grist-mill, and a large iron forge at the confluence of Brushy and Mountain Forks of Poplar Creek. MATTHEW RHEA states that by 1830, iron produced from this forge and one other on Brushy Fork was the third leading product in Anderson County. Although details are not known, the iron works was in operation over a considerable period of time and evidently required the employment of a large number of people for all phases of its operation. Under a TN law passed in 1824 for the encouragement of iron works, Thomas A. received a grant (no. 16591) for 2600 acres on the condition that the iron works would be kept in repair and in operation. The 2600 acre tract was located to the NE of the forge and between the property lines of the GALBRAITHS and the HOSKINS lines across Pine Ridge. This tract was still a part of the Thomas A. Butler estate after his death, and was included in the division of his estate by a Court-appointed Commission.

In addition to the 3600 acres mentioned, Thomas A. continued to obtain more land by State grants and by purchase, including various mill sites and coal and other mineral lands in Morgan County. He entered the seven-acre tract, later known as the Salt-Well Tract, and a one-acre "coal bank" in 1808 which is probably the earliest written reference to coal in TN records. Thomas was also the promoter of the Butler Turnpike in Morgan County in 1817, which was to connect Piles Turnpike with the Cumberland Road. Thus, it may be seen he was a big land and slave holder, and a large-scale entrepreneur of proven ability.

Thomas A. Butler, Sr. died in testate and no precise, or official list of his children has been found. Fortunately, in Anderson County Deed Book J., page 131, JOHN W. BUTLER, a son of Thomas A., sold his one-ninth interest in his father's estate to the remaining legatees and devisees who are named in part. Thomas A. Butler's children appear to be as follows:

Children of THOMAS BUTLER and CHARLOTTE RECTOR are:
i. ELIZABETH BUTLER, m. REUBEN WILLIAMS.
{The Puzzle of Reuben Williams. Four Reuben Williams appear in the early records. As early as 1801, one older Reuben Williams was living within the Thomas Butler 1000-acre purchase, and near the Galbraith still house. Early road descriptions across Black Oak Ridge refer to the location "at the head of Reuben Williams' spring branch." Roane E, page 543 dated 1821, Reuben Williams, Jr. bought 106 acres and a large island in Clinch River near Pawpaw Ford from Matthew Nail. In 1832, G, page 87, Reuben Williams bought a mill and farm from Jacob Rector. However, this Reuben's wife was Mahala Cobb. In 1838, G, page 734, the heirs of this Reuben sold the Roane County farm and mill to John W. Butler (son of Thomas A. Butler). Among the heirs of the deceased Reuben Williams was a Reuben Williams, Jr. living in Morgan County, Illinois in 1838.}
ii. JACOB R. BUTLER, d. Bef. 1837; m. SARAH BAILEY.
iii. THOMAS BUTLER , JR, d. 1826; m. ELIZABETH GAMMON, 11 April 1823, Roane Co. TN.
iv. HENRY R. BUTLER, b. Abt. 1770; d. Abt. 1835; m. ELIZABETH OGLESBY.
v. SARAH BUTLER, m. JONATHAN BAILEY.
vi. NANCY BUTLER, b. 1796; m. MATTHEW NAIL.
vii. MARY JANE BUTLER, m. RICHARD OLIVER
for whom Oliver Springs named
viii. WILLIAM R. BUTLER, b. 12 January 1799; d. 14 May 1846; m. RHODA PEAK, 15 May 1824.
ix. JOHN W. BUTLER, b. 1808; d. 1879; m. NANCY A. CROWE. (see Rose Terrace)

• https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/659313...

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