Here A Marriage, Everywhere A Marriage: Leander Butler's Spouses' Spouses

Multiple marriages for individuals can easily confuse. As usual, our initial approach is to chart out the information that has been located. That chart is at the end of this post.

The work on Lee/Leander/Landon Butler is very much a work in progress. The last three marriages on the chart are all tied together via information in the Civil War pension application for Leander Butler (and his wife Mary--Union Civil War pension based upon service of Leander Butler in Company B, 10th Kansas Infantry, National Archives and Records Service).

The first marriage also ties into Leander Butler as well--but we'll save the complete details of "how" for a later blog post. It is always important though to make certain that "random" people are not being connected when there is no logical connection. A good addition to this marriage chart would be a column for why I think this person is the same one and the one for whom I am looking.

The pension materials are only as specific as "Spring of 1868" for the marriage of Butler to Theresa Brothers. I am still looking for an actual marriage record.

The 1870 census of Leander Butler hinted that his wife Theresa had been married before by the presence of a child with the last name of Brothers:

Add captionYear: 1870; Census Place: Moundville, Vernon, Missouri; Roll: M593_824; Page: 607B; Image: 478; Family History Library Film: 552323.

The presence of Martha Brothers is not "proof" of a previous marriage. It does suggest additional research needs to be done and, when combined with the marriages listed below, one would reasonably conclude that the Thersa Langdon wife of David Brothers is the same Theresa Brothers who married Lee Butler.

Husband	Wife	Date	Place	Source	Note
David Brothers	Theresa Langdon	25 December 1865	Allen County, Kansas	Kansas, Marriages, 1840-1935 (on FamilySearch).	Actually record apparently on microfilm per FamilySearch reference.
Lee Butler	Theresa Brothers	Spring 1868	Near Moundville, Vernon County, Missouri	Leander Butler Civil War Pension	Mary Butler only says marriage was in “Spring of 1868” in her application for pension. Wilson Davenport statement from 1905 gives “Spring of 1868” and location.
George Powell	Mary Davenport	31 Dec 1874	Moundville, Vernon County, Missouri	Leander Butler Civil War Pension	Pension application contains certified copy of marriage record from Vernon Co.
Leander Butler	Mary Powell	10 Dec 1878	Bronaugh, Vernon County, Missouri	Leander Butler Civil War Pension	Pension application contains certified copy of marriage record from Vernon Co.

Leander Butler is a probable child of my elusive Benjamin Butler. Theresa Langdon Brothers Butler has an apparent Michigan connection which is found in the Butler family as well. Michiganers in Kansas are not all that common and it is hoped that research on the Langdon family may turn up something on the Butlers as well. 

Even those spouses from a "short" marriage can provide significant clues, particularly when that spouse may have been someone the person of interest knew for quite some time before they married. 

Thanks to Linda D. (who also has an interest in this family) for her help. It is appreciated. 

Note:

As mentioned before, we believe in citing information in the spirit of Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained. However my editoral policy on this blog is not to include citations as a part of each blog post. We do however include enough information in each post to obtain the original item or to craft a citation (if you think I haven't, please email me and I'll rectify it). We realize others include citations as a part of each blog post, but there are only so many hours in the day. My newsletter, Casefile Clues, does contain complete citations to any items referenced in that work