In 1894, Alvaro Franklin Gibbens published the book Gibbens-Butcher Genealogy. On page 149 he clearly stated that Samuel Butcher and his wife Susannah had a son John, who married Susannah Lewis. However, due to the unfortunate wording on page 153 "The will of John, son of Samuel and Susanna (Lewis) Butcher" an error has been perpetuated for over a century in hundreds of family trees posted online. People's memories are short, and what they read on page 149 was forgotten when they got to page 153. (1)
Per Gibbens, Samuel Butcher's will was written 12 Sep 1769 and was proved 9 March 1778 in Loudoun County, Virgiia, naming 7 children. (1)
Susannah Lewis, my 7th great grand aunt, was the daughter of Abraham and Rebeckah Lewis of Loudoun County, Virginia. In Abraham's will, written 27 Feb 1802, he bequeathed 15 pounds to his daughter Susannah Butcher. Just two years later, John Butcher of Loudoun County wrote his will on 30 Sep 1804. He left his wife Susannah considerable property to be rented out to provide her an income, along with a negro girl named Lishay*. It appears that he and Susannah had no children, as no children were named, and he left legacies to his siblings. (2)
Again, just two years later, in Shelby County, Kentucky, Jesse Johnson posted bond to marry Mrs. Susannah Butcher, and her brother Joseph Lewis was surety. (3) The couple were enumerated on the 1810 census in Madison County, Kentucky and on 21 Apr 1819 Susannah wrote her will. She clearly had done quite well as she left considerable property to her siblings and nieces and nephews. It appears that she and Jesse didn't have any children either. She beqeathed three children of her negro woman Valitia* to her husband Jesse. Susannah stipulated that Valitia was to be freed upon her death. (4)
I'm quite a fan of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and his TV show Finding Your Roots. He has said that it is important to follow the enslaved people named in wills to prove family connections, and I believe in this case that it proves who Susannah's husband really was. Lishay could be pronounced Lishy, which would be an appropriate nickname for Valitia. 'Litia sounds like Lishy.
I believe the timeline also confirms this. It appears from the 1810 census that Susannah Lewis was born shortly before 1765, and through census records, a family Bible and tax records, most of her 8 siblings were born in the 1750s and 1760s, while Samuel Butcher and his wife had 7 children by 1769. (1) Having an average of two years between births, we're back to 1753, and assuming she was 18 at the birth of her first child, we're back to 1736. Clearly the two Susannahs were of different generations. John Butcher died in 1804, and Jesse Johnson married Mrs. Susannah Butcher in 1806. Two years was a common interval for re-marriage, but 28 years is not (Samuel died by 1778).
Susannah Lewis Butcher Johnson married John Butcher, the son of Samuel and Susannah (-?-) Butcher.
* I used the wording and spelling in the wills.
1. Gibbens-Butcher Genealogy, Alvaro Franklin Gibbens, Gordon B. Gibbens, publisher, Parkersburg, WV, 1894
2. Virginia, Loudoun, Will Book F, pages 456-457, FHL #007645411, Image 598 of 609
3. Kentucky, Shelby, Loose Papers 1804-1808, FHL #005552475, Image 544 of 890
4. Kentucky, Madison, Will Book C, pages 22-25, FHL #007553083, Images 24-25 of 613
