WILLIAM BUTTER AND SON WILLIAM MARSHALL BUTTER NAME CONFUSION

WILLIAM BUTTER OR WILLIAM MARSHALL BUTTER

     On many online trees, William Butter, son of Henry and Susan O'Neal Butter, is being identified as William Marshall Butter.  Much of this confusion comes from the fact that William and Emily Graham Butter named a son William Marshall Butter.  To add more confusion, William Butter's death certificate says he is William Marshall Butter and the informant seems to be his widow, Emily.  In a previous post it was noted that nowhere else in any records during William's lifetime, did he ever sign his name as anything but William Butter.

     On the document below, the premise that the names have been confused seems to be validated.  This record comes from the Rapides Parish Courthouse, Alexandria, Louisiana.  This states that William Butters sold land to William Marshall Butters on October 22, 1904 and the record was filed on November 3, 1904.  The surname Butters was used in the body of the document but the signatures were evidently without the "s".