Henry & Sarah Butson's Daughter's Names

Research note by Wesley Johnston, begun 2 Dec 2014, last updated 20 Jan 2017 (correction on Mary Ward), with caveat added 21 Jun 2016

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Overview

Henry and Sarah Butson had four daughters. This research note attempts to identify possible origins of the daughters' names.

Family Naming Patterns

Family naming patterns still often determined the names of a couple's children in the mid 1800's. However, couples did not always follow such patterrns.

Henry Butson was born in Cornwall. The Cornwall Online Parish Clerks website says that the following name pattern, or a slight variant was sometimes used:

1. The first son was named after the father's father
   The second son after the mother's father
   The third son after the father
   The fourth son after the father's eldest brother
2. The first daughter after the mother's mother,
   The second daughter after the father's mother
   The third daughter after the mother
   The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister

Henry's parents, Solomon and Jane (Keam) Butson named their children as follows. Some of the dates are estimates.

1. Mary Keam Butson (1817) - after Jane's mother Mary (Phillips) Keam
2. John Butson (1819-1821) - after Solomon's father John Butson
3. Thomas Butson (1821-1846) - goes against the pattern: neither Solomon nor Jane had a parent named Thomas nor even a grandparent named Thomas - the only Thomas in either of their families was Solomon's brother Thomas Butson, who was not Solomon's eldest brother but would have become his eldest surviving brother if the eldest brother John Butson had already died by
4. John Butson (1822-1876) - replacing the first John who had died
5. William Butson (1824-1900) - Jane's mother's father's name was William, and both Solomon and Jane had brothers named William, but neither brother was the eldest brother
6. Nicholas Keam Butson (1826-1922) - The Keam surname would normally indicate the origin was from Jane's side. He was probably named after Jane's brother Nichoas Keam.
7. Charity Keam Butson (1829-1899) - The Keam surname would normally indicate the origin was from Jane's side. She was probably named after Jane's youngest sister Charity Keam, who had just passed away a few months before Charity Keam Butson's baptism.
8. Henry Butson (1831-1892) - By this time, they had four surviving sons, and they seem to have simply begun to choose names that they liked. Neither Solomon nor Jane have a father, grandfather or brother named Henry, so that the origin of his name is unknown.
9. James Butson (1832-1880) - Neither Solomon nor Jane have a father, grandfather or brother named James, so that the origin of his name is unknown.
10. Robert Keam Butson (1835-1910) - Solomon and Jane finally named a child after her father, who was either in his 80's or 90's by this time.

So Henry's parents had their own variant of the naming pattern, which while somewhat of a variant to the form above had many exceptions to the form.

Sarah HARRISON's father Robert HARRISON was Scots-Irish, and her mother Mary WARD's mother Sarah LAKE's Loyalist family had lived in the English colonies of New Jersey and New York for several generations. The names of Robert HARRISON's parents and siblings are not known, so that the conformance of his children's names to any pattern cannot be compared. Mary WARD's parents James WARD (parents unknown) and Sarah LAKE(daughter of Christopher LAKE and Susannah whose maiden name is not known) are known only via DNA matches. Mary WARD's known siblings were William, Christopher, Charles and James WARD. Here are the children of Robert and Mary (WARD) HARRISON, where some of the dates are estimates:

1. Harriett HARRISON (1829-1895) - There is no one with this name in Mary WARD's family. So, was was Robert HARRISON's mother's name Harriett? I do not know.
2. Mary Jane HARRISON (1832-1910) - Was she named for two relatives? Was the Mary in her name after her mother Mary (WARD) HARRISON? I do not know.
3. Amarilla HARRISON (1833-1919) - There is no one with this name in Mary WARD's family. Did Robert HARRISON have a sister or grandmother  or aunt named Amarilla? I do not know.
4. Sarah HARRISON (1835-1867) - The shortest-lived of their children was apparently named for Mary WARD's mother Sarah LAKE.
5. James HARRISON (1838-1925) - It seems most likely that he was named for his mother's father James WARD. But was Robert HARRISON's father named James HARRISON? I do not know.
6. Caroline HARRISON (1847-????) - This may not have been Robert and Mary's child. She appears in the 1861 census (which did not show relationship) in their household. The origin of her name is unknown. There is no one with the name in Mary WARD's family.

Henry and Sarah (Harrison) Butson's Children

Henry and Sarah had four known daughters. Since the exact date of Sarah's death is not known. Since there were severn years between the 1861 birth of the last known child (Sarah) of Henry and Sarah and the remarriage of Henry in 1868, it seems most likely that Sarah died about 1867. If that is so, then there may have been additional children born after 1861 who did not survive. There is also a gap of about 5 years between their daughter Emma's birth about 1854 and their next known daughter Susanna's birth 29 Aug 1859. So it also seems likely that there were one or two additional births between Emma and Susanna of children who did not survive but would have fit within whatever pattern Henry and Sarah used for naming their children - perhaps a young Solomon, but we will probably never know.

Here are the four known daughters of Henry and Sarah, with some dates as estimates:

1. Mary Jane Butson (1853-1899) - She was probably named Mary after Sarah's mother Mary and Jane after Henry's mother Jane. Sarah's second eldest sister Mary Jane may have been similarly named for two relatives.
2. Emily/Emma Butson (1854-1897) - Neither Henry nor Sarah had a mother, grandmother or sister named Emma or Emily, so that the origin of this name is unknown.
3. Susanna Butson (1859-1951) - Neither Henry nor Sarah had a mother, grandmother or sister named Susanna or Susan, so that the origin of this name is unknown.
4. Sarah Butson (1861-1954) - She was probably named after her mother.