My wife’s neice Tina is a great researcher. She sent me a text saying that she found my wife’s Butler ancestors in Boston in 1880. That is great news as that period of the family’s genealogy has been a blank until now.
Tina writes:
I traced the “Mariner” from the Boston City Directories and found he first showed up in 1880. And at his address in 1880, I found Edward, Mary, George, and Edward in the census.
Here is what I have at Ancestry:
The Edward with the four children above is my wife’s 2nd great-grandfather and immigrant ancestor. He appears to have had two daughters born earleir in his marriage and later two sons – George and Edward.
1880 in Boston
There are a few problems with this 1880 Census.
One problem is that Edward and Mary are at the bottom of the page and the two children are on the next page. I cannot really read what Edward’s occupation is under sailor. I think it says something like and works out? Mary is correctly listed as being born in N.B. (New Brunswick) and her parents were both born in Ireland. Edward is listed as being born in Ireland and both his parents born there also. Edward would have been born about 1835 and Mary born about 1839 based on their ages given. However, I believe that Edward was actually 41 in 1880 based on when I believe he was born and based on his death record.
Here are the two boys:
I can’t make out the address but when I hover over it, it says Friend Street. So they were at 256 Friend Street. However, so were many of the other families on the preceding two pages of the Census. If I have it right, here is 256 Friend Street, not far from North Station in Boston:
Here is another problem with the Census:
The elder brother George is shown as being born in Illinois. However, the younger (Edward) shows as being born in New Brunswick which contradicts his marriage and death records. Also George’s mother should be shown as being born in New Brunswick. My belief is that this is an error in the Census.
Here is Page 164 of the 1880 Boston Directory:
Here is an 1880 map of Friend Street:
This is possibly Edward Butler in 1879 in Boston at 28 Battery Street:
This could be as I recall him being at Clark Street at the time of his death.
There are a lot of Edward Butlers in Boston in 1878, but I don’t see any that are mariners:
1881 in Boston
Where is Edward? A logical place to look would be Friend Street.
1882
I am not seeing him still. Perhaps he is living in a neighboring Town?
1883
Edward mysteriously appears this year:
Interestingly his middle initial appeaers also. I could not find a Joiner Street listed in Boston, but it may be in Charlestown. According to AI:
33 Joiner Street, Charlestown, MA sits right on the corner of Chelsea Street and Joiner Street in the historic heart of the neighborhood, just a short distance from the Charlestown Navy Yard and the Boston Harbor.
Here is Joiner Street, if I have it right:
The above map is from an 1885 Atlas of Boston. I believe the landscape is different today and I do not think a modern map would have a Joiner Street. Perhaps with all Edward’s moving around, the directories had trouble keeping up with him!
I suppose the red arrow could be 33 Joiner Street:
1884
Time to spin the roulette wheel again:
You can move all your want, Edward H., but the 1884 Directory found you in E.B. which I take to mean East Boston. Here is a modern map of 107 Everett Street in East Boston:
Here is a current street view from Google Maps:
Here is a 1901 map of the area:
1885
I wonder if Edward’s wife got tired of moving:
Just a short move this time:
Here is what street view is showing, but of #18 Emmet Place:
I suppose that things have changed over the years:
So, perhaps same job, different house?
1886
Here is a surprise:
Edward H. is living at the same address. I guess he liked this place.
1887
Who knew that Edward H. lived in East Boston for so long?
This is probably the place:
Possibly the last house on the right. There is a faint 5 above the S in Sumner Court below:
I guess it is also called Sumner Court (see above):
1888
If Edward was still listed as a mariner, I don’t see him. It is possible he is listed as a laborer.
1889
Edward has again gone missing from the Boston Directory. I believe that he could have been living with one or both of his sons in Newton around this time.
1890
In a previous Blog, I had noted this entry for Edward the Mariner:
I found this entry:
It was in this document:
Here it is:
On current maps, this appears to show as Coppersmith Way:
Here is the view of Coppersmith Way from Border Street:
Edward seems to like to live in these places between streets:
The 1890 Census
My understanding is that the 1890 Census was lost. But there was a veteran’s schedule that survived:
This means that even though Edward was in the Boston Directory for 1890 at least on June 1, 1890 Edward Butler was in Newtonville, Massachusetts. Perhaps he was at the house of his son or sons. This Census also confirms Edward’s Civil War service as a Marine on the Milwaukee Ship.
1891
Edward passed away in December 1891.
It is unclear if Edward is in this year’s Directory.
The Death of Edward Butler in 1891
Here is part of Edward’s death record from December 16, 1891:
He died of pneumonia.
Edward is listed as a ‘longshoreman’:
I believe that a longshoreman was one who unloaded boats. According to AI:
Birth of the Unions: Abysmal conditions catalyzed labor organization. The Boston Longshoreman’s Provident Union (founded in 1847) was the first of its kind. Later, groups like the Association of Lumber Handlers (1877) evolved to establish the International Longshoremen’s Association in 1892.
An 1890 Hanover Street Mistake?
In a previous Blog, I had guessed that Edward was the laborer living in 1890 at Hanover Street:
Ancestry has this listing for Edward Butler in the Boston Directory of 1890:
Part of my reasoning was that Hanover Street was so close to Clark Street which was the address given for Edward Butler prior to his death. However, I now see that Hanover address as being coincidental and would like to say the real address for Edward was the one given above in East Boston at 1 Erin Alley where he is listed as a mariner.
Summary and Conclusions
- It has been great working with Tina on this project as she adds so much to the research of the Butler family.
- This find fills in so much of the missing years for my wife’s immigrant 2nd great-granfather Edward H Butler
- With all the Edward Butlers around in Boston, it seems to clarify which one we are looking at in the Boston City Directories
- It appears that the Edward H Butler family lived quite often in East Boston.
- Tina has further questions based on the 1880 Cenjsus as to whether Edward H’s sons George and Edward H were full brothers or not which I hope to address by looking at the DNA in a subsequent Blog.