My 3rd great-grandfather on my Allmond side was Solomon Butler who was born free. I can see him on the 1850 census as living in the home of William Allmond who also had an enslaved black woman named Charlotte, my 3rd great-grandmother. In 1854, William Allmond died and somewhere between then and 1860, Charlotte was moved to the home of the son William J. Allmond. However, I do not see Solomon Butler there. On the 1860 Census, I do see a Solomon Butler in the home of the Baileys, a free black family living very close to William Sr.’s widow. However, his age is listed as 3 or 4 years younger than the Solomon in 1850 so I am not 100% sure this is my Solomon Butler. I have a marriage record for him from 1866 where he listed his father as Moses King, who is the person previous family historians on the Allmond side have recorded. I am tracking that Butler family to confirm relation later. Anyway …

So Solomon Butler died in 1896 leaving some unpaid debts and some debts were incurred after his death. These are receipts from a chancery suit against his estate in 1909.

One of his sons, Henry Butler, paid these property taxes and was part of the suit.[[MORE]]

One of these is for his coffin.

Since the date on the coffin receipt is October 1, 1896, I’m going to put “before October 1, 1896” in my tree for his death date until I find more solid proof of that date.

The case file even included the following notice as well as a receipt for its expense.

* Charlotte was also married several years after the Civil War and they all lived within the same vicinity of each other.