A renewed focus on 1850 Benjamin Bucket

I am still wrapping my head around how to interpret my Y-DNA results from FamilyTreeDNA. I think I am starting to understand it a little better, but it’s more like knowing a few words and phrases in a foreign language rather than being able to carry a conversation in that language.

The good part is I have made a contact with another Burchett (well, in this case Birchett) through the YDNA testing that looks extremely promising. I have renewed my research mostly centered around Joseph (1843), his connection with the 1850 Cape Girardeau census Benjamin Bucket, and the potential that he is descended from Joseph Burchett (1725) or his father Robert Burchett (1673). Right now, I’m not finding any sons of either of these Burchett’s that line up with the dates and locations of my 1850 Benjamin. But hopefully with more research one pop’s up in this line.

What I do know, so far…

There is a Benjamin Burchett from Adair, Missouri, however, I does not appear to be the same Benjamin as the one in the 1850 Cape Girardeau Census. There is a will available for the Adair Benjamin, however, the children’s names do not match with the 1850 Census Benjamin, leading me to believe he is a different person.
The following artifacts seem to line up with the Benjamin Bucket (Burchett) listed in the 1850 Census in Cape Girardeau, MO.
  • There is a Benjamin Burket listed in the Arkansas, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1819-1870 as being in Arkansas Territory, Monroe County, AR. in 1839. This coincides with the possible birth of son Joseph in Arkansas around the 1840 time frame.
  • There is a marriage to Miss Elizabeth Wooly on 1 MAY 1856 in Mississippi County Missouri, which is close to Cape Girardeau, for a Benjamin Burchett. If this is the same Benjamin, this would be his second wife and assumes his first wife (also Elizabeth) died some time after birth of daughter Perneicia in 1846 and prior to 1856.
  • There is a U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 for a Benjamin J Burchett in 1864 in Jonesboro, Illinois. This is also fairly close to the SEMO area that Benjamin Burchett resided in. The assessment is for 14 head of cattle, possibly meaning he moved there to farm or herd cattle. Nothing so far to tie this record to 1850 Benjamin – yet.

I also have made other observations and continue to document the following:

  • It appears a lot of people are mixing Benjamin Burchett records together, including marriages.  The Adair, MO Benjamin was married to Eliza (not Elizabeth) DEROD (1 Jul 1877) and the SEMO Benjamin married Elizabeth (not Eliza) WOOLY (1 MAY 1856).
  • While I do not have a record yet, Benjamin was married to another Elizabeth from Tennessee who was the father of his children Eliza Jane, George, Susan, Sally, Joseph, Elizabeth and Perneicia. Many list this as Elizabeth MOBELY, but again, no citation to prove that as of yet.
  • Also, Civil War records for the Benjamin Burchett serving in CO B 39th INF RGT is for the Adair, MO Benjamin Burchett.  This also validates that the date of  22 AUG 1891 is NOT the death date for our Benjamin Burchett but IS the death date for the Adair, MO Benjamin.

So, still nothing conclusive, but some good leads. The real break through would be if I can conclusively tie the 1850 Benjamin to the North Carolina Burchett/Birchett line through my DNA results with them. BUT, all of this is very promising and could finally be the break through I have been looking for all these years!!

One reply

  1. Making notes on what I have discovered. It appears that Elizabeth Wooley (Wooly) very well may be the wife of my Benjamin Burchett, however, she would most certainly have been his SECOND wife or at least NOT the mother of the siblings I have for Joseph Burchett. They were married well after Benjamins youngest was born and this particular Elizabeth would have only been 15 when Benjamins oldest child was born (while this is not impossible, it is highly unlikely, especially since they did not marry until his youngest child was almost 10 years old).

    So this still leaves the mystery of who Benjamin’s original wife was. She was most certainly also named Elizabeth or Eliza, according to the 1850 census. So this search still continues and Benjamin again continues to elude me!

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