Lisa, Thanks for your response. When I visited the courthouse in Quitman a number of years ago (1991?), I was shown a handwritten list of individuals enlisting in the 7th Batt. I noted a name of L. Ford Butler (I think). I am sure we are not talking about the same person since we have good documentation that Ford Butler died in the Rock Island prison and is buried in the prison cemetery. Oral family history puts the family in Alabama, but the enlistment is in Mississippi. I have a written version of the family history that I am happy to share with you. I had it online but took it down. We might find some common points in the history.

Ford Butler's widow married an Alabama veteran name Henry Vinson. About 1870, they moved to Texas. They had a number of children as well as raise the two children she had with Ford. He had a brother named William Vinson who also moved his family to Texas.

Thanks for your interest. James