A legend in the Buttram/Miser family was that John (4/8) Miser lived to be age 102, and died by being gored by a bull while doing barnyard chores. Legends sometimes carry a grain of truth and it is possible that it John (4/8) Miser died by being gored by a bull; however, John (4/8) Miser lived to be only about age 80. Subsequent Miser books have corrected his age and date of death. Tradition has it that John (4/8) Miser was a deeply religious man who could hear the voice of God in thunder.

I had first assumed that all the children of John (4/8) Miser and Elizabeth Betsy Hale had come to Missouri and Arkansas on the same wagon train. However, it appears they all came at various times on different wagon trains.

1.  Michael R. (5/1) Miser was born 1798 in Blount County, TN, and in about 1817 married 1st Elizabeth “Betsy” Swafford in Bledsoe County, TN. The couple had nine children together. Betsy Swafford’s parents were Isaac Swafford, Sr., b. ca. 1774 in Greenville County, SC, and Mary Polly Smith. Following is a brief summary regarding the parents of Betsy Swafford:

Isaac Swafford & Polly Smith

After the death of Betsy Swafford, Michael (5/1) Meiser immediately took as his second wife his own relative of some degree, Nancy Hale, born ca. 1818, who was 20 years his junior. The couple had their first child the next year, Minerva Jane (6/11) Miser, in 1834. Michael and Nancy Hale Miser eventually had nine children together. Michael R. (5/1) Miser died in 1863 in Gentry County, MO, and Nancy Hale Miser died in November 1884 in Laclede County MO. Based on the birthplace of the first child born in Missouri, Lucinda (6/15) Miser Bowles, Michael R. (5/1) and Nancy Hale Miser left Meigs County, TN, for Laclede County, MO, between 1841-1845. The children of both wives have been followed.

2.  Phebe (5/2) Miser was born 27 April 1800 in Blount County, TN. According to "A Genealogy of the Meisser Family," Vol. III, p. 338, Phebe had attended a community subscription school, and being an excellent student was asked to teach in the Fall of 1817. (Some accounts say this was in Blount County, TN, but it was more likely to have been in Bledsoe County, TN, since her father was in Bledsoe County by 1812). Phebe met and married John Brown in about 1818, and they had one son, John H. Brown. John Brown, Sr., was dead by 1820.

In 1821 Phebe (5/2) Miser married 2nd John Buttram, born 1800 in Rowan County, who was soon to become a Minister of the Gospel. Because the three different straight-line paternal descendants of Rev. John Buttram did not match the main Buttram Y-chromosome, but did match the Boulware Y-chromosome, it was first thought that Rev. John Buttram was the out-of-wedlock child of an unmarried Buttram female and a Boulware male. Current thinking, however, is that John Buttram was born to Eliza Kidwell, who had previously married Levi Buttram in 1800 in Rowan County, but her baby was the result of a liasson with either Stark Bolware or one of his four sons in Rowan County, NC. This theory will explained in the future when the updated Group 2 of Buttram Y-DNA Project is completed.

Phebe (5/2) Miser and Rev. John Buttram had nine children together before his death at about age 39, on 24 May 1841 in Meigs County, TN. Phebe (5/2) Miser died there on 16 August 1844 at age 44, and the older children cared for the younger ones as long as they could. Court records mention fraudulent trading of her property by her executors; two men with outstanding notes, John Bowerman and James M. Hague who had "left the country," and one executor, Michael (5/1) Miser/Mizor who "ran away."

In 1850 the four surviving (and youngest) Buttram boys were enumerated (as Roysters) with their married sister, Phebe (6/4) Buttram Royster (22) and her husband Joseph G. Royster (29). Eventually, all five of the oldest children of Phebe (5/2) Miser and Rev. John Buttram died, including Joseph and Phebe (6/4) Butram Royster with whom they lived in 1850.

In 1851 (some accounts say 1852), the four survivng sons, ages five through 12, joined a wagon train bound for Benton County, AR, to be taken in by their mother's brother, George Washington (5/4) Miser and his second wife, Jane Potter. Two of Phebe (5/2) Miser Buttram’s sons, Elijah Henegar (6/6) Buttram (Rev.),* b. 1832, and Michael Farmer (6/7) Buttram, b. 1836, ultimately married their first cousins, daughters of their uncle, George W. (5/4) Miser: Elijah Henegar (6/6) Buttram* married Nancy Elizabeth (6/5) Miser in 1853, and Michael Farmer (6/7) Buttram married Sarah Etta (6/12) Miser in 1863. (The next-to-the youngest son, Francis A. (6/8) Buttram died four years after arriving in Arkansas.) The youngest son, William Dotry (6/9) married Violet Josephine Patterson ca. 1859, and after her death in 1997, he married Martha Ellen “Mattie” Bloomfield Hileman Sturdy in 1900.

* Obituary of Rev. Elijah Henegar Buttram

Coming on the wagon train from Meigs County, TN, to Benton County, AR, was a much-beloved woman who took care of the young Buttram boys, whom they called “Granny Nichols”. Both Rev. Elijah Henegar (6/2) Buttram and George W. (6/18) Miser listed her dates of birth and death in their family Bibles. She was born 14 October 1772 in North Carolina and died 6 December 1866, presumably in Benton County, AR. Rev Elijah H. Buttram’s Bible listed her as simply Mary Nichols, and George W. Miser’s Bible listed her as Mary Nubal Nichols. The handwriting in the Bibles was very clear.

Can this woman be the same person as the wife of John Nickles who was listed on the 1840 census in Meigs County, TN, living next to Michael (5/1) Myser (40-50) and wife Nancy Hale, who in turn lived next to John’s oldest son, Hartwell (6/1) Myser? On the 1850 census John Nichol (63) was a miller born in North Carolina and his wife was Mary, age 65, was also born in North Carolina. Granny Mary Nubal Nichols has not been found on the 1860 census in Benton County, AR, TN, but she may have been between homes, caring for others when the census taker came.

It appears that the wagon train on which the Buttram boys came to Benton County, AR, was the same one travelled by the family of Henry C. (5/7) Miser when they came from McMinn County, TN, to Benton County, AR, in 1851. The family of Henry C. (5/7) is summarized below.

The Buttram DNA study, which needs to be updated, may be seen at the following link. Our lineage is in Group 2:

Buttram Y-DNA Study

3.  John L. (5/3) Miser was born in 1804 in Blount County, TN, and died in May 1860 in Benton County, AR. He married Mary Polly Hale, daughter of Robert Hale, in about 1829 in Bledsoe County, TN. One can see the young couple, John (L.) and Mary Polly Hale Miser on the 1830 census one household from her father Robert Hale. On the 1840 census in Bledsoe County, TN, Robert Hail lived four households from the Revolutionary War veteran, John Hail, and Robert’s son, Richard Hail lived next to Robert. On the previous page was William Hail, age 30-40, with wife, two sons and one daughter.

I have placed Robert Hale/Hail as a brother of Elizabeth Hail who married John (4/8) Miser.

Census Records for John L. (5/3) Miser:
1830 Bledsoe County, TN
1840 Meigs County, TN
1850 Bradley County, TN
May 1860 Benton County, AR: Death.
John Miser is listed in the 1860 Missouri Death Census, which listed those who died before 31 May 1860. The official date of the Benton County, AR, census was 1 June 1860.

According to Miser family historian Dr. Wilson L. Miser, from “A Genealogy of the Meisser Family,” (Blue Book), pages 163 and 289:

John L. (5/3) Miser lived in a log house south and east of the big Miser Spring, Benton County, AR, near the home of his brother George W. (5/4) Miser. The land on which he lived belonged to his brother, George W. (5/4) Miser, and was later deeded to the First Methodist Church. However, it was not part of the land that was later given to Buttram's Chapel.

The Confederate soldiers raided the home of John L. (5/3) Miser and while making off with a large barrel of molasses, broke the barrel, thus forming a large puddle. The soldiers came back for several days to dip up the sorghum. Tradition has it that the soldiers burned the log house while John was away.

John L. (5/3) Miser died ca. 1865 and was buried near the location of the old log house. Dr. Wilson L. Miser had the grave of his great uncle exhumed and moved to the Buttram's Chapel Cemetery and had a tombstone erected. It reads "John L. Miser, 1805 E. Tennessee - About 1865. Wife, Polly Hale." (Wilson L. Miser received his B.S. degree from the University of Arkansas in 1908, his M.A. degree from Yale University in 1911, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1913. He died in 1974. See p. 309, Blue Book.)

In 1860 John L. (5/3) Miser's wife, Mary Hale Miser, was the head of her household and her occupation was listed as "Widow Farming," which indicatges that the census taker knew that John Miser had died in May of that year. Since Wilson Miser was not certain as to John's date of death, he writes that “John may have died before the Civil War started.” The story of the soldiers raiding the home could still be true, but it was a widow's home they raided.

In 1870 Mary Hale Mizer, was living with her youngest daughter, Phebe, in the home of her son, John Austin (6/9) Mizer, in Lebanon Township, Laclede County, MO. They lived next to John Austin (6/9) Mizer's first cousin, George W. (6/13) Miser, son of Michael (5/1) Miser and wife, Nancy Hale. The two young men were first cousins, with their fathers being brothers (and their Hale mothers also related in some way).

Note that John L. (5/3) and Polly Hale Miser lived in Bledsoe County, TN, then Meigs County, TN, then Bradley County, TN, then McMinn County, TN, before moving, between 1845-1846, to McDonald County, MO, which was just across the state line from Benton County, AR. Their last child, John Austin (6/9) Miser, was born 29 March 1847 in McDonald County, MO, and died in 1894 in McDonald County, MO. John L (5/3) Miser died at age 56.

4.  George Washington (5/4) Miser married Mary “Polly” Swafford in 1826 in Bledsoe County, TN. They moved to Benton County, AR, by 1836, eventually becoming the parents of eleven children. George Miser’s second wife was Jane Potter, born 1819 in South Carolina, with whom he had eight children.

Mary Polly Swafford was the daughter of Aaron “Big Aaron” Swafford and Elizabeth Howard, about which the following Mitochondrial DNA study will focus:

Portman>Howard>Swafford>Miser>Burris/Burrows

Additional information regarding George W. (5/4) Miser can be seen in the main page of the Meisser DNA study.

5.  Sarah (5/5) Miser was born ca. 1809 in Blount County, TN, where she married Malachi Tallent in about 1827 in McMinn County, TN. Sarah (5/5) and Malachi Tallent had two children before her death in 1840 McMinn County, TN. (Malachi died died at abou the same time.) Their children were George Washington (6/1) Tallent who married Martha Ann Irwin, and Elizabeth Malachi (6/2) Tallent who married John Lowery Johnson. George W. Tallent died in 1904 in Bollinger County, MO, and Elizabeth Malachi Johnson died in 1913 in Spalding County, GA.

An effort should be made to contact a straight-line maternal descendant of Elizabeth Malachi (6/2) Tallent Johnson in order to identify the mitochondrial DNA signature of Elizabeth “Betsy” Hail Miser, presumed daughter of Revolutionary War veteran, John Hale and wife.

6.  Elijah Henegar (5/6) Mizer, Sr., was b. 21 Nov 1811 in McMinn County, TN. He married Elizabeth “Betsy” Tallent ca. 1831 in Tennessee, and many of their children were born in Bradley County, TN. Based on the birthplaces of their children, the couple moved to Benton County, AR, between 1856-57.

Elijah Henegar (5/6) Buttram, Sr., died September 1865 in Jasper County, MO, or Baxter Springs, Cherokee County, KS. The couple had 14 children before Elijah's unfortunate death. Elizabeth Tallent Miser died in 1903 in Nez Perce County, Idaho. (Note that the family of Elijanh (5/6) Mizer, Sr., came to Benton County, AR, several years later that his brother, Henry C. (5/7) Miser):

7.  Henry C. (5/7) Miser was born ca. 1813 in McMinn County, TN. He married Elizabeth E. Wolf, born ca. 1812 in Tennessee. A personal letter from Rosalea Brown of Jay, Delaware County, OK, dated 26 March 2001, stated that she "descends from the Nichols family that joined a wagon train leaving McMinn County, TN, in 1854. Others in the train were the Oakes, Wrights, Buttrams, Misers, Shorts and Blevins. This train included Nancy Ann (6/4) Miser, daughter of Henry C. (5/7) Miser and Elizabeth E. Wolf. Nancy Ann (6/4) Miser became the wife of widower David Short,"

Henry C. (5/7) Miser has not been located on the 1850 census, but he was in Benton County, AR, by approximately 1852 for the for the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth Adeleah (6/7) Miser. (He then moved to McDonald County, MO.) Perhaps the above date that the Nichols family came was actually 1851, or perhaps there was more than one wagon train that left Tennessee for Benton County, AR, but without the Buttrams on it. The obituary of Rev. Elijah Henegar (6/6) Buttram said that he came to Benton County, AR, in 1851.

It is my personal belief that the four orphan Buttram sons of Phebe (5/2) Miser Buttram accompanied the 1851 wagon train to Arkansas in the company of their uncle, Henry C. (5/7) Miser, to be taken into the home of their uncle, George Washington (5/4) Miser.

8.  Nancy (5/8) Miser was born ca. 1815, Bledsoe County, TN, is listed in the Meiser books but presumably died young. No further information.

Based on the birthdates and places of birth of their children, John (4/8) and Elizabeth Hale Miser were in Blount County, TN from 1897 to 1809, then McMinn County, TN, between 1809 and 1812. By 1813 they had moved to Bledsoe County, TN, and after a few years returned to McMinn County, TN. Elizabeth “Betsy” Hale Miser died on 18 Oct 1837 in McMinn County, TN.

Children of John (4/8) Miser and 2nd wife Mrs. Susannah Lewis
Married on 5 November 1840
McMinn County, TN

Children:

9. Margaret (5/9) Miser was born ca. 1842 in McMinn County, TN, no further info.

10. James H. (5/10) Miser was born ca. 1844 in Tennessee, died unmarried ca. 1863 in the Confederate Army, Company G, 3rd Infantry, Nashville, Davidson County, TN.

John (4/8) Miser died between 1846-1849 in Bradley County, TN.

In 1850 the widowed Susan MYZER and her two children were enumerated in Bradley County, TN, living next to her step-son, John L. Myzer (Mizer) and his large family:

Explanation:
Susan Myzer, 35, b. TN
William Myzer, 16, (probably s.o. Isaac (6/2) Miser, b. 1819-d. bef. 1850, and wife Nancy Cunningham, g.s. Michael (5/1) Miser and Betsy Swafford, g.g.s. of John (4/8) Miser and Elizabeth Hale)
Margaret Myzer, 8
James Myzer, 6

With the exception of the above death record of her son, James Myzer, Confederate soldier, listed as Child # 10, neither Susan Lewis Myzer, nor her children, have been located after 1850.