Hello List, This is my first posting. I am researching a family that appears on the 1880 census for Bridgewater. As follows: Dennis Buttomer, Head 26 Margaret Wife 26 Michael Son 4 Annie Dau 3 John Son 4 mos Michael FinLaw 65 There is also a boarder not related. Margaret appears on the 1900 census as a widow and the elderly Michael is also apparently gone. Can anyone tell me anything about this group, or where I might find death records on either Dennis or Michael. I am trying to tie them to another family of Buttomers here in Maine and I need to know Dennis' mother's name which, hopefully will be on his death certificate and/or his father, Michael's. Any clue, however small, will be most appreciated. Margaret Oliver South Thomaston, Maine

Margaret Oliver wrote: >Hello List, This is my first posting. I am researching a family that appears on the 1880 census for Bridgewater. As follows: >Dennis Buttomer, Head 26 > Hi Margaret, Dennis appears in the 1870 census in West Bridgewater in the household of John Buttomer, 45, born Ireland and a worker in an iron works. John is married to a Mary, age 40, also born in Ireland. Dennis is the oldest child, and was born in MA. There are also Andrew, 9, and Ellen, 3. Please refrain from referring to 65 year old men as "elderly." In 1870 there was also an Andrew Buttomer and wife Catherine in West Bridgewater. Andrew was 62 and Catherine 55, both b. in Ireland. There was a dau. Ellen, 20, b. in MA and a son John, age 15, and already a "laborer" (the good old days). In Dedham, Norfolk Co. there was a John Buttomer, age 18, b. Ireland, a farm laborer on the farm of Isaac Chamberlain. Those are the only Buttomers I found in MA. The search found none in Maine, and only 5 in the US, the others in CA and MO. The search turned up none in the US in 1860, although the births from 1870 indicate there were some, confirming what we know--these searches are flawed. In 1910 I found only one Buttomer family in ME and I believe 15 in the entire US. The Maine family was of John Buttomer, age 54, and his birthplace is listed as England. The image quality is very poor, but it appears that his father was b. in Ireland and maybe his mother as well. There's wife Mary, three daughters, Margaret, Ellen and Mary and mother-in-law Mary E Grant, b. ME as were both parents.