Nace Butler was born in 1785 in Maryland and was enslaved at the St. Inigoes plantation in Maryland. Butler and his wife, Bibiana Mahoney (b.1791), had fifteen children together: Henny (b.1810), Susan (b.1815), Nace (b.1817), Bridget (b.1819), Caroline (b.1821), Basil (b.1826), Ann (b. 1828), Gabe (b.1829), Biby Ann (b.1830), Henry (b.1831), Thomas (b.1833), Mary (b.1835), John Lewis (b.1836), and Loan Butler (b.1838). Although all of their children were born before the sale in 1838, not all of the children were aboard the Katharine Jackson with their parents. Their son, Nace, had run away from their Maryland plantation, escaping the ship to Louisiana and slavery. Henny had five small children by 1848, and although Henry Johnson purchased her and her son Basil, she was transported to another plantation instead of joining her other children and siblings on the ship. Nace and Bibiana’s other daughters married into the Hawkins, Ford, and Scott families, all whom had been purchased by Henry Johnson. Nace and Bibiana welcomed over 85 grandchildren by the time of their deaths between 1870 and 1878.
