|
||||||||||
| Misc. Notes | ||||||||||
| The earliest notice we find of Thomas is of 22 June 1637 when"Thomas Butler of Ducksborrow, labourer" acknowledged himself indebted to his sovereign lord, the King, in the amount of several shillings (Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, 1:63; hereinafter Shurtleff). Thomas may have married before he moved to Sandwich, but the next record we find of him is among the Sandwich males who, in August 1643, were able to bear arms and were aged between 16 and 60648, v4p257. We find no record of the births of his three oldest children ( as we believe them to be), and they may have been born elsewhere. Only the births of the two youngest daughters. Patience in 1648 and Dorothy in 1650, are noted in the town records. He evidently acquired lands in Sandwich before 20 Aug 1621, when reference is made to "six acres more now possessed by Thomas Butler at the head of the Spring or Cove" in that town (Shurtleff, 1:211) The first missionaries of the Society of Friends, described in the Plymouth records as "the pleople called Quakers". arrived in New England in1656, and a number of Sandwich families soon formed an active meeting there. Since Thomas had married his wife Dorothy before there were any Quarkers in the colony, her idenity may be sought among the daughters of any of the families of Duxbury, Sandwich or other towns. In later years, however, unidentified Butler wives were more likely to come from Quarker families, as the sect had strict rules against marrying "out of meeting." In the first stages of the Sandwich Quaker controversy, Thomas Butler seems to have played a somewhat milder role than did some of his friends. We find at a court of 2 March 1657/8 that Peter Gaunt (whose son was to marry Butler's daughter), Daniel Wing, Ralph Allen, Jr., and William Allen being summoned, "appeared to answare for a tumultuous carriage at a meeting of the Quarkers at Sandwich.... coming before the Court with their hatts on." They were fined 20 shillings apiece. However, "Leifft Ellis, Steven Wing and Thomas Butler, being summoned to answare (as above)... being examined & being found not so faulty as was supposed, were admonished, and cleared" (Shurtleff 3:30) In June of 1658, one George Barlow was appointed marshal of Sandwich, Barnstable and Yarmouth. He was for some years a highly controversial figure in Sandwich and was extremely vigorous in acting against the Quakers. The results of Barlow's zeal are spread upon the court records of the colony. At a court held 1 March 1658/9 Thomas Butler was presented "for refusing to assist the Marshall, Barlow, in the execution of his office and fined ten shillings to the use of the Collonie" (Shurtleff, 3:158). The office of town constable was an important one in the colony at that period, and it is indicative of the standing of Thomas Butler that he was chosen to fill that post. It would seem, however, that for religious reasons [Quakers could not take or ask others to take an oath] he was not prepared to accept, as we find that "Thomas Butler for refusing to serve in the office of Constable, fined according to order fifty shillings" at a court of 6 Oct 1659. At a court on 1 May 1660 most of the Quakers in Sandwich were fined £5 each for refusing to take the Oath of Fidelity, bur for some reason Thomas Butler was required to pay only £2.10s. At a court 13 June 1660, Daniel Butler "for reseving a strange Quaker, when apprehended by the Marshall, Barlow, and for his breaking away when taken prisoner, is sentenced to be publickly whipt, which accordingly was pformed. Thomas Butler and Dorothy his wife, for turbulent carages the same night that theire son Daniell was serched for att theire house, fined 40 shillings. The fifty shilling fine amerced on Thomas Butler for refusing to serve in the office of constable is assigned and disposed to Barlow." Among the "divers persons fined for being at Quaker meetings" at a court held 2 Oct 1660 were Thomas Butler's wife Dorothy and son Daniel. Perhaps he was, himself, out of town! But we find it surprising that at a court of 5 March 1660/1 "twenty shillings that was levied upon Thomas Butler by the Marshall for a fine for his wife and son being att a Quaker Meeting, was remitted and released to the said Thomas Butler again." Some of the most influencial men it the colony had been disfranchized over this Quaker question, and pressure was brought to bear in England, so that by Royal edict of 9 Sep 1661, King Charles put an end to it, and Thomas Butler appears on the court records in connection with other matters. At a court 5 May 1663 we find: Concerning the complaint of Thomas Butler in the behalf of his son Daniell Butler, against William Browne for that the sd Browne did neglect to deliver two barrells of tarr to Mr. John Barnes of Plymouth, or his assignes, which sd tarr the sd Browne received of the sd Daniell Butler for that end and purpose, the court have warded (sic, i.e. ordered) him sd Browne to deliver unto sd Daniell Butler two barrells of merchantable tarr with all convenient speed and eight shillings for charges the sd Butler hat been att about the suite." Thomas Butler was chosen surveyor of highways for Sandwich 5 Jun 1666. The court of 5 Jun 1667 "have graunted unto Thomas Butler a necke of land called Tassacausett, lying neare to Edmond Freeman's land, being devided by a creeke or brooke on the southerly side, which said land is bought by the sd Butler of an Indian called Charles; alias Pampmumitti for a yoake of oxen, provided the sd Indian returne the sume of three pounds to the sd Butler." The next item proves that despite his recent differences with the government, Butler was able to acquire more land, this time to the north, in the neighboring town of Plymouth on 1 July 1672. "These presents testifie that whereas Thomas Butler of Sandwich having bought fifty acres of land of Jonathan Morey of Plymouth, and these lands falling into the hands of the Indians, vizt; Quachattasett and Nanumett, who have formerly resigned up unto Thomas Butler the whole fifty acres, the which lyeth in two places, that is to say thirty acres to be measured in the Cedar Swamp upon the side of the path towards Sandwich, the which path goeth from Nanumett's land, or planting field, unto Breake Hart Hill, on the salt water pond; and the other twenty acres is to be measure out of a necke of land that shoots into Herring Pond, the which is the biggest Necke of land, all which, the whole fifty acres the afsd Quachattasett and Nanumett doe alienate from Ourselves, our heirs and assigns unto Thomas Butler, afsd for himselfe, his heirs and assigns forever. To have and to hold both the parcells of land... with the timber and wood and grasse that is upon it." Signed by their marks, it is witnessed 3 Jul 1672, and entered the same day. In 1675 Thomas Butler's name appears on a list of the inhabitants of Sandwich "who have just right to the priveledges of the Town". In the Sandwich Town Records appears: "Dorty Butler was died the 9th of August and bured the 10 day anno dom 1675." The last trace that we can find of Thomas Butler is as witness to the marriage, 12 of 1 mo. called March 1689, of his granddaughter Mehitable Butler to Elisha Wing. We can find no probate for him; evidently, he disposed of his property by gift, sale or agreement among his heirs.648, v127 p18-21 | ||||||||||
| Spouses | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Last Modified 14 Feb 2001 | Created 26 Jun 2001 by Reunion for Macintosh |