John Butler, 1624-1658 and Mary Lynde of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

John Butler was baptized 2 January 1624/5 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Ashford, Kent, England, the son of Nicholas Butler, so he was likely born in very late December 1624. [Church Register] His mother is not named in the baptism record but she is Joyce Baker, his father’s second wife. [Banks]

St. Mary the Virgin Church, Ashford

John was 12 when he came to New England in 1637 with his parents Nicholas and “Joice” of Eastwell, Kent, sister Lydia, brother Henry, and five servants. [NEHGR  75:221] Butler and others write that he came on the Hercules, but Robert Charles Anderson’s more recent research in The Great Migration Newsletter states the ship is unknown. The list of passengers "for the American Plantation" in the corporation records of Sandwich, England, is "certified under the seal of the office of Mayoralty 9 June 1637" but exactly when it sailed is not known. It may have been the ship that Gov. Winthrop mentioned arriving June 3rd of that year. [The Planters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts] 

John’s father Nicholas Butler was a man of consequence as he is identified with the honorifics of “Gentleman” and “Mr.” in records. Other indications of his stature: he came to New England with five servants, he became a magistrate soon after arriving in Massachusetts Bay, his son Henry went to Harvard College, he was a substantial land owner, and his estate inventory included items of value including silver. The family was first at Dorchester, a Boston neighborhood. [NEHGR 5:391] 

The family removed to Edgartown on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in 1651 where they were early settlers. Because he was going to Martha’s Vineyard, Nicholas Butler gave his son John power of attorney in 1651 to make decisions regarding land transactions. [NEHGR 5:397] John was soon to follow his father. This rugged island must have suited the cultured Englishmen as father and son  lived out their days on the island.  They resided at Edgartown, near Swimming Place Point, across from Chappaquiddick Island. [Butler]

About 1648 John married, at Dorchester or Charlestown, Mary Lynde. [Torrey] She was baptized as Mary Line, daughter of Thomas Line on 24 February 1629/30 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. [Bedfordshire Parish Registers] Their last name is seen as Lynde and Line. Thomas Lynde emigrated to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he owned an inn and held important positions including Deputy to the Massachusetts Bay Court. Mary’s mother was Hannah whose maiden name is unknown.

Mary was quite possibly the Mary Lyne who migrated in 1635 on the ship Abigail from London. She was age 6 and was in the custody of John Winthrop Jr. [Hotten 100] There is no other independent record in New England of another Mary Lyne/Lynde. [Anderson]  

Children of Mary and John, order uncertain:

1. John born Dorchester about 1651; married Priscilla Norton; died Edgartown 1738
2. Mary born about 1652; married Simon Athearn 4 October 1665 in Tisbury
3. Thomas born about 1654; married Jemima Daggett 27 November 1682 
4. Joseph born about 1656 at Edgartown; died 7 Sept 1689 at Edgartown 
5. Hannah born about 1658; married James Chadwick in February 1676/7 in Malden

I descend from John. I wrote a brief sketch about him here.

The Butler family removed to Edgartown on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in 1651 where they were early settlers. Because he was going to Martha’s Vineyard, Nicholas Butler gave his son John power of attorney to make decisions regarding land transactions. [NEHGR 5:397] John was soon to follow his father. This desolate place must have suited them as both men lived out their days on the island off the south coast of Massachusetts. They lived at Edgartown, near Swimming Place Point, across from Chappaquiddick Island. [Butler]

John was the first known whaler of Martha’s Vineyard, well before whaling became a predominant business in the 1800s. [Butler] He is also referred to as husbandman in records. He owned land at Dorchester, Roxbury and Edgartown.

On “ye 6th of January 1652 it is ordered by ye town and promised by ye town yt John Butler shall have his Lott reserved for him until ye beginning of May next, provided he be here by that time and inhabit with his family. Dec 16, 1652, Farther it is ordered by ye town yt ye said John Butler shall have all ye land yt is betweene ye highway and Hiacomes his Lott. November 1, 1652, ordered by ye town yt William Case hath given him a home Lott between John Butler and Hiacomes etc. March 8 1653 ordered that ye meadow by ye Pond is to be divided into twenty equal parts, etc. John Butler hath share No. 5.” Hiacoomes must have been an interesting neighbor: he was an American Indian who in 1643 was the first Christian convert from his Wampanoag tribe. 

On 6 June 1654, Captain John Butler was “chosen leader for this year of the [Edgartown] Company.” In 1655 he was again chosen leader of the Military Company. In 1658 he was constable. [Butler]

John Butler died, at Edgartown, before 21 July 1658 when his inventory was taken. [Banks] He was only about 33 years old. The inventory amounted to over £219. It was to be divided among his heirs when the children reached their majority. On “July ye last 1658, Thomas Birchard, John Daggett, John Pease, John Birchard” were the men chosen by Mr. Mayhew for “ordering of the estate of John Butler” deceased.  His widow Mary was administratrix of his estate. [Butler, citing Edgartown Records]

John’s widowed mother Joyce Butler wrote her will 13 March 1679/80 and mentioned her grandsons John and Thomas Butler and granddaughter Mary Athearn, all children of John. They received cattle, sheep, a variety of household items. Thomas was to receive her dwelling house. John was named executor. 

Mary (Lynde) Butler married, second, William Weeks. [Torrey] I have not found any indication of her death date but it was after 3 October 1693 when “Thomas Lind of Maldon, senior,” included bequests in his will to “my loving sister Mary Weeks” and to “my cousin John Butler to pay unto his mother Mary Weeks.” [Anderson]

John and Mary are the ancestors of the Vineyard Butlers as his brother Henry returned to England. 

From my bit of research on the Martha’s Vineyard government, Thomas Mayhew was essentially an autocratic leader of the independent, self-governing entity of Martha’s Vineyard, which in 1641 he purchased from the Wampanoag tribe. Later it was under the jurisdiction of the New York Colony. The lack of a democratic government led to dissension among the European settlers with people picking sides. Nicholas Butler, who was once an Assistant to the Governor, along with his son John, grandsons Thomas and John, were against Mayhew’s reign. John’s son-in-law Simon Athearn was accused of High Crimes for his stance against Mayhew. Initially this didn’t work out for them: Mayhew, after being summoned to New York, was named Governor for life, chief justice of the courts of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and Lord of the Manor of Tisbury. His grandson Matthew Mayhew was collector and receiver of customs, and took over leadership of the island in 1682. Arrests, lawsuits and threats became a regular occurrence. Finally in 1691 Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket were transferred to the Province of Massachusetts Bay and a more democratic government followed.

Usually in my research of ancestors from small communities they repeatedly intermarry with other notable families, but I none of my Butlers married Mayhews. Now I know why!

Sources:

John’s Baptism: St. Mary the Virgin Church Register of Christenings, Marriages and Burials, Towne of Asheford, beginning in the 12th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1570

Mary’s Baptism: F.G. Emmison, editor, Bedfordshire Parish Registers, Vol XLII Dunstable, page 12

Henry Langdon Butler, The Story of Our Butler Ancestors for Ten Generations from 1602 to 1919, published 1919

George Sherwood, American Colonists in English Records,1961

Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 2008

The Great Migration Newsletter, “Editor’s Effusions,” vol 21-25, page 23 (July-Sept 2012):

Charles Edward Banks, The Planters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1620-1640, Boston, 1930, Reprint c. 2006

Charles Edward Banks, The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Vol. III, 1911

Eben Putnam (communicated by), NEHGS Register, ”Two Early Passenger Lists 1635-1637“ 75:221 (July 1921)

NEHGS Register, “Old Dorchester,: 5:39, 397 (1851)

John Camden Hotten, ed., The Original Lists of Persons of Quality 1600-1700, published 2012