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in 2008 with funding from
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http://www.archive.org/details/familyofrevjohnbOOfill
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The Family of
Rev. John Butler
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR
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INDEX.
CHRISTIAN NAMES OF ALL WHOSE SURNAME IS BUTLER.
Abigail (Brown) 8, 9 Abigail (4) 8 Abigail (5) 11, 15, 25, 33 Almira (5) 11, 15, 25, 27, 30, 38, 43 Anna (Wilson) 37 Anne Judson (5) 11, 15, 25, 31 A. Judson (6) 38 Annie (Rankin) 27 Antecedents, 7 Austin (6) 27 Charles (4) 8 Charles (5) 11, 15, 25, 36 Charles A. (6) 37 Charles (6) 27 Eber Rose (5) 10 Ellen (6) 42 Eliza Ann (Knapp) 10 Elizabeth (4) 8 Elizabeth (Tallant) 10 Elizabeth Lewis (5) 11, 15, 25, 38 Esteria (5) 11, 15, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 34 Florence E. (Lewars) 27 Florence (Shepard) 42 Francis (6) 33 Hannah, 8 Hannah (4) 8 Hannah Challis (5) 9 L Hannah Heard (5) 11, 15, 25, 38, 39, 44 Isa (Putnam) 33 Jane Payne (5) 12, 15, 25, 42, 43 Jennette Loring (Emery) 40, 42 John (1) 7
John (2) 7, 8
John (2) 7
John (3) 8, 9
Rev. John (4) 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
John (4) 8
John Richard (5) 11, 15, 25, 29, 43
John (6) 27
John S. (6) 37
Louisa Jane (Gates) 10
Lillian (Googins) 42
Margarette (Philbrick) 38
Maria S. (5), 12, 15, 25, 39, 43
Mary (4) 8
Mary (6) 27
Mary Barkalow (Schenck) 36
Mary (Rose) 8, 9
Mary Simons (5) 12, 15, 25, 43
Nancy (Payne) 8, 11, 15, 24, 25
Nathaniel (4) 8, 9
Nathaniel (5) 12, 15, 25, 40, 42
Nathaniel (6) 42
Philip (2) 7
Rufus (6) 26, 27
Sarah (1752) 7, 8
Sarah (5) 11, 15, 25, 34, 35, 38, 39
Sarah (6) 27
Sarah Ann (4) 8
Sarah Read (5) 9
Sylvia F. (Hayward) 27
Sophia B. (5) 11, 12, 15, 25, 43
Thomas Wells (5) 10
William T. (6) 38
SURNAMES OTHER THAN BUTLER.
Atherton, John M., 31
Maria B. (Farnham) (6) 30, 31 Austin, Mrs. Sarah, 25, 26 Bailey, Robert J. S., 10 Baldwin, Dr. Thomas, 11, 12 Barnes, Annie (Larrabee) 33
Cecil (6) 33
Fannie (Woods) 33
Maria (Whiton) 33
Phinehas (6) 33
Phinehas, 31, 32
Wilfred (6) 31, 33 Berry, Major-General Hiram G., 42 Boardman, Thomas, 24 Bond, Phineas, 12 Bowles, Rev. Lucius, 11 Brainard, C. E., 40
Mary S. (Thompson) (Mudgett) (6) 40
Briggs, Rev. Joel, 12
Joseph, 25 Brooks, Curtis, 11 Burnham, Rev. Jonas, 43 Buxton, Anna Almira (Fillebrown) (6) 27, 29
Nathaniel, 29 Carv, Annie Louise, 14
Nelson H., 14
Simeon, 14 Chadbourne, Capt. Jacob, 8 Chaplin, Rev. Jeremiah, 12 Chase, Rev. Lyman, 26
Rev. Rufus, 26 Cheever, Elizabeth, 28
George B., 28
Capt. Nathaniel, 28 Colby, William, 25
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Crawford, Louis G., 31
Susan F. (Farnham) (6)JS1 Cross, Ralph, 7, 8 Curtis, William, 11 Cushing, Sally, 12 Dodge, B., 12 Eldndge, Edwin S., 38
Mary B. (Butler) (6) 38 Emery, Anna (Butler) (6) 42
Jennette (Loring) 42
Sidney S., 42
Judge Stephen, 42 Farnham, Horace Frank, 27
Jonathan Everett, 30, 31 Fillebrown, Charles Bowdoin (6) 27, 29
Helen O. (Dalton) 29
James Bowdoin, 27, 28
Mary Louise (Hall) 29
Thomas (6) 29
Col. Thomas, 12, 28
Fisk, , 8
Fogg, Elder, 12 Fontenoy, Marquise de, 5 Fitz-Geralds, 5, 6 Gardner, Collin, 36
Lizzie P. (Tytus) (6) 36 Gates, Israel, 10
Louisa, 10 Gibson, John S., 33
John B. (6) 34
Lydia (Murphy) 34
Margaret Stuart (6) 34 Gilman, John, 24
John, 26 Glover, Elder, 12 Hamlin, Hannibal, 41, 42 Hayden, William Eustis, 9 Heard, Edmund, 7
Hannah, 7, 8
John, 7
Luke, 7 Hobbs, Anna P. (Xuckols) (6) 34
George Helm, 34 Hunt, Agnes, 7 Jackson, William, 29 Leonard, Rev. Lewis, 12 Lewis, Elizabeth, 13, 29 Lincoln, Caroline M. (Coburn) 10
Deacon Heman, 11 Lines, Calvin, 39
Jane (Mudgett) (6) 39
Mansur, , 8
Martin, A. C. 33
Clara (Barnes) (6) 33 M<>njeau, Cleophas, 35
Emma J. (Tytus) (6) 35 Morgan, John Pierpont, 9
Morris, Rev. John E., 38
Sarah T. (Butler) (6) 38 Morss, William, 8 Mudgett, Alfred, 44
Alfred B. (6) 44
Charlotte (Phillips) 44
Charles B., 39, 44 Mason, George H., 38
Mark, 38 Noyes, Nancy, 24 Nuckols, Charles (6) 34
Dr. George W., 33
George (6) 34
Katherine E. (Randolph) '34
Lydia (Viley) 34
Robert (6) 34
Sally (6) 34 Ormond, Lord, 5, 6 Osgood, John, 24 Page, Sarah Elizabeth, 44 Parlin, W. Harrison, 12 Payne, Abigail, 24
Betsy, 24
Jane (Boardman) 11, 24
Jane, 25
Polly, 24
Richard, 11, 24
Sally, 24 Pidgen, Benjamin, 7, 8 Pierpont, Rev. John, 9 Raseley, Annie (Skillman) (Mudgett) (6)
39, 40 Raseley, Edward, 40 Robinson, David, 24 Rogers, Lincoln A., 33
Margaret (Barnes) (6) 33 Rose, Eber, 9
Elizabeth, 9
Eber (4) 10
Mary, 8, 9 Rowe, Frederick C, 12 Seavey, William H., 44 Sellen, Mary (Farnham (6) 31
T. B., 31 Skillman, John, 40 Stockbridge, Marcia, 14
Maria. 14 Thompson, M. W., 40 Threlkeld, Annette (Taylor) 43
Annie B. (6) 43
Frances (Bassett) 43
George Nuckols (6) 43
Logan T., 43
Thomas B. (6) 43 *
William L. (6) 43 Trimble, Minnie B. (Threlkeld) (6) 43
Nelson H., 43
Tytus, Charles (6) 36 Charlotte M. (Davis) 35 Edward J. (6) 35 Francis Jefferson, 31, 35 John B. (6) 36 Minnesota (Ewing) 36
VanBrough, Catharine, 36
Vining, 11
Ware, Adela (Barnes) (6) 33 Walter, 33
Warner, Daniel, 7
Elizabeth, 7
Nathaniel, 7 Wendell, Prof. Oliver, 26, 27 Weston, Edward P., 39
Nathan, 28 Wood, George, 42
Jeannie (Butler) (6) 42
Nathaniel Milton, 42 Wyatt, Sarah. 7
NAMES OF CITIES AND TOWNS.
Alton, 111., 15, 40
Amesbury, Mass., 24
Attleboro, Mass., 30
Auburn, Me., 39, 40, 44
Augusta, Me., 26, 38, 42
Bangor, Me., 17, 32, 40
Bath, Me., 18, 21
Beachmont, Mass., 10
Bowdoinham, Me., 17
Bridgton, Me., 26
Brunswick, Me., 20, 21, 32
Burlington, Wis., 42
Cambridge, Mass., 29
Camden, Me., 40
Cape Ann, 7
Chicago, 111., 15
Chillicothe, O., 15
China, Me., 21, 25, 32
Cumberland Mills, Me., 31
Danville, Me., 20
Dexter, Me., 40
East Brunswick, Me., 21
East Winthrop, Me., 12, 25, 26, 27, 29, 33,
36, 43 Fayette, Me., 17, 22, 29, 38 Franklin, O., 15, 36, 37, 38, 39 Freeport, Me., 17, 20, 26, 27 Georgetown, Ky., 15, 30, 34, 38, 40 Gorham, Me., 42 Green, Me., 19 Hallowell, Me., 14, 17, 19, 26, 28, 34, 38,
39, 40, 41, 43, 44 Hanover, Mass., 11, 12, 19, 22, 25, 27, 29,
31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39 Harpswell, Me., 21 Hebron, Me., 20 House Beautiful, 5 Industry, Me., 17, 21 Ipswich, Mass., 7, 11, 29 Kent's Hill, Me., 29 Kilkenny Castle, 56 Leavenworth, Kansas, 40 Leeds, Me., 17 Lexington, Ky., 43
Livermore, Me., 17, 21
Louisville, Ky., 30, 31
Middletown, O., 15, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
43 Minot, Me., 19 Monmouth, Me., 17 Mt. Vernon, Me., 17 Newbury, Mass., 7, 8, 17 Newburyport, Mass. 7, 8. 9, 17, 24, 25, 32 New Gloucester, Maine, 17 New London, N. H., 30 Newton, Mass., 27, 29 Newtonville, Mass., 29 North Anson, Me., 27, 29 North Vassalboro, Me., 40 North Yarmouth, Me., 14, 17. 18, 31, 36 Nottingham, N. H., 9, 11 Orland, Me., 32 Paris, Me., 40 Paris Hill, Me., 42 Peoria, 111., 15, 39 Philadelphia, Pa., 8 Phippsburg, Me., 18 Portland, Me., 17, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 42 Revere, 10
Rockland, Me., 40, 42 Salisbury, Mass., 7, 8, 11, 24, 25 Salisbury, N. H., 9 Sebasticook, Me., 22 Seymour, Ind., 44 Shelbyville, Ky., 15, 33, 43 Sidney, Me., 17 South Leeds. Me., 20 Topsham, Me., 20 Turner, Me., 40 Wales, Me., 19 Warrenton Street Chapel, 10 Waterville College, 17, 18 Waterville, Me., 12, 17, 18, 30. 32. 40 Wayne, Me., 14, 17 Wells, Me., 26, 27 Winchester (London Co.) Va.. 34 Wintlirop, Me., 19, 27, 28, 31, 38, 43
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Charles Bowdoin Fillebrown
2. Rev. John Butler
3. Nancy (Payne) Butler
4. Rev. John Butler (miniature)
5. Nancy (Payne) Butler (miniature)
6. Baptist Church, Hanover, Mass. (original)
7. Letter of Acceptance (facsimile)
8. Baptist Church, North Hanover, Mass. (present)
9. Residence, North Hanover, Mass.
10. Baptist Church, East Winthrop, Maine
11. Residence, East Winthrop, Maine
12. Baptist Church, North Yarmouth, Maine
13. Residence, North Yarmouth, Maine
14. Residence, Hallowell, Maine
15. Sermon Notes (facsimile)
16. Polly (Payne) Osgood
17. John Osgood
18. Betsy (Payne) Robinson
19. David Robinson
20. Sally (Payne) Colby
21. Joseph Briggs
22. Dr. John Richard Butler
23. Sarah (Chase) (Austin) Butler
24. Almira (Butler) Fillebrown
25. James Bowdoin Fillebrown
26. Almira (Butler) Fillebrown (tintype)
27. James Bowdoin Fillebrown (1875)
28. Almira (Butler) Fillebrown (miniature)
29. James Bowdoin Fillebrown (miniature)
30. Esteria (Butler) Farnam
31. Jonathan Everett Farnam
32. Esteria (Butler) Farnam (miniature)
33. Jonathan Everett Farnam (miniature)
34. Anne Judson (Butler) Barnes
35. Phinehas Barnes
36. Anne Judson (Butler) Barnes (miniature)
37. Dr. George W. Nuckols (miniature)
38. Abigail (Butler) (Gibson) Nuckols
39. Dr. George W. Nuckols
40. Sarah (Butler) Tytus
41. Francis Jefferson Tytus
42. Charles Butler
43. Mary (Schenck) Butler
44. Catherine VanB rough
45. Hannah (Butler) Mudgett
46. Edward P. Weston
47. Hannah Heard (Butler) (Mudgett) Weston
48. Rev. Nathaniel Butler
49. Jennette (Emery) Butler
50. Maria (Butler) Mudgett
51. Alfred Mudgett
52. Maria (Butler) Mudgett (1880)
PREFACE.
THE following pages are the result of a belated effort to preserve for their descendants what remains at hand of the story of the lives of a venerated father and mother and their fourteen children, together with a simple enumeration of their children's children. It is a matter of extreme regret that this work might not have been begun a generation ago during the lives of those whose memory covered the period. Acknowledgments are due to the many cousins who have helped to attain this approach to completeness.
Charles Bowdoin Fillebrown. Boston, Mass., February, 1908.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME.
ALTHOUGH the English generation of Rev. John Butler has not been traced, the following men- tion of the origin of the name of Butler by the present Marquise de Fontenoy, to be found in a magazine "The House Beautiful," Chicago, February 1907, is thought to be of interest.
"Theobald Walter, Lord Ormonde, of Kilkenny Castle, Ireland, a brother of Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the time of Richard Cceur de Lion, first assumed the surname of Butler after being invested with the hereditary dignity of Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II."
Respecting the antiquity of the name, the following bit of historical romance is cherished as being worth preserving.
"The two leading Anglo-Irish families in Ireland have long been the Fitz-Geralds and the Butlers. From being comrades in arms of the invading Strongbow, they became by degrees rival barons, and fierce contestants for the vice-sovereignty of their adopted country. In the W7ars of the Roses, the Butlers sided with the white rose of Lancaster, and the Fitz-Geralds with the red rose of York. Factions gathered around the two great houses, and the bitter feud brought forth death and bloodshed from as early as 1250 down to the Williamite Wars. The Butlers, whose chief had attained the dignity of Earl of Ormonde, suc- ceeded in crushing the power of the elder branch of the Fitz-Geralds, Earls of Desmond. It is told of a warlike Desmond that, while he was being borne prisoner on the locked shields of his feudal foe's clansmen, the Butlers taunted him with the bitter words: 'Where is now the proud Fitz-Gerald ? ' To whom the indomitable earl answered: 'Fitz-Gerald is where he ought to be — on the necks of the Butlers.' This proud reply will give an idea of the intensity of the strife.
5
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
'"Now it happened that her Majesty's Irish Viceroy gave a garden- party in the viceregal lodge at Dublin, and thither were bidden by accident the Marquis of Ormonde, present head of the Butler family, Commander of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the premier yacht club of the world in age and importance, the most popular of Irish landlords, in person tall and handsome, an appearance singularly in keeping with that of his stately home at Kilkenny Castle, the oldest residence in Ireland, and the little Duke of Leinster, boyish chieftain of the house of Fitz-Gerald. With the duke, who was not quite nine years of age, came his widowed mother, one of the beautiful Duncombe sisters.
"The Duchess of Leinster lost sight of her son for a space, and in going to look for the lad found him engaged in earnest conversation with a tall, elderly gentleman, in whom she was surprised to recognize the Marquis of Ormonde. What was her horror when, on approaching nearer, she distinctly heard the youthful Geraldine remark in somewhat slangy phrase :
'"Well, I suppose I ought to punch your head on account of the feud, but I say, you know, you're too jolly decent a chap for that Can't we shake hands and call it square ?'
"With the utmost gravity Lord Ormonde grasped the small hand of his hereditary foe, and when the amused mother came to congratulate them on the happy settlement of six hundred years of bitterness, she found young hopeful perched, like his famous ancestor, on the neck of the Butler.
"Thus ended a feud, undoubtedly one of the oldest, and possibly the bloodiest, in the world."
ANTECEDENTS OF REV. JOHN BUTLER.
VOLUMES of Butler genealogies afford but mea- gre records of the antecedents of Rev. John Butler. His great-grandfather, John Butler (1), came to America from the Island of Guern- sey, England, with his sons Philip and John, and settled on Cape Ann. His great-grandmother came also from England when young and settled in Ipswich, Mass. His grandfather, John Butler (2), born January, 1751, in Newburyport, was a ship carpenter, and lived at Cape Ann. His wife, Hannah Heard, was a descendant of Luke Heard.
Luke Heard was the son of Edmund Heard of Clax- ton, County Norfolk, England, who married Sarah Wyatt of Assington, England. He came to Massa- chusetts, first to Newbury, thence to Salisbury, thence to Ipswich. He died in Ipswich in 1647, leaving two sons, John and Edmund. Edmund settled in Ipswich, and married in 1672 Elizabeth Warner, daughter of Daniel Warner, and had six children. One son, Nathaniel, was born September 1, 1685. The banns of his marriage to Agnes Hunt were pub- lished December 10, 1709. He had five children, John, William, Elizabeth, Sarah and Hannah Heard, (wife of John Butler, 2), all of whom were mentioned in his will, January 9, 1730-1.
John Butler (2) conveyed, 1756 to 1768, lots of land in Newbury to Ralph Cross and Benjamin Pidgen, and received deed of land from his mother, Sarah Butler (widow), in 1752.
7
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
1: Essex Deeds, John Butler, shipwright, and wife, Hannah, of Newburyport, to Ralph Cross Jr. land in Newburyport. Signed April 18, 1763. Recorded Oct. 1, 1768. L. 126-7.
2: Essex Deeds, Benjamin Pidgen of Newbury — 45 rods land in New- bury. Signed May 4, 1758. Recorded 1765. L. 118-240.
3: Essex Deeds, John Butler to Benjamin Pidgen land in Newbury. Recorded Sept. 27, 1765. L. 116-262.
4: Essex Deeds, Sarah Butler to John Butler, Newbury, Mass. widow. Pd. by my son John Butler of Newbury, shipwright, 11 rods, 98 ft. of land bordering on my land. Signed 2d June 1752. Acknowledged Mar. 23, 1756. Recorded Oct. 30, 1765.
John Butler (3), father of Rev. John Butler, was born in Newburyport in January, 1751, and died in 1835. He married Abigail Brown of Philadelphia, Pa., who was born in Salisbury in 1756 and died in Newburyport in 1830. Both were members of Dr. Spring's Congregational Church. Of their nine children the record shows:
i. John, died in infancy.
ii. Elizabeth, married William Morss, died November 17, 1777.
iii. Hannah, born July 30, 1781, died 18—.
iv. Abigail, died 1811. Abigail or Hannah married a Fisk.
v. Sarah Ann, married Captain Jacob Chadbourne.
vi. Rev. John (4), born April 13, 1789, married May 31, 1811,
Nancy Payne. Died July 1, 1856. vii. Charles, died aged two years
viii. Mary, married Mansur.
ix. Nathaniel (4), born October 10, 1795. Married April 13, 1819.
Mary Rose. Died March 10, 1853.
It will be noticed that of the above nine children of John Butler, two sons, John and Charles, died in infancy, and only two sons, John and Nathaniel, lived to manhood and married. It seems proper to enter here the family record, so far as known, of this Nathaniel, brother of Rev. John Butler, and six years his junior.
Nathaniel Butler (4), brother of Rev. John Butler, second grown son (ninth and youngest child)
8
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
of John and Abigail (Brown) Butler, was born in Nottingham, N. H., October 10, 1795. He attended the country schools, and by self cultivation acquired a good, practical English education. When a lad he worked on a farm in Salisbury, N. H. When a young man he went to sea for some months, coasting between Newburyport, Mass., and Georgetown, D. C. About 1816 he returned to Boston and commenced working at the mason's trade, which he had thoroughly learned. He took some contracts himself, but mostly worked for large contractors on public buildings and residence blocks. He continued in this business until his death; his advice being frequently sought by some of Boston's largest capitalists. In 1848, being out of health, he made a sea voyage to New Orleans and Texas, and in 1850 a passage to San Francisco via Cape Horn, returning home over the Panama route. He married, April 13, 1819, Mary Rose, daughter of Eber and Elizabeth Rose of Newburyport, Mass. Theirs was the first marriage solemnized in Boston by Rev. John Pierpont, grandfather of John Pierpont Morgan, the New York financier. Nathaniel Butler died in Boston March 10, 1853, and is buried in his family lot in Forest Hills Cemetery, West Roxbury, Mass.
Mary Rose Butler, his wife, was born in Newbury- port, Mass., February 7, 1788, and died in Boston, May 17, 1878, at the age of ninety. She was a woman earnestly religious and of an humble, exemplary life. In early womanhood she joined the Methodist Church, wearing the traditional drab bonnet of that sect.
Children :
i. Sarah Read, born in Boston, October 31, 1821. Died June 13, 1825.
ii. Hannah Challis, born May 7, 1824. Married (1) April 2(5, 1846, in Boston, William Eustis Hayden (born November 27, 1822, died December 28, 1848). (2) November 4, 1852,
9
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Robert J. S. Bailey (born March 11, 1820, died November 28, 1880). Resided with daughter Helen in Oakland, Cal.
Eber Rose, born in Boston February 10, 1827. He attended the primary school between the ages of four and seven, and later the Fort Hill and the Winthrop School in East Street, from which he graduated in 1839, and was awarded a Franklin Medal. At the English High School on Pinckney Street, he again received the Franklin Medal in 1843. He lived in Boston, or vicinity, except for the eighteen years between 1862 and 1880, during which period he lived in New York City, where he engaged in the manufacture of medallions and other bronze goods, having invented the first bronze door knobs and locks used in America. In Boston he was for several years a bookkeeper, and later, 1880-8, was well known as the minister of the Warrenton Street Chapel. He engaged in various charitable works. In 1889 he was minister of the First Unita- rian Parish in Revere, Mass., and was also first pastor of the Unitarian parish in Beachmont. In the church edifice at Beachmont a memorial window was placed about 1901. This window, which is a handsome stained glass reproduction of "The Sower" by Millet, was removed to the Barnard Memorial, War- renton Street, Boston, the scene of his prolonged labors, and dedi- cated with memorial services on Sunday, November 4, 1906. It bears the inscription, "In memory of Eber Rose Butler, born February 10, 1827, died February 20, 1901." He married (1) November 11, 1852, Louisa Jane Gates (born in Stowe, Mass., June 28, 1823, daughter of Israel and Louisa Gates). She was a beloved teacher in Warrenton Street Chapel in its early days, and was afterwards connected with the Fourth Unitarian Society of New York City. She attended the Johnson Gram- mar School, Tremont Street, Boston. In childhood she was a member of the Sunday schools of Rev. Mr. Motte and Rev. Mr. Huntington. In later life she was active in Sunday school, church and charity work. She died in Bloomfield, N. J., July 13, 1883. He married (2) July 20, 1885, in Worcester, Mass., Mrs. Caroline M. Lincoln (maiden name Coburn), born March 1, 1832.
Thomas Wells, born July 11, 1829, died February 26, 1883. Married (1) August 9, 1850, Eliza Ann Knapp (born August 29, 1828). (2) Elizabeth Tallant, 1856.
10
REV. JOHN BUTLER.
REV. JOHN BUTLER* (4) was born April 13, 1789, in Nottingham West, N. H. His active ministerial work covered a period of thirty-nine years. His first pastorate was over the Baptist Church, Hanover, Mass., 1810 to 1824, of which he was the first ordained pastor at the age of twenty-one. His letter of acceptance is still preserved in the Church Records, and is here reproduced in facsimile, two-thirds of the original size. It was early in this pastorate, May 31, 1811, that he was married to Nancy Payne, a daughter of Richard and Jane (Boardman) Payne of Salisbury, Mass. Here were born the first nine of his fourteen children, with the exception of Esteria, who was born in Ipswich, Mass., in 1814, viz.: John Richard, Almira, Anne Judson, Abigail, Sarah, Charles, Elizabeth Lewis and Hannah Heard. He baptized all his children except Sophia, who died in infancy, and John and Almira. The house in which he lived, latterly known as the Vining House, is still standing, as shown in cut, and occupied in 1907. His first pastorate is thus described in the annals of the sixty-seventh anni- versary of the Old Colony Baptist Association.
His (Brother Win. Curtis's) ministry was followed by that of John Butler, whose Providential coming was recognized in a letter sent him by the Church, asking him to be ordained and accept the pastoral charge of the Church. This call was accepted and a council called to ordain him, which convened on the 12th of Dec. 1810 at the house of Curtis Brooks. Dr. Thomas Baldwin, and Dea. Heman Lincoln, from the Second Baptist Church, Boston, and Rev. Lucius Bowles and Bro. B.
*See Larries Indexes of Pedigrees.
11
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Dodge from the church in Salem were members of the Council. Churches in Bridgewater, Kingston and Danvers were represented. Dr. Baldwin was Moderator, and Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin, Clerk. Revs. Joel Briggs of Randolph, and Lewis Leonard of Boston, who were present, were invited to sit with the Council. The call of the Church to Bro. Butler, and his reply, were read. He then recounted the relation of the work of Divine Grace on his heart, his motives in taking upon him the gospel ministry, and his views of the 'fundamental doctrines contained in the Holy Scriptures.' This being entirely satisfactory, the Council voted to ordain him 'as soon as we can conveniently repair to the place of worship.' 'That Dr. Baldwin make the introductory prayer and preach the sermon, Eld. Briggs make the ordaining prayer, Eld. Bowles give the charge, Eld. Chaplin express the fellowship of the Churches, and Eld. Glover make the concluding prayer.' At about half after eleven A. M. the Council proceeded to the Meeting House where the above services were held in the presence of a solemn and attentive audience." Mr. Butler re- signed the pastoral office early in 1824. — History oj the Hanover Baptist Church, 1889.
From Hanover, Mass., he removed in 1824 to Waterville, Me., where his son Nathaniel was born. Here he had charge of a school for one year, preaching in various places during the time. He baptized sixty persons. May 1, 1825, he was installed as the first pastor of the Baptist Church at East Winthrop, Me., Mr. Phineas Bond,* a licentiate, having supplied the pulpit for about a year subsequent to the dedica- tion of the $3000 edifice, November 19, 1823. The parsonage, built for him in 1824 at a cost of $800, and in which he lived seven years, was after him occupied by Elder Fogg for fourteen years, and later by W. Harrison Parlin during his life, and is now owned and occupied (1907) by Frederick C. Rowe of an old Winthrop family. Here were born four children, Jane Payne, Mary Simons, Sophia B. and Maria S. He established here a school for young ladies which is thus described by William Harrison Parlin in his Reminiscences of East Winthrop.
*Mr. Bond's wife was the daughter of Sally Cushing, second wife of Col- Thomas Fillebrown, who was father of James Bowdoin Fillebrown.
12
REV. JOHN" BUTLER, 1789-1856
NANCY (PAYNE) BUTLER, 1788-1857
REV. JOHN BUTLER From Ivory Miniature about 1NI30
NANCY (PAYNE) BUTLER From Ivohy Miniature about is:>()
THE ORIGINAL BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE
Main Street, North Hanover, Mass. As Erected in 1812,
Where Rev. John Butlee First Preached, 1S11-1Hi24
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FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
"Elder John Butler came here in April, 1825. While the house [before mentioned] was building for him, his family — a numerous one — was accommodated in the various households of the village.
"There came with him a Miss Elizabeth Lewis, a celebrated school teacher. Together they established a school for young ladies, in which were taught the higher English branches, astronomy, painting, etc. This school, or Female Seminary, or 'Butler's School' as it was familiarly called, became exceedingly popular, so much so that from all parts of the State young ladies of wealth and refinement attended. The school was very large, the scholars filling every house that could, or would, accom- modate boarders, and, during term time, causing the inhabitants of the village to be composed, apparently, mostly of females. They were the ruling element and gave tone to society. They were a lively set. The young native swains of the village were mostly too unsophisticated, uncouth and bashful, to venture on an intimate acquaintance with the representa- tives of so much wealth and caste, except in one instance, to which reference will be had anon.
"The school occupied the gallery and vestry of the church, and, when those premises were too limited, the school house was used as an annex to relieve the crowded condition of the church.
"This was before the church was altered in '58. The gallery then occupied three sides of the house, and the vestry was where the singers' seats now are, separated from the auditorium and gallery by a partition.
"At the close of each term there was an exhibition, which drew from far and near the parents and friends of the pupils, with their stylish turn- outs, to convey them home, there being no railroad trains as now. During these exhibitions the village had an overflowing population, more em- phatically so than during an Association or Convention.
"Almost all of the scholars had painted maps, some three or four feet square, and these were placed on the walls of the gallery extending nearly around it. At the bottom of each was the name of the artist, thus, 'Pro- jected by Miss Betty Blank.' The 'Orrery' was, to young eyes, a marvel- ous piece of mechanism. By just turning a small crank a miniature world was set in motion, each and every planet revolving in its allotted time and in its orbicular place. The representative of the sun was a golden ball stuck on a wire in the centre, about as large as a peach; Mars was a little red fellow; the earth resembled a potato ball; and the other planets were white and of ivory, each 'in its proper station moved,' having its relative proportion, stretching away into the regions of space, till far off Uranus completed the miniature world.
"That school was of great renown, and its 'fame had gone out into all the earth.' The establishment of a permanent 'Female Seminary' on the opposite side of the street from the church, was much mooted at one
13
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
time. The site was all that the most fastidious could desire, the location central, and the wants of the public required it.
"One summer in term time a tribe of Indians camped in the woods on the other side of the lake, just east of Cuba. Elder Butler several times preached to them. All the boats to be had plied continually on the lake, carrying the scholars and others over to see the Indians. Their visits were often returned by the red men in their birch canoes, in order to trade at the store, — exchanging their baskets for 'firewater' and decorative trinkets.
"Among the many young ladies who attended this school were two daughters, Maria and Marcia, of Dea. Stockbridge of North Yarmouth. They boarded at Simeon Cary's. He lived then in the house next south of Mr. Bachelder's, on the road, as it then was, running over the Blunt hill from the poplar tree to where the new road intersects it this side of Mr. Marrow's.
"Mr. Cary had a son, Nelson H. He taught the school here one or more terms, the writer being one of his pupils. He was a young man of good address; tall, straight and muscular, with blue eyes, light hair and florid complexion. Physically, he resembled his father more than his mother, but his native musical gifts were more particularly inherited from his mother, who, it will be recollected, was awarded the place of honor at the dedication by the seating committee, — and very justly so, for she was the sweetest and most charming singer our young ears had then heard. The Misses Stockbridge, boarding in the family, were also excellent singers. Nelson H. Cary and Miss Maria Stockbridge formed a reciprocal attachment culminating in marriage. These were the parents of Miss Annie Louise Cary, the celebrated contralto singer, whose fame is world- wide. Dr. Cary, choosing the profession of medicine, first settled in Wayne, where Annie Louise was born."
From 1831 to 1837 Elder Butler was settled at North Yarmouth, Me. For one year and eight months, beginning October 10, 1835, he was the Agent of the Maine Baptist Convention, traveling during the first twelve months something over five thousand miles. This office he resigned on account of failing health. For ten following years, 1839 to 1849, he was an "evangelist," residing most of the time at Hallowell, Me. The house shown in which he lived most of the time during this period is unaltered to-day, except by the disappearance of a small ell. It stands on the north side of Winthrop Street, No. 47, between
14
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Lakeman's Lane and Pleasant Street. This period of his life is fully accounted for in the extracts given from his diary.
Between the years 1812 and 1830, fourteen children were born to Rev. John and Nancy Payne Butler. The first death in the family was that of Sophia in 1830, the last that of Charles in 1904. Sophia, twin sister of Maria, died in babyhood, Jane at the age of seventeen. Three of the number, John, Almira Fillebrown, and Anne Barnes, spent the most of their lives in their native State of Maine. The other nine, Esteria Farnam, Abigail Gibson-Nuckols, Sarah Tytus, Charles, Elizabeth Nason, Hannah Mudgett- Weston, Nathaniel, Mary Simons Threlkeld, and Maria S. Mudgett, all went west; Esteria to Georgetown, Ky.; Abigail and Mary Simons to Shelbyville, Ky.; Sarah, Charles, Elizabeth and Maria to Middletown, Ohio; Hannah to Chillicothe, Ohio, and Peoria and Chicago, 111.; Nathaniel to Alton, 111.
Both John and Nancy Payne Butler died at the home of their son Charles Butler in Franklin, Ohio, he on July 1, 1856, at the age oi sixty-seven, and she on April 10, 1857, aged sixty-nine. He is described by a living friend, who knew him in his old age, as "a lovely Christian gentleman, with sadness in his eyes and lines in his face as of one to whom life had brought many sorrows and disappointments." And his wife as "a woman of strong character and great capabilities. She had performed the varied and trying duties of a minister's wife, had reared a large family of sons and daughters, had seen them one by one go out from the old home to enter a larger world, and now with strength failing, she had laid down the burdens and active duties of life, and was content to leave them in other hands, and with sweet patience and resignation was looking forward to the end of a long and useful life."
15
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Rev. John Butler made in 1840 a compilation of familiar hymns for church use which passed through three editions. The tune of Ortonville is well remem- bered as one of his especial favorites. He was the author of several books, of which the following are catalogued in the Bibliography of the State of Maine by Williamson, said to be found in the State Library at Augusta.
John Butler, Clergyman, 1789-1856, resided in Maine 1825-1835. Definitions and explanations in geography and astronomy, by John Butler, pastor of the Baptist Church at Winthrop, Me. and Principal of the female academy in that place. Hallowell : Glazier & Co. printers : 1825— 12mo. pp. 31 (1828).
Friendly Letters to a Lady in which several doctrines of the gospel are explained and discussed. By John Butler, Pastor Bap. Church,Winthrop, Me. Boston: James Loring, pr. 1830, 16mo. pp. 104. Library No. (1829).
A letter to the Rev. John Butler, containing a review of his "Friendly Letters to a Lady" together with a general outline of the doctrine of the Free Will Baptists, by a Free Will Baptist. Library No. (1830).
"God not the efficient cause of Sin." A sermon delivered at Hanover, Mass. by John Butler of the Baptist Church in North Yarmouth, Maine, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man : But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Boston, Pr. by Jonathan Howe, No. 39 Merchants Row. Library number (1834).
Extracts from Diary
The following notes are taken from a memorandum made by Rev. John Butler from his " Journal" in 1851, when he was sixty-two years of age :
"I hope I experienced a saving change of heart in 1802, within a few months of my being fourteen years old. I have reason to believe that my mind was awakened, and brought under saving conviction for sin, by the preaching of Rev. Thomas Paul, a coloured man, and a very humble and faithful servant of Christ whose labours were blessed to the salvation of many souls. Brother Paul was afterward settled in Boston,
16
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Mass. I was baptized in 1806, and united with the Baptist Church in Newbuiy and Newburyport. I hope my wife experienced a saving change of heart in 1807. She was baptized in 1807, and united with the Baptist Church in Newbury and Newburyport."
"In 1827-8 I delivered Astronomical Lectures in the following places:
"Wayne, Livermore, New Gloucester, Bowdoinham, Mount Vernon, Fayette, Monmouth and North Yar- mouth: for which I received pecuniary compensation."
1827. I was elected a Trustee of Waterville College, Me. I have attended every annual meeting but three since that time.
1828. November. Preached at the Dedication of Baptist Meetinghouse in Industry, Me.
1829. January. Preached at the Dedication of the Baptist Meetinghouse in Monmouth.
December. Delivered the charge, at the ordination of Rev. Mr. Thresher to the pastoral charge of the Baptist Church in Portland, Me.
1830. Delivered the charge at the installation of Rev. T. B. Ripley to the pastoral care of Baptist Church in Bangor, Me.
Delivered the charge at the ordination of Rev. Mr. Fites to the pastoral care of the Baptist Church in Waterville, Me.
Delivered the charge at the ordination of Rev. W. Foss, to the labours of an Evangelist, in Leeds.
Delivered the charge at the ordination of Rev. Mr. Porter to the labours of an Evangelist in Second Church in Sidney, Me.
In behalf of the Council, gave the hand of Fellow- ship at the Constitution of the Second Baptist Church in Hallowell, Me.
1831. Preached at the ordination of Rev. N. Sever to the labours of an Evangelist in Freeport, Me.
Delivered the charge at the installation of Rev. Mr.
17
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Green to pastoral care of the Baptist Church in Water- ville, Me.
Appointed a Trustee of the Maine Baptist Convention.
Appointed a member of the Board of the Maine Branch of Northern Baptist Education Society.
1831. Appointed on the Western Examining Com- mittee of the Maine Branch of Northern Baptist Education Society.
1832. January. Appointed President of the Cum- berland Baptist American Foreign Missionary Society.
Appointed by the Cumberland Quarterly Conference to address the churches connected with the Conference through the medium of Zion's Advocate.
Appointed to deliver an address before the Temper- ance Society of North Yarmouth.
Delivered an address before the Temperance Society at Walnut Hill, North Yarmouth.
On the 25th of July Waterville College conferred on me the degree of A. M.
1833. Preached before the Cumberland Foreign Missionary Society.
By request, delivered an address before the Tem- perance Society in Bath.
By request, delivered an address before the Tem- perance Society in Phippsburg, Me.
Appointed President of the Maine Baptist State Convention.
Appointed Chairman of the Executive Board of Northern Baptist Education Society.
The above are a part of the services which, at different times, have been assigned me by my Brethren.
Revivals of Religion.
When many of the church become much quickened in the divine life, and fervent in the exercises and duties of religion, and become unusually fervent in their prayers for the salvation of souls; when backsliders are
18
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
reclaimed, and unpenitent sinners are awakened to a serious concern about their souls, and any number, however small, hopefully converted to God, when these things take place, I consider it proper to say, there is then, with that people, a revival of religion.
It has been my privilege to labor in several glorious revivals of religion where the work commenced before I came into the place, but in the following instances the revivals commenced in connection with the instru- mentality of my imperfect and feeble labors. The second revival I ever labored in took place in Hanover, Mass., in 1810, and the last in the same church and congregation in 1847, thirty-seven years later. The whole number of revivals wThich God granted me during my ministerial labors from 1810, in which year I wras ordained, until 1847, was forty-two. In some of these revivals but few obtained a hope in Christ, but in others great numbers were converted to God. The ten years which passed between 1837 and 1847 are the most interesting part of the history of my ministry. During these years, while residing most of the time at Hallowell, Me., I labored in thirty-eight revivals of religion, eighteen of which were very extraordinary seasons of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
I will here make a few brief statements concerning these eighteen revivals.
Wales, Me., December, 1837. I laboured here three weeks. Sixty manifested a hope in Christ. Twelve were enabled to believe in the Saviour in one evening. Here I baptized twenty-three. In connec- tion with this revival a meeting house was built.
Winthrop, Me., January, 1838. Here I laboured about two weeks. Thirty gave evidence of conversion.
Minot, Me., February, 1838. I laboured here five weeks. Something more than seventy obtained a hope in Christ. I baptized twenty-seven.
Green, Me., March, 1838. I laboured here three
19
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
weeks, and two days; during which time seventy were born into the Kingdom of Christ, as I hope. I baptized thirty-five at one time, and seven at another, making forty-two.
Danville, Me., May, 1838. I laboured here about three weeks. Fifteen were hopefully converted. I bap- tized twelve.
Hebron, Me., February, 1839. Something more than eighty professed a change of heart before I left them. The oldest was ninety-six years old. She was unable to attend meeting, but the Lord blessed her at home. The youngest was ten years old. I baptized fifty-nine. I ' baptized forty-six at one time, and twelve at another time. Of those baptized twenty-five were brethren, twenty-one sisters, and twenty-two were heads of families. After I left them, the work continued and spread, till not less than two hundred professed to experience conversion to God. I laboured with them about six weeks.
Freeport, Me., May, 1839. Seventy indulged a hope in the pardoning mercy of God. I baptized sixty-three, about one-third of whom were heads of families. I laboured here three months.
South Leeds, Me., October, 1839. Twenty pro- fessed a hope. I baptized ten, three of whom were deaf mutes, two brothers and one sister. They could read and write. After I left the place the work spread nearly over the town, and it was believed not less than one hundred and fifty were converted to God. A church was formed, and a meeting house built in the part of the town where the revival commenced. I laboured here three weeks.
Topsham, Me., December 28, 1839. I laboured here about two weeks, during which ten or twelve obtained a hope in pardoning mercy. The work extended into the other societies, and into Brunswick, and continued more than three months. It was believed
20
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
not less than two hundred became the subjects of saving grace. In connection with this revival a Baptist church was constituted in Brunswick, and a meeting house built. In this revival my three youngest children obtained a hope in Christ.
Harpswell, Me., January, 1840. I preached here by request of the Congregational Church. I laboured three weeks. Thirty-five professed a hope before I left them, after which the work spread and extended to some of the Islands. It was a great work, and most of the converts united with the Congregational Church. This church had almost lost its visibility. It was one of the oldest churches in the State. Their meeting house had been built about one hundred years and was now unfit for use. But the church was now so strengthened as to build a meeting house, and settle a minister.
Bath, Me., February, 1840. I laboured here three weeks. Before I left forty obtained a hope and a few were baptized by the pastor.
East Brunswick, Me., March, 1840. Here I laboured about four weeks. Forty hopefully experienced renew- ing grace. I baptized twenty-nine.
Industry, Me., February, 1841. I laboured in this place two weeks. Christians were much revived, and forty were hopefully converted to God. On my way home, my horse died. I had travelled with this horse during my labours in twenty-two revivals of religion. This was a painful loss to me.
Livermore, Me., March, 1841. I laboured here six weeks. Sixty professed to experience renewing grace, thirty of whom were heads of families. Fifty-three were baptized.
China, Me., January, 1843. I laboured here five weeks. Eighty professed to experience renewing grace. I baptized thirty-seven, twenty-nine of whom I baptized at one time. One of the converts had been for sev-
21
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
eral years a professed and whole-hearted infidel. This conversion was the most extraordinary case I ever knew.
Sebasticook, Me., May, 1843. I laboured here for about two weeks. Ten were hopefully converted to the Lord.
Fayette, Me., January, 1846. During about five weeks eighty obtained a joyful hope in Christ. I baptized sixty. The oldest was seventy years old, and the youngest about eleven. Twenty-four were members of the Sabbath School. I laboured here six months.
Hanover, Mass., January, 1847. Here I spent sev- eral weeks. Some of the church were much quick- ened, and twenty were hopefully converted to the Lord. The second revival I ever laboured in was in this church and congregation thirty-seven years before. Here I was ordained and laboured as pastor of this church fourteen years. This is the last revival I have enjoyed. It was a most precious season to me. And now, I would humbly say, "Not unto me, not unto me, but to thy name be all the glory, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer."
In these eighteen revivals, not less than nine hundred hopefully experienced the renewing grace, and pardon- ing mercy of God, with whose religious exercises I was personally and minutely acquainted. I baptized about four hundred of them; some of them the pastors of the churches where the revivals took place baptized; some of them united with other denominations, and a few of them never united with any church.
Many of the forty-two revivals in which I have laboured during my whole ministry have extended into other denominations, and great numbers were con- verted among them, so that as nearly as I have been able to ascertain the whole number born into the Kingdom of Christ in those seasons of mercy is not less than fifteen hundred.
22
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
These scenes of wondrous grace, which I have here briefly recorded, I joyfully hope to review in that bright world where Jesus reigns. I trust my memory will be so strengthened then as to review these scenes of mercy, with a clear and distinct recollection. O yes, and I hope to meet, in that blissful state, those precious ones, for whose salvation I have here toiled and wept and prayed. How many hundreds I have prayed with, while they seemed ready to sink under the weight of their guilt, and how many hundreds I have rejoiced with when they first realized the pardon- ing love of God. How sweetly did their countenances glow, with the light of hope. O, how many tears of repentance I have seen fall; yes, and tears of unspeak- able joy, too. Well, I trust, unworthy as I am, I shall see the faces of those blessed ones again, in glory. Some of them are there now, and hundreds of others are on their way there. O, ye blessed children of God, I am unworthy to come up to that high abode and dwell with you, and sing "redeeming grace and undying love." But my hope is in the merits of Jesus Christ. Yes, he will allow unworthy me to come, and see you there; and join your sweet song of ever- lasting praise to him who has loved us and redeemed us to God, with his own blood. Was there ever so unworthy a servant of Christ as I am? And yet was there ever one under so great obligation to him? I do in my inmost soul believe that I am one of the most unworthy, and yet one of the most favoured, of the servants of Christ. Glory be to his blessed name. O, why did he call me out of my darkness into his marvelous light? Why was I made to hear his voice, and enter while there's room ?
Why did he call me, unworthy me, into the sacred work of the gospel ministry? Why did he shed such a measure of his Holy Spirit upon me, as I have enjoyed the most of the time for the last thirteen years?
23
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Mysterious grace, mysterious grace! Surely I shall die infinitely indebted to the goodness of God. Nor does it appear to me, that there ever was, or ever will be, such an example of abounding mercy, as my admittance into heaven will show. O, it seems to me that when the saints and angels in glory come to understand all about my case, they will be astonished, and confounded in view of the grace and mercy bestowed upon me. O, what shall I say — words fail me — my thoughts fail me — O, yes, I am lost, while trying to look away upon the goodness, and love, and mercy of God, to such an unworthy worm of the dust.
Nancy (Payne) Butler was bom April 6, 1788, the eldest of six children, all daughters, and, at the age of eighteen, was left an orphan, having the care of her younger sisters. She died April 10, 1857.
Richard Payne, her father, was born in 1764, and died of yellow fever in Amesbury in 1799. Jane Boardman, his wife, was born in Newburyport in 1769 (daughter of Thomas Boardman, who was born in Chelsea, Mass., and Nancy Noyes, who was born in Newburyport). She was a member of the Baptist Church in Salisbury and Amesbury.
Of the five other daughters of Richard and Jane (Boardman) Payne, Polly* was born January 10, 1790, and died, a centenarian, January 22, 1890. She married in 1808 John Osgood, by occupation a ship calker, who was born March 6, 1787 in Salisbury, Mass., and died November 9, 1859. Abigail (Nabby) was born February 6, 1792, and died July 9, 1878. She married, August 26, 1818, John Gilman, a printer of Newburyport. Betsy was born in 1793, and died January 18, 1881. She married David Robinson, a
*Polly Osgood enjoyed good health almost to her one hundredth birthday. Her oldest son, Isaac, now in his ninety-third year, a machinist and inventor, goes on frequent business trips, this year as far as Denver, Colo., and is usually busy in his own shop when at home.
24
POLLY (PAYNE) ()S(,()()D 1790-1890
JOHN OSGOOD, AMESBURY, MASS. Husband of Poll? Payne, 1787-1859
BETSY [PAYNE ROBINSON, 1793-1881
DAVID ROBINSON
SALLY (PAYNE) COLBY, 1795-1880
JOSEPH BRIGGS, HANOVER, MASS Hi sband of Jane l'\i \i
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
confectioner of Portland, Me. Sally was born Sep- tember 11, 1795, and died December 26, 1880. She married, August 20, 1818, William Colby, a black- smith of Newburyport, Mass. Jane was born March 4, 1798, and died September 26, 1882. She married, April 23, 1817, Joseph Briggs, a farmer of Hanover, Mass., who was born December 22, 1793, and died September 24, 1860. None of the five couples appear to have changed their residence from the town in which they settled soon after marriage, but continued most of their days to reside, the Osgoods in Salisbury, the Gilmans and Colbys in Newburyport, the Briggses in Hanover, and the Robinsons in Portland, Me.
As it would seem unpardonable not to perpetuate such portraits of these sisters of Nancy (Payne) Butler as have been so far preserved, they are here reproduced.
Children of Rev. John and Nancy (Payne) Butler:
i. John Richard, was born March 13, 1812, and died August 24, 1857.
ii. Almira, was born April 11, 1813, and died January 1, 1892.
iii. Esteria, was born May 7, 1814, and died December 23, 1891.
iv. Anne Judson, was born April 1, 1816, and died March 7, 1883.
v. Abigail, was born June 24, 1817, and died August 17, 1854.
vi. Sarah, was born December 11, 1818, and died December 16, 1895.
vii. Charles, was born May 21, 1820, and died July 6, 1904.
viii. Elizabeth Lewis, was born October 17, 1821, and died Decem- ber 10, 1890.
ix. Hannah Heard, was born February 28, 1823, and died February 21, 1904.
x. Nathaniel, was born October 19, 1824, and died April 25, 1894.
xi. Jane Payne, was born March 18, 1826, and died January 8, 1843.
xii. Mary Simons, was born July 5, 1828, and died August 22, 1860.
xiii. Sophia B., was born July 8, 1830, and died October 3, 1830.
xiv. Maria S., was born July 8, 1830, and died December 8, 1884.
I. John Richard Butler was born March 13, 1812, in Hanover, Mass. His boyhood was passed here and in East Winthrop, Me. He studied medicine with Dr. Austin in Portland. He was married Septem- ber 11, 1840, at China, Me., to Mrs. Sarah iVustin,
25
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
and settled in Freeport, where he practised medicine and dentistry until 1853, when he moved to the neigh- boring town of Wells, Me. His health failing, he moved in the spring of 1857 to Hallowell, Me., and occupied the Dummer house at the top of Hallowell Hill, on a spot where now stands one of the buildings of the Industrial School, a beautiful location over- looking the Kennebec River, the village of Hallowell and many adjacent towns. It was hoped that by getting away from the seaboard his health would be improved, but he died on August 24 of that year, at the age of forty-five, leaving a family of six small children.
Mrs. Austin was born at Bridgton, Me., September 13, 1812. She was the daughter of Rev. Rufus Chase, and sister of Rev. Lyman Chase, both prominent clergymen in the Baptist denomination. After the death of Dr. Butler she continued for eleven years, while her children were small, to live in Hallowell, a part of the time in the house next above No. 35 Win- throp Street. Her oldest son was for many years with Mr. John Gilman, druggist, now of Gilman Brothers, Boston. In 1868 she moved to Augusta, where her second son, Rufus, had employment. In 1876, both of her daughters having married, she made her home with them, until the death of Mary, the younger, in 1883. The rest of her life was spent with her daughter Sarah, the wife of Professor Oliver C. Wendell, astronomer at Cambridge Observatory, Harvard University, in Cambridge, where she died January 24, 1899, having had the enjoyment of excel- lent health almost to the end of a long and faithful life of eighty-seven years. Her remains were buried at East Winthrop, Me., where those of her husband had been laid forty-two years before, and where her son Rufus was buried two years later in 1901.
26
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Children : i. John, was born in Freeport, Me., March 29, 1843, and died
February 16, 1877. He married April 14, 1874, Florence E.
Lewars. ii. Sarah, was born in Freeport, Me., October 26, 1845, and married
July 11, 1870, Prof. Oliver C. Wendell of the Cambridge
Observatory, iii. Rufus, was born in Freeport, Me., July 22, 1847, and died March
8, 1901, in Chelsea, Mass. iv. Austin, was born in Freeport, Me., June 6, 1850, and married
January 1, 1876, Annie Rankin, v. Charles, was born in Freeport, Me., January 16, 1852, and
married October 22, 1874, Sylvia F. Heyward. vi. Mary, was born in Wells, Me., November 29, 1854, and died
April 29, 1883. She married August 26, 1872, Horace Frank
Farnham.
II. Almira Butler was born at Hanover, Mass., April 11, 1813, and as the eldest daughter and second child in a family of fourteen, whose births were included in the years 1812 to 1830, she was looked up to by the younger members as the "little mother" of the family. Her proficiency in her father's school at East Winthrop, Me., is shown by samples of needle work at the age of nine, and a map of Asia drawn at the age of eleven. Portraits of her and her husband at the time of their marriage, painted by her artist sister, Esteria, are among the family treasures, and copies of them accompany this sketch. She married, Septem- ber 28, 1830, in Winthrop, Me., James Bowdoin Fillebrown.
Thirty-three years of her life were spent upon the farm in East Winthrop, now Winthrop Centre, fourteen years at Winthrop village, seven years at Portland, Me., two years at North Anson, and, the six years succeeding the death of her husband, at Newton, Mass., one year with her daughter Anna, and five years with her son Charles, at whose home she died January 1, 1892.
Mrs. Fillebrown greatly endeared herself to her
27
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
own family, and a wide circle of friends. The farm at Winthrop was for many years the family Mecca. She united with the Universalist Church at Winthrop Village at its formation about 1839, and remained a loyal and active member so long as resident there. She allied herself with the Women's Christian Tem- perance Union, and was a zealous worker and fervent speaker in its assemblies and councils. Of striking personal beauty, and intelligence, she was the idol of her children, and is remembered as an ideal mother in a happy home.
James Bowdoix Fillebrowx, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cheever Fillebrown, and the youngest of eight children, was born in Winthrop, Me., October 24, 1809. His father, Colonel Thomas Fillebrown, lived and kept a store in Hallowell, Me., from 1793 until 1808, when he purchased a farm in Winthrop upon which he lived until his death in 1844. His mother, Elizabeth Cheever, was a daughter of Captain Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bancroft Cheever of Hallowell, a half sister of Judge Nathan Weston, Chief Justice of Maine, and an aunt of Dr. George B. Cheever, a noted temperance and anti-slavery clergyman of Brook- lyn, N. Y. At sixteen he made voyages to the Mediter- ranean and South America, but reluctantly gave up the following of the sea as an occupation to stay at home on the farm, although during the period of twelve years, between 1826 and 1839, he made in all seven voyages to foreign and domestic parts, of which he kept an interesting journal. He had an ingenious hand and mind, and was a beautiful penman. He was in turn farmer, blacksmith, and carpenter, having a shop and outfit in which he built the first horse rakes used in his region.
Until 1847, except for his voyages, he worked hard and fruitlessly upon the farm, when not prevented by frequent and long intervals of painful rheumatism.
28
DR. JOHN RICHARD HI TT.KR. 1810-1857
SARAH (CHASE) (AUSTIN) BUTLER, 1812-1899
ALMIRA (BUTLER) FILLEBROWN, 1813-1892
JAMES BOWDOIN FILLEBROWN About I860
ALMIRA HI II. Kl! FILLEBROWN
I l OM A Tin I 1 PE ABOl I IS<i.")
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JAMES BOWDOIN FJXLEBROWN
Alton 1S7.J
ALMIRA FILLEBROWN
From Miniature Painted on Ivory by Esteria Butler in 1830
V.:. -i '*****;< .>:■. 'iSSOlgSEgEaglfltrafc*
JAMES BOWDOIN FILLEHROWN From Miniatube Painted on Ivory by Esteiua Farnam in 1830
ESTERIA (BUTLEB FARNAM, 1814-1891
JONATHAN EVERETT FA UN AM, 1809-1890
ESTERIA BUTLER) FARNAM
Painted by herself from a Reflection in Mirkok l>-:>7
JONATHAN EVERETT FARNAM
From Miniature by his Wife, about 1837
ANNE JUDSON (BUTLER) BARNES, 1816-1883
PHINEHAS BARNES, 1811-1871
ANNE JIDSOX (BUTLER) BARNES From a Miniature by her Sister Esteria
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
In that year he learned dentistry of his brother-in- law, Dr. John Butler, and worked at it for a year in a room in the farm house, after which he established an office at Winthrop Village. He continued a success- ful practice here until 1877, and from that date to 1884 in the office of his son, Dr. Thomas Fillebrown, at Portland, Me. In early days he was selectman and school agent of his district. Twice (1848 and 1862) he was an unsuccessful candidate for Representative to the State Legislature.
After 1884 he resided for upwards of a year near his daughter, Mrs. Nathaniel B. Buxton, at North Anson, Me., where he succeeded his son-in-law in the opera- tion of what were then known as the Carrabassett Mills on the site of the present $250,000 American Pulp, Paper and Lumber Company. No doubt his exposure here hastened his death, which occurred at the home of his son Charles, in Newton, Mass., Feb- ruary 28, 1886. He was buried in the family lot at East Winthrop, Me.
Children : i. Anna Almira, was born June 19, 1831, and died at Newtonville,
Mass., December 29, 1903. She married February 27, 1864,
Nathaniel Buxton of Fayette, Me., who died at Newtonville,
Mass., June 25, 1900. ii. Thomas, was born January 13, 1836, and married September 2,
1861, Helen O. Dalton, daughter of Nathan Stearns and Sally
Bean Dalton of Kent's Hill, Me. iii. Charles Bowdoin, was born December 26, 1842, and married
October 9, 1873, Mary Louise Hall, daughter of Lewis Hall,
Cambridge, granddaughter of William Jackson of Newton.
She was born May 18, 1841, and died July 1, 1887.
III. Esteria Butler was born in Ipswich, Mass., on May 7, 1814. She was educated at Hanover, and, between 1824 and 1830, at her father's School for Young Ladies at East Winthrop, Me., in which Miss Elizabeth Lewis was a skilled instructor in drawing and painting.
29
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Esteria excelled in painting on ivory, and her minia- tures of her father and mother, of herself (painted from her reflection in the looking glass) and her hus- band, of her sister Almira and husband, and of nearly every other member of the family, are the choicest of household treasures, some of which are here repro- duced. Married in Waterville, Me., August 15, 1837, to Professor Jonathan Everett Farnam, LL.D., she shared with her husband the charge over Georgetown Seminary for young ladies for twenty years, until the buildings were burned during the Civil War, and never rebuilt. During six or eight of the early years in the Seminary she taught drawing and painting. The productions of her pupils are to be found in every State in the Southland. She died at the home of her daughter Maria, at Louisville, Ky., December 23, 1891, and was buried at Georgetown, Ky., her old home.
Jonathan Everett Farnam was born August 12, 1809, in the town of Attleboro, Mass., fourteen miles from Providence, R. I. His father having died, he was reared in the family of an uncle, Governor Colby, in New London, N. H. He was graduated from Waterville College, now Colby College, Waterville, Me., and remained there two years as a tutor. In 1839 he became a member of the faculty of Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky., where some years later he established a Seminary for young ladies. It was while teaching in the Seminary in Georgetown that Miss Margaret Stanwood met her husband, the Hon. James G. Blaine, then (1848-1851) an instructor in Greek, Latin and Geometry in the Military Institute in that place. In 1865 Waterville College conferred upon Professor Farnam the degree of LL.D. In 1887, on account of increasing deafness, Dr. Farnam resigned his professorship in Georgetown College, but was made Professor Emeritus. He enjoyed perfect health
30
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
up to the day of his death, which occurred July 10, 1890, in Louisville, Ky., at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. M. Atherton, at the ripe age of eighty-two years.
Children : i. Mary, born March 25, 1840, married February 16, 1861, Dr.
T. B. Sellen. He was born April 10, 1830, and died January 1,
1876. ii. Maria B., born August 22, 1842, married October 24, 1861, John
M. Atherton. He was born April 1, 1841, in New Haven, Ky. iii. Susan F., born September 17, 1844, married June 13, 1871,
Louis G. Crawford. He was born December 27, 1843, in
Mercer, Ga. { j $jjij -j g . jj
IV. Anne Judson Butler was born in Hanover, Mass., April 1, 1816. She attended her father's school at Winthrop and North Yarmouth, Me., and especially excelled as pupil and teacher in painting. Tradition has it that revenue from the painting of miniatures on ivory, fashionable in those days, enabled her to provide her own wedding wardrobe and silver. On August 20, 1837, at the age of twenty-one, she was married at North Yarmouth, Me., to Phinehas Barnes. The occasion was a double wedding for herself and her sister Esteria, which had to be set forward a day on account of delay in the stage coach which brought Professor Farnam. Her father performed the cere- mony. Sixteen years of her married life, from 1856 to the death of her husband in 1871, were spent in their house, now standing, at 63 High Street, Portland. In 1872 she purchased a house at Cumberland Mills, Me., where her son Wilfred was then with the Cumber- land Paper Mills, and there resided until her death, March 7, 1883, at the age of sixty-seven years. She was a woman of beauty, culture and refinement, domestic in her tastes, a devoted wife and mother, and a consistent, life-long Christian. Her church relations were long with the Free Street Baptist Church of Portland.
31
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Phinehas Barnes was born January 21, 1811, at Orland, Me., and died August 21, 1871, in Portland, Me. He was educated at Newburyport, and at Phillips Andover Academy, whence he went in 1825 to Bowdoin College, and was graduated in 1829. In that year he taught the Academy in the town of China, Me., and then went to Portland into Mr. Coleman's book store, at the same time reading law. He next went to Brunswick as cashier of the Union Bank, continuing the study of law. In 1832 he went to Bangor, and was for a time editor of a newspaper called the Penobscot Exchange. In 1833 to Water- ville, first as tutor, afterwards as professor of Greek and Latin, and was here admitted to the bar in 1840. From 1841 to 1847 he was editor of the Portland Daily Advertiser. In 1844-5 and 1847 he was in the State House of Representatives. He filled the office of City Solicitor of Portland, was for many years counsel and solicitor for the Grand Trunk Railway, was one of the projectors of the Portland Savings Bank in 1852, and one of the organizers of the Maine General Hospi- tal. He served upon the school committee and in many fiduciary capacities.
In politics Mr. Barnes was a Conservative, and a Whig. In 1846, in Neal Dow times, he was State Senator. In 1860 he was candidate for Governor in the interest of the Bell and Everett ticket. His death from a cancerous tumor occurred August 21, 1871, in the prime of his sixty years.
" Mr. Barnes was not only a finished and ripe scholar but a lawyer of profound reading, and had a very keen, discriminating and judicial mind." Hon. Nathan Webb pronounced him "the profoundest scholar in law, as well as in belles lettres, in his time at the Cum- berland bar."
A colleague in the law said of him: "His learning, ability and integrity as a lawyer have added lustre to
32
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
the history of the Cumberland bar — his public spirit, sagacity and efficiency have filled an honorable niche in the monument of our city's growth and prosperity — and his broad culture, varied accomplishments and private virtues have endeared his memory far and wide as a friend of every good cause and an earnest advocate of society's highest interests."
Children : i. Clara, born May 12, 1838, died August 9, 1886. Married
September 22, 1863, A. C. Martin, who was born October 26,
1831, and died October 29, 1879. ii. Francis, born April 27, 1840, died July 16, 1893. Married May
19, 1863, Isa Putnam, who was born March 31, 1838. iii. Phinehas, born January 10, 1842, died May 29, 1904. Married
December 25, 1872, Fannie Woods, who was born April 3,
1849, and died March 15, 1889. iv. Adela, born October 19, 1845, married May 7, 1890, Walter
Ware, who was born June 30, 1839. v. Wilfred, born September 17, 1849, married July 9, 1878, Maria
Whiton. vi. Cecil, born August 4, 1852, died March 19, 1880. Married
June 19, 1879, Annie Larrabee. vii. Margaret, born October 7, 1854, died December 16, 1893.
Married June 25, 1879, Lincoln A. Rogers, who was born
April 22, 1852.
V. Abigail Butler was born at Hanover, Mass., June 24, 1817. Her education was received mainly at her father's school at East Winthrop, Maine. She was twice married, first on July 14, 1841, to John S. Gibson, and second July 12, 1847, to Dr. George W. Nuckols, a physician of Shelbyville, Ky. She died at her home in Shelbyville, Ky., August 17, 1854, at the age of thirty-seven, twelve days after the birth of her youngest child.
Dr. Nuckols, who was twenty-seven years her senior, was born December 12, 1790, and died April 6, 1864.
33
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
Children of Abigail Butler and John S. Gibson: i. John B., was born September 3, 1845, and married April 31,
1867, Lydia Murphy. She was born February 9, 1848, and
died February 19, 1877. ii. Margaret Stuart Gibson, died.
Children of Abigail and George W. Nuckols. iii. George, was born May 7, 1848, and married Katherine E.
Randolph. iv. Anna P., was born January 17, 1850, and married June 5, 1866,
George Helm Hobbs. He was born October 6, 1843. v. Robert, was born January 7, 1852, and married February 27,
1872, Lydia Viley. She was born December 15, 1853. vi. Sally, was born February 27, 1853, and died October 17, 1854. vii. Charles, was born August 5, 1854, and died October 17, 1854.
VI. Sarah Butler was born in Hanover, Mass., December 11, 1818. When about twenty years of age she went from Hallowell, Me., to Georgetown, Ky., to visit her sister, Esteria Farnam. While there she met a young Ohio merchant, who came over to Kentucky to attend a barbecue given in honor of Henry Clay. As a result of that meeting she was married November 22, 1842, to Francis Jefferson Tytus, and came with him to his home in Middletown, Ohio. Mr. Tytus had by a former wife one son, Frank, who died June, 1852.
She was an able, loving and careful wife, a kind, judicious and tender mother, whose "children rise up and call her blessed." She presided over her husband's home with grace and dignity, and was, as he always called her, "his business partner." She was her children's wise counsellor and helper in their preparation for college, and also for business, and an example to her daughters in motherhood and Christian character. She died December 18, 1895, seventy- seven years of age.
Francis Jefferson Tytus was born in Winchester, Loudon County, Virginia, February 5, 1806. He came to Ohio when about eighteen years of age and
34
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
went into the dry goods business in Middletown. He united with the Baptist Church in 1826. He was a man of large affairs. In his early years he was engaged extensively in the pork packing business, which at that time was very lucrative. He was presi- dent of two paper mills, also a stockholder in two others, and, in its early days, in the First National Bank in Middletown. Upon his farm of five hundred acres he was his own manager, and built a substantial Southern home, into which he moved his family in 1849.
Mr. Tytus was preeminently a man of peace. He was proud of never having had a lawsuit or a failure in business. He always had enough money to be comfortable without display, and to give to those who were in need. His prayer was " Give me neither poverty nor riches" and it certainly was answered throughout his life.
He was an active and liberal supporter of the church and other educational institutions; greatly loved and honored by his own denomination and his fellow citizens, both rich and poor.
He died December 9, 1887, within two months of his eighty-first birthday.
To Francis and Sarah Tytus, parents such as are given to but comparatively few mortals, five children were born ; two sons and two daughters lived to be mar- ried and were blessed with nine sons, one daughter, two granddaughters and one grandson. There are now living in 1907 only the two daughters, their husbands, three sons, one daughter, and one granddaughter and three sons of the two brothers who died, and one granddaughter.
Children: i. Emma J., was born March 8, 1844, and married February 24,
1869, Cleophas Monjeau. He was born August 20, 1839. ii. Edward J., was born August 22, 1845, and died May 19, 1881.
He married June 25, 1876, Charlotte M. Davis.
35
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
iii. Lizzie P., was born March 1, 1847, and died June 17, 1893. She
married December 6, 1870, Collin Gardner, iv. John B., was born February 22, 1849, and died November 17,
1893. He married June 18, 1876, Minnesota Ewing. v. Charles, was born 1851, and died aged eleven months.
VII. Charles Butler, second son, was born in Hanover, Mass., May 21, 1820. When his father removed from his pastorate at East Winthrop to that in North Yarmouth, about 1832, tradition has it that this boy of twelve began life on a farm, known as the Kibbe Blake Farm, in the edge of Monmouth, near the foot of Annabescook Lake, south of Winthrop Village. This farm was one of his Meccas when visiting the East in later years. At seventeen he was supporting himself, and helping others, by teaching school.
In 1843, at the age of twenty-three he went to Ohio, which then was the Far West. After living one year in Middletown, he moved to Franklin, where, February 6, 1845, he was married to Miss Mary Barkalow Schenck, who was born September 9, 1825, in a log cabin built by her father, J. N. C. Schenck, one of the founders of the town, and was the great-great- granddaughter on her father's side of Catharine Van Brought (married 1719), the photo of whose portrait, nearly two centuries old, is here reproduced with that of Mary Schenck Butler.
During a large part of his long residence of sixty years in Franklin he was identified with the business interests of the town as one of its foremost merchants. His business of general hardware stood second to none in the Miami Valley outside of Cincinnati, and con- tributed to the reputation of his town as a wholesale and retail market. The organization of a National Bank in Franklin was largely due to his efforts, and he became its first president.
Charles Butler was not only prominent in business,
36 "
DR. GEORGE W. NTJCKOLS From Miniature Painted by Esteria (Butler) F\i. nam, aboi i InMi
ABIGAIL (BUTLER) (GIBSON) NUCKOLS, 1817-1854
DR. GEORGE W. NUCKOLS, 1790-1864
SARAH (BUTLER) TYTUS, 1818-1895
FRANCIS JEFFERSON TYTUS, 1800-1SS?
CHARLES HITLER. 1820-1904
MARY (SCHENCK) BUTLER
Born 1825
CATHERINE VAX BROUGH Great-Great-Great-Grandmother of Mart (Schenck) Bvtlep
HANNAH (BUTLER) MUDGETT About 1869
EDWARD I\ W'KSTOX. 1819-1879
HANNAH HEARD (BUTLER) (MUDGETT) WESTON, 18^-1904
REV. NATHANIEL BUTLER, 18(24-1894
JENNETTE (EMERY) BUTLER, 1828-1902
MARIA (BUTLER) MUDGETT, 1830-1884
ALFRED MIJDGETT, 1816-1863
MARIA (Bl TLER) MUDGETT
Abclt 1880
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
but, believing firmly that the best moral, social and business life of a community, as of an individual, can be attained only as that community carries out the precepts of the Man of Galilee, he gave of his best in time, talents and money to the work of bringing home the gospel to the hearts of men, never doubting its efficacy in other lives as he trusted it daily in his own. Bringing his "letter" first to the Middletown Baptist Church, and later, in 1846, to the Church in Franklin, three years after its organization, he became a leader in the councils of the denomination to which he belonged, and a helper in all Christian efforts, filling in successive years every office of trust and honor in the gift of his brethren, except the ministry itself.
He organized the Franklin Baptist Sunday School, and was made its first superintendent. In 1865 he was moderator of the Miami Baptist Association, and for five successive years was clerk of that body. He took active interest in the Baptist State Conventions, in the National May Anniversaries, and in the great work of Missions, where his zeal is well remembered by many of the older ministers and laymen in Ohio and other States.
During the Civil War he was in the service of the Sanitary Commission, engaged in camp and hospital in the work of that organization. He visited Wash- ington in 1862 to urge personally upon the Secretary of War the claims of the Commission as to its Western work.
Kindly and affectionate in his family life, helpful to all, he was in his later invalid years surrounded by loving service to the close, July 6, 1904, of a happy wedded life of fifty-nine years.
Children : i. Charles A., born August 24, 1846.
ii. John S., born May 24, 1848, married December 28, 1870, Anna Wilson.
37
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
iii. A. Judson, born February 1, 1850.
iv. Sarah T., born December 10, 1851, married December 13, 1900,
Rev. John E. Morris, v. Mary B., born June 13, 1859, married October 12, 1882, Edwin
S. Eldridge. vi. William T., born November 6, 1868, married May 16, 1893,
Margarette Philbrick.
VIII. Elizabeth Lewis Butler was born October 17, 1821, in Hanover, Mass. Like several of her sisters she was devoted to drawing and painting in oil and also to crayon drawing, which came to be in vogue in her time, and of which she was for many years a very successful teacher, in Hallowell and Augusta, Me., Georgetown, Ky., and Middletown, Ohio. Her canvasses for crayon work were made in quantity of different sizes at the home of her sister Almira at Winthrop, Me. The cotton cloth, which came bleached and sized in large rolls, was stretched and tacked upon frames made at the village factory, covered with several coats of lead paint, yellow tint, from Bailey's oil cloth factory, with fresh paint sifted over with white marble powder ground in an old hand paint mill in the chamber over the carriage house at the farm, whence they were shipped West and South to herself and her students for use of their classes.
Elizabeth Butler married, July 7, 1852, George H. Nason, son of Mark Nason of Fayette, Me., formerly of Augusta, their acquaintance having been formed in Hallowell, and a few years later they moved to Mid- dletown, Ohio, where they spent the rest of their days. For many years Mrs. Nason kept in Middletown a popular boarding school with several teachers (her sister Hannah among them) and large classes.
One child was born to them which died in infancy. After her death, December 10, 1890, her husband made his home with her widowed sister, Sarah Tytus, until his death, which occurred March 29, 1896. Both are buried at Franklin, Ohio.
38
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
IX. Hannah Heard Butler was born at Hanover, Mass., February 28, 1823, and married June 24, 1845, Charles B. Mudgett, a young merchant of Hallowell, Me., later in business and living at Auburn, Me., until 1855. In that year they moved West, settling in Peoria, 111., where Mr. Mudgett engaged again in business, his being the largest dry goods firm in the city at that time. He died February 27, 1860, at the early age of thirty- five, and his remains were taken for burial from Peoria to Franklin, Ohio.
Mrs. Mudgett remained in Ohio, making her home with her invalid sister, Mrs. Sarah B. Tytus, at Middle- town, to whom she was able to be a great comfort. Several years later she, together with her widowed sister, Maria Mudgett, bought a double house in Middletown, where she lived until her second marriage with Prof. Edward P. Weston, March 27, 1869. Pro- fessor Weston at that time had opened at Lake Forrest a school for young ladies known as "Ferry Hall," now Ferry Hall University. He was born January 19, 1819, and died November 13, 1879. During the later years of Mrs. Weston's life she made her home with her daughter Anna in Chicago, where she died February 21, 1904, at the ripe age of eighty-one years. She was known all her life as a most devoted Christian, loving and self-sacrificing wife and mother. She was beloved by all who knew her, and her influence for good always made itself felt, especially in the school life of the young ladies at Lake Forrest. One daughter survives her, Mrs. Annie Skillman, South Haven, Michigan, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She is buried at Franklin, Ohio.
Children of Hannah Heard (Butler) and Charles B. Mudgett:
i. Jane, was born at Hallowell, Me., October 12, 1846 and died
May 1, 1873. She married October 12, 1863, Calvin Lines,
who was born June 20, 1833, and died October 12, 1905.
ii. Annie, was born at Hallowell, Me., May 2, 1848. She married
39
TV O t. . .'
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
(1), January 29, 1871, John Skillraan, who died April 7, 1873. (2), December 19, 1882, Edward Raseley. iii. Mary S., was born at Auburn, Me., October 5, 1852, and died May 1895. She married (l) May 3, 1876, M. W. Thompson, who died November, 1879. (2). C. E. Brainard, 1892. She was lost on the Steamer Colima near Guyutlan, southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, May 27, 1895. Out of two hundred and twenty-five passengers and crew only twenty-one lives were saved.
X. Nathaniel Butler was born in Waterville, Me., October 19, 1824. He fitted for college at Yar- mouth Academy. His first three college years were spent at Georgetown College, Kentucky, his last at Waterville (now Colby) College, Waterville, Me., where he was graduated in 1842. He was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church at Turner, Me., October 28, 1845. He married December 19, 1849, Jennette Loring Emery of Paris, Me. In 1850 he was appointed agent for the American Baptist Missionary Union for Maine and Eastern Massachusetts. Of his settlement at Eastport, Me., 1852-1855, it is recorded:
"This pastorate is without a parallel in the history of the church for large ingatherings. In the first five months of 1853, 'more than two hundred persons were hopefully converted, one hundred and fifteen of these united with the Baptist Church.' Mr. Butler retired from the pastorate in 1855, to become secretary to the Baptist Publishing Society, Philadelphia. The action of the church in reference to his resignation fills three pages of the church records. The expressions of affection and grief were many and fervent. The separation was most keenly felt, and the church does not seem to have recovered from the effects of it for some time."
His next pastorate, January 5, 1856 to October 5, 1859, was at Rockland, Me. In 1860 he became pastor at Auburn, Me. In 1865 at Camden, Me. In 1869 at Alton, 111. In 1872 at Leavenworth, Kan. In 1873-6 over the Second Baptist Church, Bangor, Me. Then followed short pastorates at Dexter, North Vassalboro and Hallowell, Me. In 1881 he became
40
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
associated with the Bodwell Granite Company, Mr. Bodwell being a Hallowell parishioner and an ardent personal friend. During Lincoln's first term, 1861- 1865, he was private secretary to Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President of the United States, who was his brother-in-law. He was a member of the Maine Legislature in 1880. For many years after 1865 he was a trustee of Colby College, and from that college received in 1873 the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was the author of several hymns, one of which appears in the volume entitled "Baptist Hymn-writers and Their Hymns," and is here reproduced.
HYMN.
How sweet, when worn with cares of life,
From all its busy scenes to flee; To leave awhile its toil and strife,
And hold communion, Lord, with thee.
When the tired spirit seeks its rest,
"lis there a sure repose I meet; 'Tis there my weary soul is blest,
Kneeling before Thy mercy-seat.
When sin o'ercasts with clouds my sky, And Jesus hides His face from me, Then to Thy mercy-seat I fly,
. And bow in humble prayer to Thee.
There all the clouds of earth depart,
And heaven itself I almost see; The Savior whispers to my heart
And shows His smiling face to me.
There Jesus' voice of love I hear;
There glory sheds its light around, Eye never looked on things so fair;
Earth never heard so sweet a sound.
Thou Lamb of God ! O, let me dwell
Forever at Thy sacred feet, To hear the voice I love so well,
And ne'er forsake the mercy-seat.
41
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
His most notable public addresses were his memorial sermon at the funeral of his college classmate and intimate friend, Major-General Hiram G. Berry, at Rockland, Me.; his speech at the unveiling of the statue of General Berry; and an address in memory of Rev. Nathaniel Milton Wood, a close neighbor and associate in the Baptist ministry. He died in Burlington, Wis., April 25, 1894.
Jennette Loring Emery was the oldest daughter of the late Judge Stephen Emery and his second wife, Jennette Loring. She was born May 16, 1828, at Paris Hill, Me., which was her home until her marriage with Nathaniel Butler in 1849. She attended school in Gorham and studied music in Portland. Like all the members of her family she was passionately fond of music. She found pleasure also in the best reading, and was possessed of a keen sense of humor. She "was an ideal pastor's wife. . . of a quiet, modest and refined disposition, and of a singularly winning char- acter, which won hosts of friends wherever she went." During the last twenty years of her life she was a confirmed invalid, and died in Augusta, Me., September 18, 1902. She had two sisters, Sarah Jane and Ellen Vesta, both of whom were married to Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, Mrs. Ellen Hamlin now surviving.
Children : i. Jeannie, born October 31, 1850, and died March 15, 1891. She
married, January 21, 1874, George Wood, who was born July
31, 1846, and died March 3, 1899. ii. Nathaniel, born May 22, 1853. He married (l) April 28, 1881,
Florence Shepard, who was born July 9, 1861, and died June
21, 1902. (2). December 12, 1903, Lillian Googins, who was
born December 3, 1876. iii. Ellen, born October 22, 1860. iv. Anna, born August 24, 1862. She married, December 16, 1896,
Sidney S. Emery, who was born May 5, 1871, in Maiden, Mass.
XI. Jane Payne Butler was born March 18,
42
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
1826, in Winthrop, Me. She died January 8, 1843, in Hallowell, Me., and was buried at East Winthrop, Me. Of Jane and her baby sister, Sophia, the follow- ing entry is found in their father's diary :
"I write this note in February, 1851. We have buried two children, Sophia, died when about three months old, Jane died when about seventeen years old. She was a professor of religion, and died with a calm and humble confidence in the blessed Saviour of sinners. We have now twelve children living. They all profess to have a hope in the pardoning mercy of God. The oldest is thirty-eight years old, and the youngest is twenty years. They are all married but two. I baptized all my children except Sophia, who died in infancy, and John, and Almira."
XII. Mary Simons was born July 5, 1828, in Winthrop, Me. She attended Hallowell High School when taught by Rev. Jonas Burnham. She married, July 14, 1847, Logan T. Threlkeld of Shelbyville, Ky., who was born September 9, 1814. She died August 22, 1860, in Shelbyville.
Children : i. Thomas B., was' born October 19, 1848, and married December
24, 1885, Annette Taylor. ii. William L., was born April 8, 1850, and married June 29, 1876,
Frances Bassett, who was born May 30, 1856. iii. Annie B., who died, iv. Minnie B., was born June 29, 1856. She married December 5,
1878, Nelson H. Trimble, who was born November 29, 1852. v. George Nuckols, was born October 19, 1859, in Shelbyville,
Ky., and died January 1, 1887, at Lexington, Ky.
XIII. Sophia B. was born July 8, 1830, at East Win- throp, Me. She died October 3, 1830, and was buried there by the side of her older sister Jane.
XIV. Maria Sophia, youngest of the fourteen
43
FAMILY OF REV. JOHN BUTLER
children, and the twin sister of Sophia, was born at East Winthrop, Me., July 8, 1830, and died in Middletown, Ohio, December 8, 1884. She attended the Hallowell High School, then taught by William H. Seavey, after- wards a teacher in Boston. She is described by Miss Sarah Elizabeth Page, an old schoolmate still living in Hallowell, as "a tall, slender girl with fair, oval face, light brown hair, sweet mouth and eyes, with bright color on cheek and lip. She, like her older sisters, had a great love for painting, particularly flowers in water colors." She removed with her parents to Auburn, Me., and from there soon went West, where she was mar- ried, November 23, 1858, to Alfred Mudgett, brother of Charles Mudgett, husband of her older sister Hannah. He was born December 4, 1816, and died May 16, 1863, and was engaged in the flour milling business in Seymour, Ind.
Children :
i. Alfred B., was born September 9, 1859, and married Charlotte Phillips.
44
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Mar, 25, 1909.
Hen York Public Library, Dear Sirs, -
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