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JAMES FYFE (1720–1779)
PATIENCE BUTLER (1726–1816), daughter of James Butler and Hannah Wilson
James Fyfe is said to have been born on 25 March 1720 in Fifeshire, Scotland.1 He died on 25 June 1779 in Berlin, Worcester county, Massachusetts.2 He is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Berlin.3 He married Patience Butler.1
Patience, the daughter of James and Hannah Butler, was born on 1 May 1726 in Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.4 She was baptized on 12 June 1726 in Lancaster.4 Patience, the wife of James, died on 3 March 1816, age 90, in Berlin.2 She is buried next to her husband.3
James is said to have been a large man with a dark complexion.1 
James came to Boston in 1737 and settled in Bolton, Worcester County, Massachusetts.1 William Fyfe of Bolton was his brother.1
In 1741 Benjamin Wilson of Bolton deeded 120 acres to James, and James purchased additional land after this.1 James's farm in Bolton became part of Berlin in 1784.
Children of James Fyfe and Patience Butler: Recorded in Bolton as the children of James and Patience5
i. James Fyfe was born on 18 November 1742. He died on 6 December 1742 in Bolton.5
ii. Deacon Silas Fyfe was born on 4 October 1743. He died on 13 May 1836.1 He married Abigail Houghton on 15 August 1772.1 ABigail, the daughter of Benjamin and Mary Houghton, was born on 1 November 1751 in Bolton and died on 25 March 18123 in Troy, New Hampshire.1
Silas and Abigail moved to New Hampshire abour 1763.1 Silas was an officer in a company of Minute Men.1 He was a deacon of the Congregational church.1 Silas and Abigail raised a large family in Troy (then Marlborough, New Hampshire).
iii. Molly Fyfe was born on 24 February 1745/6. She died on 25 March 1807.1 She married Robert Hudson.1
Robert was "a refugee from the enrollment of the king's army in Ireland."6
iv. Robert Fyfe was born on 11 March 1747/8. He died on 22 April 1787, age 39 or 40, in Berlin.2 He married Hepzibah Bush of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts on 11 July 1776 in Bolton.5 She died on 30 July 1826.3 She married second William Babcock of Berlin on 4 May 1795 in Berlin.2 Robert and Hepzibah are buried in the Old Burying Ground in Berlin.3
Robert retained his father's homestead.6
v. Relief Fyfe was born on 27 January 1750. She married Jonathan Whitcomb.
vi. Susanna Fyfe was born on 21 March 1751. She died on 9 January 1813.1 She married Captain Samuel Woods of Marlborough on 25 October 1788.1
Samuel was a captain in the Revolutionary War.1
vii. Patience Fyfe was born on 1 November 1757. She died on 7 March 1835.1 She married William Fyfe, Jr. on 26 December 1786 in Bolton.5 William, her first cousin, was born on 16 May 1759 in Bolton.1
William and Patience had five children born in Bolton.1
viii. James Fyfe was born on 24 August 1760. James Jr. died on 21 November 1790, age 30 or 31, in Berlin.2 He is buried in the Old Burying Ground. He never married.1
James was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.1
ix. Deliverance Fyfe was born on 22 July 1763. Deliverance of Berlin married Israel Maynard of Berlin on 20 January 1785 in Berlin.2
Israel and Deliverance lived in Dublin, New Hampshire.1
x. Samuel Fyfe was born on 16 August 1764. He died in infancy.1
xi. Sarah Fyfe was born on 7 March 1766. She died on 29 March 1782, age 15, in Berlin.2 She is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Berlin.3
Sarah was "a sweet girl followed to her grave by all her schoolmates."6
xii. Martha Fyfe was born on 2 October 1767. She died on 29 December 1848.1 Martha of Berlin married James Brittain of Berlin on 7 February 1788 in Berlin.2 He was born on 21 Septermber 1766 and died on 27 June 1843.1
James and Martha moved to Barre, Vermont and had nine children born there.1
Map6
Endnotes:
1. John William Fyfe, "James Fyfe of Berlin, Mass. and His Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 56 (1902), 167–72. No references are cited in this article.
2. Frances L. Eaton and Martha F. Duren, Vital Records of Berlin, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1899 (Marlboro: Frances L. Eaton, 1935), 168 (marriages), 315 (deaths).
3. "James Fife," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149027084/james-fife). "Patience Fife," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148997988/patience-fife). "Robert Fife," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148998005/robert-fife). "Hepzibah Bush Babcock," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149000351/hepzibah-babcock). "James Fife," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148997971/james-fife). "Sarah Fife," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149027122/sarah-fife).
4. Nourse, Henry S., Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643 - 1850, Clinton, MA, W. J. Coulter, Printer, 1890, 52, 278.
5. Vital Records of Bolton, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, MA: Franklin P. Rice, 1910), 28–31 (births), 127 (marriages).
6. William A. Houghton, History of the Town of Berlin (Worcester: F.S. Blanchard & Co., 1895), between 8 and 9 (map), 347–8.
Last revised: 19-Dec-2023