Nathaniel Butterfield

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Nathaniel Butterfield (1643–1749), son of Benjamin Butterfield and Anne Unknown

Deborah Underwood (c. 1652–1691), daughter of William Underwood and Sarah Unknown

Nathaniel Butterfield was born on 14 February 1643 in Woburn. [1, 37] He was baptized on 1: 12m 1656, age about 11-1/2 years. [2, 35] He died on 5 March 1748/9, age 75, in Chelmsford. [2, 372] He married Deborah Underwood on 31 December 1668 in Chelmsford. [2, 196]

Deborah Underwood was born about 1652 in Chemsford. [2] Deborah, the wife of Nathaniel, died on 25 June 1691 in Chelmsford. [2, 371]

Nathaniel is on a 1671 tax list in Chelmsford. [3, 59–60] A 1672 account of his estate made for tax purposes lists two oxen, two cows, six steers, two sheep, one mare, three hogs, five acres and housing. [3, 617]

Nathaniel is on a 5 August 1676 list of those in Chelmsford who had their taxes adjusted because of losses in King Philip's War. [3, 121] Nathaniel and Samuel Butterfield and their families shared a garrison in Chelmsford with Joseph Hide and Benjamin Bagnet and their families on 16 March 1691/2. [3, 134]

Children of Nathaniel Butterfield and Deborah Underwood:

i. Benjamin Butterfield died on 24 July 1715 in Chelmsford. He married Sarah Bates.

ii. Deborah Butterfield was born on 1 June 1660 [1670?] in Chelmsford. [2, 34] She married William Longly on 16 February 1697 in Chelmsford, the same day her brother Benjamin married Sarah Bates. [2, 195]

iii. Nathaniel Butterfield was born on 28: 1m: 1673 in Chelmsford. [2, 34] He married Sarah Fletcher on 18 January 1697/8 in Chelmsford. [2, 195]

iv. Joseph Butterfield was born on 6 June 1680 in Chelmsford. [2, 37] He married Eunice Hale on 21 January 1696/7 in Chelmsford. [2, 195]

Joseph's grandfather William Underwood mentions him in his will of 14 March 1693.

v. William Butterfield was born on 5 January 1686 in Chelmsford.

vi Sarah Butterfield was born on 6 March 1689. [2, 34]

vi. Samuel Butterfield (possible son) may be the Samuel who married Rachel Spaulding on 7 December 1703 in Chelmsford. [2, 197]

Samuel Butterfield, the son of Nathaniel, was attacked by Indians at Groton in August 1704. He put up a fight, killing one of them, and was taken captive. Early accounts say that his captors left it to the widow of the slain Indian to determine how he should die. She said that killing him would not bring back her husband. Samuel remained a captive for over a year. [3, 532]

Endnotes:

1. Edward Francis Johnson, Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Part 1 (births), Part 2, (deaths) Part 3 (marriages) (Woburn: Andrew Cutlery & Co., 1890).

2.Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1914). Butterfield: baptism of Nathaniel (as s. Benjamin), births of the children (as ch. Nathaniel and Deborah), pp. 34–37. Underwood: Deborah's birth (as d. William), p. 158. Nathaniel's marriage and the marriages of his children Benjamin, Deborah, Nathaniel and Joseph, p. 195–8. Death of Deborah, pp. 371–2.

3. Wilson Waters, History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts (Lowell, MA: Courier-Citizen, 1917).

Revised 15-Jun-2023