"Elijah Butler, son of Simeon and Hannah (Cheney) Butler, was born at Martha's Vineyard, May 16, 1713, and married, April 14 1737, Thankful Smith, daughter of John and Hannah (Pease) Smith, of Edgartown, Mass. As nearly as can be learned, this Elijah was the father of eight children - three sons and five daughters. He died (April 7?) 1789, probably in Edgartown, and the widowed mother a few years later came to the wilds of Maine with her son Henry. Taken away from the scenes of her childhood at an advanced age, she was very homesick for a time and constantly repined for the friends and familiar sights of her Vineyard home. Whether or not this materially shortened her days is a matter of mere conjecture. She died in New Vineyard, Oct 20, 1797, aged 80 years."
