Person:John Butterfield (10)

BOOK - History of Goffstown, 1733-1920, pg 61

Occupation: Farmer.

John Butterfield II, was the first to settle in Goffstown, NH. He was the son of Lieut. John Butterfield I of Chelmsford, Mass., who with his wife, and guards was riding in company with "Joe English," between Dunstable and Chelmsford, Mass., On July 2, 1706, when they were waylaid by the Indians, who fell upon them from ambush, and the latter was killed. He was the Indian friendly to the whites for whom the elevation of land in New Boston, called Joe English Hill, was named. Mr. Butterfield settled upon the farm where Henry W. Morrill now lives, and the old house which he first built stood very near where the present house is located.

He married Phebe Russell and there is a tradition that she received as a wedding present from her father two slaves, who remained with her as long as they lived, and at their decease were buried upon the farm. Some time after they came to Goffstown, they procured from Massachusetts a few sheep, which are supposed to be the first of the kind in the town. About this time Mr. Butterfield had built a new house, and the old log house was used as a sheep pen.

John Butterfield was accidently shot in a blacksmith's shop either in Goffstown or somewhere adjacent, and was borne to his home on horseback. He was buried at the old cemetery near where the buildings at the Hillsborough county Farm now stands (1920). His widow afterwards married Samuel Robie, and had three more children by him. She died at the advanced age of 100 years and 6 months. (From the History of Goffstown, 1733-1920, Vol. ii, by George Plummer)

John Butterfield fought at Louisburg, Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in the French War of 1757. He was a member of the famous "Roger Rangers" of that war. He is referred to as Lieut. Butterfield when mentioned in the Robie Genealogy.

John and Phebe had lived for some time in the town of Litchfield, since the birth of his oldest son, John III is recorded there as well as being recorded in Goffstown. Since John's father held a large farm in Litchfield, and its disposition was not included in the deed whereby John the father gave Chelmsford property to his other two sons without mentioning his oldest son (Lieut. John), it seems obvious that the eldest son, John, probably received the Litchfield farm but disposed of it and moved on to help settle Goffstown.

John Butterfield was born on 20 February 1730/31 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.1 He was the son of John Butterfield and Anna Hildreth.1 Citations

   [S111] Essex Institute, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1914), 35.

1. ↑ Hadley, George Plummer, History of Goffstown, NH, 1733-1920, Vol 2, p61; Vital Records of Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA, film # 868,434
   
   The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Middlesex Co, MA to the End of the Year 1849, (Tuttle Antiquarian Books, Inc., Salem MA 1914, repr Search & ReSearch Publishing Corp,Wheat Ridge CO 1998).
2. ↑ Hadley, George Plummer, History of Goffstown, NH, 1733-1920, Vol 2, p61; Vital Records of Goffstown, NH, Microfilm #015,149
3. ↑ Hadley, George Plummer, History of Goffstown, NH, 1733-1920, Vol 2, p61
4. ↑ French & Indian Wars, Lt. in Roger's Rangers, fought at Louisburg, Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and the Plains of Abraham, Quebec
   
   Hadley, George Plummer, History of Goffstown, NH, 1733-1920, Vol 2, p61