'The names of John Butterworth's sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth children are illegible upon the town records. These children were born Sept. 8, 1661, Jan. 22, 1663, March 1665, May 1667. John Butterworth and wife Sarah had : ... Mary [implied to be one of the children whose name is illegible in the town records], m. first Joseph Slade, Nov. 12, 1681; m. second Samuel Thayer.'
'6 R First seven of above [Butterworth children] are given ...'
All 11 children are listed in VR 1-3, which is presumably the VR where names 6 through 9 are illegible. However, the first 7 are also listed in VR 6-R. Presumably this leaves only the names of the eighth and ninth children as uncertain. They are given as Daniell and George in the transcribed VR and implied to be Hopestill and Mary in Austin.
'Div. of remainder of Est. of Deacon JOHN BUTTERWORTH, dtd. 2 Apr. 1711. ... 1 share each to ... Mary Thayer wife of Samuel Thayer [3:42].'
Given that Austin indicates that the name in the town birth record is illegible, that Austin does not mention a George in this family, and by a process of elimination in which only Hopestill and Mary's birth records are unaccounted for, it seems likely that this is Mary's birth record.
There does not seem to be any other evidence for Mary Butterworth marrying Joseph Slade. Possibly this is a confusion with the 12 Dec 1681 marriage of Mercy Butterworth and Joseph Bloud/Blood. If Mary was the child born May 1667, she would have only been 14 in 1681.
