596327

[phelps.FTW]

[2812.ftw]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 4, Ed. 1, Tree #2812, Date of Import: Nov 11, 1998]

Lieut. John II Butterfield [5], Captain John I [4], Benjamin [3], Nathaniel I [2], Benjamin [1]


John Butterfield II, was the first to settle in Goffstown, NH. He was the son of Lieut. John Butterfield I or 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 ambuscade, 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 buildt stood very near where the present house is located.

He married Phebe Russell and there is a tradition what 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 Massachuttes a few sheep, which are supposed to be the first of the kind in the town. About thistime Mr. Butterfield had built a new house, adn 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 cemetary 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 History Of Goffstown, NH)

John Butterfield fought at Louisburg, Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and the Plains of Abraham at Qubec 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 Lichfield, 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.