General Notes

John, bapt. at Roxwell, Essex, December 7, 1600, came to the Isle of Ken
t, in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, with his brother-in-law Captain William Cl
aiborne, about 1637. While in Maryland, on May 26, 1640, John Boteler ma
de a deposition relative to affairs on Kent Island in which he gave an a
ge as 39, which agrees with the above date of birth. The deposition w
as as follows, "Johannes Butler de Insul Kent in provincia de Maryland, ge
n. estatis 39 Annor, aut eo circeter natus in fra Pochiam de Roxwell in Co
in, Esseq, gen." Same is signed "John Boteler" (Md. Arch. V. pp. 212-220).
Wills in the Record Book entitled Wills No. 2, 1677-1682.
26 December, 1676;
6 June, 1677.
BUTLER, JOHN, of Westmoreland County, Planter.
To son Thomas my Plantation I now live upon lying & being in the forre
st in Quantity of Acres one hundred and fifty to him and his heirs for ev
er also one Mare filley about Eight Months old my daughter Grace to have t
he first Mare foale that the said Mare filley shall bring & her increase f
or ever; also to my son Thomas one brown Heifer about 3 years old havi
ng a hole in Each eare Oropt in the Left her & her female increase for eve
r. My will is that the feather bed 1 now lie Upon with the furniture there
unto belonging (In Case I now die) Remane in my Wifes possession Soe lo
ng as she keeps herselfe Single & Unmarried & afterwards to be delivered U
nto my Son Thomas in Case she marry. All the rest of my Temporall Estate b
oth Moveables & Immoveables Shall he sold to discharge & pay all my Deb
ts as Shall appeare Lawfully due by me unto any person or persons. To daug
hter Grace the first Cow Calfe that falls from any of my Cattle to be Reco
rded for her & her heires for ever. To son Thomas one Small pott of abo
ut 3 or 4 gallons. Appoints as his Executors & Overseers of his will Mr He
nry Berry of Rappac County & his eldest son Henry.
Wit. JAMES TAYLOR, aged 28 years or thereabouts,
JOHN X THOMAS, of Stafford County, aged 32 years or thereabouts. Page 3.
Thomas Butler and his brother, Captain John Butler, are found residi
ng on Kent Island in 1637. There are no records preserved before that tim
e, so they may have arrived much earlier, for the first permanent settleme
nt of white men within the present boundaries of Maryland was made on Ke
nt Island in 1631. William Claiborne, formerly Secretary for the Colo
ny of Virginia, had received a grant of this island from the King wh
en it was considered a part of Virginia. In 1632, the King granted a chart
er for Maryland to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, which charter contain
ed within its boundaries the Island of Kent. Baltimore refused to recogni
ze Claiborne's rights. Claiborne tried but could not obtain recognition fr
om the King, so there was nothing left for him to do but fight it out wi
th the Calverts.
Among those settlers who came to the Island and acted as mariners and trad
ers for Claiborne were Captains Thomas Smith and John Butler, (or Boteler
), also Thomas But1er, brother of the last named. Claiborne is referr
ed to in the records as a brother-in-law of Captain John Butler. Claibor
ne married Elizabeth Butler, sister of the two Butler brothers.
Claiborne's chief aids or supporters in his war with Governor Leonard Calv
ert, brother of Lord Baltimore, were Captains Smith and Butler. He sent th
em to Palmer Island for the purpose of making a friendly agreement with t
he Susquehanna Indians. Governor Calvert feared that the result of these n
egotiations might be that the Susquehannas would join with Claiborne in at
tacking his colony at St. Mary's. The question came up in Council as to wh
at should be done to prevent Smith and Butler from carrying out such plan
s, and Hanley, one of the Councillors, thought nothing should be done in v
iew of Lord Baltimore's doubtful title to Kent Island. Butler and Smith, h
owever, had no such plans of invasion. They had been traders with the Susq
uehannas and t