The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Author: Neal Barry Hotelling
Jethro Butler was the great-great-grandson of Nicholas Butler (c. 1600 – 1671), who came to Massachusetts in 1636. He initially settled at Dorchester, then, about 1651 moved to Martha’s Vineyard where he became a prominent landowner, friend of island founder Thomas Mayhew and one of the "five men to end controversies" – in other words, a judge. Nicholas’ eldest son John (1624-1658) joined him on the island, and their descendants continued there for more than a century. With marriages among the island’s inhabitants, Jethro was also the great-great grandson of Thomas Mayhew (1592-1682); Mayhew’s powerful daughter Hannah, was the maternal grandmother of Jethro’s father David Butler (1699-1769).
Jethro Butler was born on Martha’s Vineyard, at Tisbury, on 20-Sep-1750. He married Rebecca Dunham (1758-1840), who like Jethro, had deep roots on the island. Her grandfather, Rev. Jonathan Dunham (1625-1717), had come to Plymouth as a toddler with one of the later groups from Leiden, and in his adulthood became a missionary and pastor. He moved to the island in 1684 and served as pastor there until his death. His son Daniel (1656-1742) joined him there, and his son Daniel (1711-1797), Rebecca’s father, was born on the island.
Jethro Butler, like many islanders, grew up as a mariner. Rebecca, however, left the island with her parents in 1774 for Conway, Franklin, Massachusetts – in the northwest part of the state. In 1775, Daniel Dunham was elected as delegate from Conway to the Congress at Concord voting to support the minutemen with both money and materials. Jethro sought out Rebecca at Conway and married her there on 21-Sep-1776.
With no military training, Jethro Butler was nonetheless drawn into the conflict in an ill-timed venture. The records show he served as a private for 2 months and 8 days at Fort Ticonderoga. He served under Captain Timothy Childs in the David Wells regiment which was raised on 10-May-1777 and discharged on 8-Jul-1777—two days after colonial General Arthur Sr. Clair bowed to the forces of British General Burgoyne and abandoned Fort Ticonderoga.
Jethro returned to Rebecca at Conway, where their first son, David was born on 28-Oct-1777. Sadly, David died after just two months. Two more sons were born at Conway – Daniel and David – before they sold their lands in 1782 and relocated to Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts. There the family thrived with five more boys and seven girls.
In 1811, Jethro Sr. and Jr. (the first of the children born at Lenox) were listed among the men that established the Methodist-Episcopal Church at Lenox. As late as 17-Jun-1957, a news story reported that the 18th century Butler home on Under Mountain Road was still standing, “purchased this spring by Edward C. Smith of Church Street, is being remodeled for use as Mr. Smith's residence...”
Jethro Butler died at Lennox in 1838, his wife Rebecca in 1840. They were buried in the Church on the Hill Cemetery at Lenox, Massachusetts.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.