Samuel Butterfield

GEDCOM Note

Category: James, sailed May 23, 1635 Category: Halifax, YorkshireCategory: Pequot War of 1637 Category: Pequot Attack at Six MileIsland

Biography ==Samuel Butterfield was born in January of 1613 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England.<ref Name=Walker>Walker, Edward Johnson. "Chapters on the Early Registers of Halifax Parish Church" Published by Whitley & Booth, Crown Street, Halifax. 1885. p. 88</ref>He wasthe son of Thomas Butterfield<ref Name=Walker/><ref Name=Anderson>Great Migration 1634-1635, M-P. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007</ref> and his wife Susan (Wood) Butterfield<ref Name=Walker/><ref Name=NYGBR>Wood,Matthew. "English Origins of the Mitchell, Wood, Lum and Halstead Families" p. 7. NYGBR. See at American Ancestors. Copy: Cheryl Skordahl</ref><ref Name=Anderson/> who were married about 1611.<ref Name=NYGBR/>

His father died===Samuel's father, Thomas Butterfield, (a man of religious life and blameless in the church,)<ref Name=NYGBR/> died and was buried on September 16, 1614 at Halifax.<ref Name=NYGBR/> His will was proved on July 3,1615.<ref Name=NYGBR/> Samuel and his unborn sister were included in the will, with Samuel receiving 80 pounds<ref Name=Walker/>and his sister the residue.<ref Name=Walker/>Samuel Lister and William Whittakerswere appointed as Samuel's tutors.<ref Name=Walker/>

His mother remarried===On August 21, 1616<ref Name=NYGBR/> or April 16, 1618<ref Name=Anderson/> at Halifax,<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/> Samuel's mother Susan (Wood) Butterfield married (2nd) Matthew Mitchell of Southowram.<ref Name=NYGBR/>

Emigration and Tragedy===The Mattew Mitchell family (including Samuel Butterfield) came to the new world on the ship "James" in 1635.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/> The family lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts upon arrival.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/> Scarcity was what they found atCharlestown and all of the family were sick the first winter after their arrival.<ref Name=Anderson/> In the spring they moved to Concord.<ref Name=Anderson/> Here their home and goods were lost by fire.<ref Name=Anderson/> In may, the family joined Samuel's uncle, Edmund Wood in Springfield.<ref Name=Anderson/> Here Samuel was granted a houselot which was adjoining his step-father Matthew Mitchell, his uncle EdmundWood and his cousin Jonas "Oram" Wood.<ref Name=Anderson/><ref>Burt, Henry M. "The First Century of the History of Springfield" Printed and Published by Henry M. Burt, Springfield, Mass. 1898. Vol. 1, p. 159</ref>He, along with his step-father, was one of the eight "first adventurers and subscribers for the plantation of Springfield.<ref Name=Anderson/>Since they supposedly considered their homelots in an undesirable section,<ref>The Cooley Genealogy, by M. E. Cooley, pp. 1199; The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc., Rutland, Vermont, 1941. Pages 60-75</ref>the family left again in the summer of 1636, this time moving to Saybrook<ref Name=Anderson/>which was located further down toward the mouth of the Connecticut river.<ref Name=NYGBR/> It was here, at Saybrook where great hardship and privations and heartbreak occurred for these early settlers.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/>

His Untimely Death===In the fall of the year 1636, about the beginning of October, a group of people, including Samuel Butterfield went to Six Mile Island to fetch hay.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/><ref Name=Chapman>Chapman, F. W. "The Chapman Family or the Descendants of Robert Chapman" Printed by Case, Tiffany and Company, Hartford. 1854. p. 15</ref>The Pequots concealed themselves in the high grass and unexpectedly attacked the group.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/><ref Name=Chapman/> Samuel was captured alive and tortured to death by the Pequots.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/><ref Name=Chapman/> Lyon Gardiner, who commanded the fort at Saybrook,<ref Name=Chapman/> described the incident when he wrote, "they roasted him alive."<ref Name=Anderson/> The area where this capture and torture occurred became known as "Butterfield's Meadow."<ref Name=Chapman/> The rest of the people who were attacked escaped and entered the fort with one of them having five arrows shot into him.<ref Name=Chapman/>

His Family Moves Again===The spring of 1637, the remaining members of the Matthew Mitchell family who still lived, moved to Wethersfield, Connecticut.<ref Name=NYGBR/><ref Name=Anderson/>

Sources

<references />*Chapman, F. W. "The Chapman Family or the Descendants of Robert Chapman" Printed by Case, Tiffany and Company, Hartford. 1854. p. 15.see at archive.org

• Wood, Matthew. "English Origins of the Mitchell, Wood, Lum and Halstead Families" p. 7. NYGBR. See at American Ancestors. Copy: CherylSkordahl
• Walker, Edward Johnson. "Chapters on the Early Registers of Halifax Parish Church" Published by Whitley & Booth, Crown Street, Halifax. 1885. p. 88see at archive.org
• Great Migration 1634-1635, M-P. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007.subscription needed
• Cooley, M. E. "The Cooley Genealogy", The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc., Rutland, Vermont, 1941. Chapter 4, pp. 1199, footnote #41.link
• Burt, Henry M. "The First Century of the History of Springfield"Printed and Published by Henry M. Burt, Springfield, Mass. 1898. Vol.1, p. 159.see at hathitrust

Acknowledgements

• Research, Biography, Citations: Cheryl Skordahl*GEDCOM import. Butterfield-493 was created by Alva Cromthrough the import of CROM FAMILY.ged on Jul 17, 2014.