Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-08-04
THE aUrrrRT1ELD FAMILY.
Corrections Acknowledgements Fur.
thsr Facts 81 I.Rriy Historical Inter,

Corrections acknowledgement Fur
th,r Face, 81 In,Iy Historical Inter
est.
The Phoenix of Jan. =. lsu2. IN an arti-
Gle upon Bwttlrboro'> first ballot box. re-
ferred to benjamin Bu;i,rtcd As The mod
orator Of The first town meeting: stated
that he came here in 1866, that his farm
was 100 rods wide on he river and extend
ed back far enough 10 include 100 acres
and called \. 3. Bujterfcd Of Bos-
ton his grrat-giandsOu. Now in last
weeks Phoenix Hon. \. A. Bu,terfeld of
Nottingham writes 20 correct these state
ments that the records OF Brattleboro
show the birth OF Levi June /. 1868, and
Teri May ,, 1865. son, OF BENJAMIN. and
asks why these records OF births prior. if
he came in 1866; also that the land records
of Brattleboro, referring 20 the record of
the deed. show his farm TO have been 200
acres; that \. 3. Butterfed was his
grandson, not his great-grandSon. and that
the spare time of 10 years discovers no
grandson in the male line Of his son Ben
jamin. This Benjamin Butterfield was
not only moderator OF the first town-meet-
ing but member of the first religious So
ciety and first church. captain Of the first
tvs Justices OF the peace for the county of
Cumberland in Brattleboro, and altogether
prominent figure in the settlement of the
town. Any misstatement concerning him
as a part of the history of the town should
be corrected, and whoever makes such cor
rections confers a favor the corrections.
should, however, themselves be correct.
At the time of these births there was no
organized town of Brattleboro. no records.
and no officers to make any. This record
was made long time afterwards and gives
no place of the births. This Benjamin
Butteriield had two wives, Susanna and
Lois The births of the children of both
are recorded together, apparently al one
time The name OF the mother of the
children of Susanna is left blank. while
that OF Lois As the mother Of her children
Is put down, which shows that the record
was not directed 10y him, nor bv anyone
very familiar with the facts. 1t does not
OF Itself show that these children were
born here, and of course not that he lived
here al that time or before 1866.
The record of the deed does in one
place. 10y some mistake, call the land 200
acres. but further on it is described as 100
rods wide on the river and extending that
width westward far enough to make 100
acres. Therefore the record does not show
that ii was but 100 acres. John and
Thomas Sargent owned 4d3 acres in the
northeast corner of the town, the south
west corner of which was 20 rods south. at
that place, OF the little brook that winds
through the meadow above Waite's. which
was then called Herbert brook. The
south end OF this tract extended westward
from the river 100 rods and Benjamin But
tertield's land lay beside it, and this length
would make that land 100 acres. Had il
been 200 acres it would have been mile
long, extending back on TO the hill be-
yond, covering where the Wilder farm Is.
which it did not do.
The suggestion that A. b. Butterfeld of
Boston, the giver of the ballot box, was a
great-grandson of Benjamin Butterfeld,
the moderator, should have been made
with more hesitation, for even The Yer
mont Phoenix may not be supposed TO
know who everyhody's great-grandfather
was, and should be corrected. BENJAMIN
Butterheld, the moderator, died Dec :.
1904, in his 10Th year He had two sons
named Benjamin, the eldest of whom was
sergeant in his fathers military company
in lIIO; was a head of family in Brattle-
boro in III; was with his father and
slightly wounded at the Westminster mas
sacre in l775, and died between 1882 and
l1S1. The other was the eldest son of
the second wife, Lois, and was born Dec.
%, 1857.