Isobell (Knowles) Butterworth (abt. 1700 - aft. 1781)

Born about 1700 in Bristol County, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Pollard — married 13 Apr 1738 in Swansea, Bristol County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Wife of John Butterworth — married 15 Apr 1750 in Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island

Died after 1781 after about age 81 in Warren, Rhode Island, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

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Biography

Isobell was born perhaps about 1700 — a lack of primary birth or death records creates considerable uncertainty about the year. However, land records and a will make a strong case that she was the daughter of William Knowles and Mary Thurber. She lived at Swansea in what is now Massachusetts and Newport, Rhode Island and later at Warren, Rhode Island. The last known record of Isobell is a deed which she signed 18 April 1781.

Isobell reportedly married Nathaniel Rommel -- a marriage of Nathaniel Romel and Isabel Knowles was recorded at Newport, Rhode Island on 29 April 1722. Isabel definitely married John Butterworth at Warren on 15 April 1750. The record calls her "Isobell Pollard". The timing is reasonable that she had previously been married to a Thomas Pollard, who died at Warren on 19 or 20 January 1748. That Isabell likely is the "Izabel Man" who married "Thomes Pollord" at Swansea on 13 April 1738.

Thus, she married at perhaps as many as four times, with the following order of husbands:

1. Nathaniel Rommel (possibly) m. Newport, 29 April 1722
2. _____ Mann (probably)
3. Thomas Pollard (probably) m. Swansea, 13 April 1738; d. Warren, Rhode Island 19 January 1748/9. He was listed as over 60 years old in a list of male inhabitants of Warren in 1747.
4. John Butterworth (definitely) m. Warren, 15 April 1750

Research Notes

Land Records

10 April 1752 -- a partition of land jointly owned by Ephraim and Rebecca Sheldon and John and Isabel Butterworth into two equal halves. It explicitly recognizes that the land was held in the rights of Rebecca and Isabel, presumably because they were sisters and inherited together. No parents are mentioned.^[1]

13 and 14 November 1752 -- William Knowles of Litchfield, Connecticut quitclaimed 1.5 acres of land in return for 50 pounds, the first day conveying land to John and Isabel Butterworth and the second to Ephraim and Rebecca Sheldon.^[2] The essentially identical terms of each conveyance and the fact that both were quitclaims supports a familial relationship between the parties. If all three were children of Mary and she died intestate, then in the division of her estate, William's share would likely be double that of each sister. In the earlier division, we see that each of Rebecca and Isabel seem to have inherited 1.5 acres, while this conveyance indicates William received double.

20 January 1753 -- John and Isabel Butterworth conveyed land in Warren to James Bushe in a deed that explicitly references the division of the real estate of Capt. John Thurber^[3] -- "Reference to the records — of the Division of Capt John Thurbers Land being always had" From the description, it sounds like this was the land conveyed to them two months earlier by William Knowles.

23 April 1757 -- Elizabeth Child, Pricila Devotion, and Rachel Lewin, widows, and Isabel Butterworth Wife of John Butterworth (Heirs to John Senor Deceased) all of Warren convey land at Warren to Samuel Hix of Warren, labourer.^[4] The land comprises two lots "laid out to the Right of John Thurber Senor."

30 May 1780: John Butterworth of Warren, yeoman, and wife Isobell deed two acres at Warren to Hezekiah Butterworth of Warren, yeoman.^[5]

18 April 1781: John Butterworth of Warren, yeoman, and wife Isobell deed four acres at Warren to Hezekiah Butterworth of Warren, yeoman.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Warren, R.I. deeds book 1 page 209.
2. ↑ Warren, R.I. deeds book 1 pages 219–220
3. ↑ Warren, R.I. deed book 1 page 223
4. ↑ Warren, Rhode Island deed book 1 page 327
5. ↑ Warren, R.I. deeds book 2 pages 473-4
6. ↑ Warren, R.I. deeds book 2 page 490