Margaret (Major) Butterfield (1801 - 1853)

Born 29 Apr 1801 in Toronto, York, Upper Canada

Wife of Edward Lawrence — married 1823 in New York, United States

Wife of Josiah Butterfield — married 24 Dec 1840 (to 1850) in Adams, Illinois, United States

Descendants

Died 1 Jan 1853 at age 51 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States

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Margaret became a member of the LDS Church between 1830 - 1848.

Margaret (Major) Butterfield was a Latter Day Saint pioneer.

Biography

Margaret Major was born on April 29, 1801 in Toronto, York, Upper Canada.^[1][2] She was the daughter of John and Sarah Major.^[3]

She married Edward Lawrence, likely sometime before 1823.^[4]

In August 1837, Joseph Smith visited Canada as a missionary. According to family records, Edward and Margaret were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Joseph Smith at this time.^[4]

The family moved to Lima, Illinois in 1838. Edward died there in late 1839.^[4][5] The family then moved to Quincy, Adams County, Illinois.^[6]

Margaret married Josiah Butterfield on December 24, 1840 in Adams County, Illinois.^[7] By 1842, they were living in Nauvoo, Illinois.^[8]

In 1850, Sarah's mother Margaret separated from her husband, Josiah Butterfield.^[4] That summer, Margaret and most of her children traveled to Utah with the Edward Hunter Company.^[9][10]

She died on January 1, 1853 in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849-1949," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQHK-VPN : 4 August 2017), Margaret Butterfield, 01 Jan 1853; citing Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, Management and Archives, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 4,139,616.
2. ↑ Temple Records Index Bureau of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1974, p. 157. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
3. ↑ Entries for John and Sarah Major. Nauvoo Temple. Record of Baptisms for the Dead, 1841, 1843–1845, vol. A, p. 105. Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Compton, Todd. "Dark Sisters: Sarah Lawrence (Smith Kimball Mount) and Maria Lawrence (Smith [Young] Babbitt." In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1997, pp. 473-485.
5. ↑ Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith as Guardian: The Lawrence Estate Case.” Journal of Mormon History, vol. 36, no. 3 (2010): 172–211.
6. ↑ "1840 United States Census", index with images, household of Margaret Lawrence, Quincy Township, Adams, Illinois. BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
7. ↑ "Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q288-6TBN : 17 November 2020), Josiah Butterfield and Margaret Lawrence, 24 Dec 1840; citing Adams, Illinois, United States, county offices, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,845,384.
8. ↑ "1842 Nauvoo Census", index with images, household of Margaret Butterfield, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
9. ↑ “Butterfield, Margaret Major,” Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868, Pioneer Database, 1847–1868. Compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCSX-93D : 23 December 2020), Margaret Butterfield in household of James Lawrence, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

See also:

• "Butterfield, Margaret Major." The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press (accessed 4 February 2021).
• Find A Grave: Memorial #76458743
• Compton, Todd. "Dark Sisters: Sarah Lawrence (Smith Kimball Mount) and Maria Lawrence (Smith [Young] Babbitt." In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1997, pp. 473-485.
• Carter, Kate B. "Brigham Young - His Wives and Family." Our Pioneer History, vol. 1. United States: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958, p. 429-30.

Census records:

• "1840 United States Census", index with images, household of Margaret Lawrence, Quincy Township, Adams, Illinois. BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
• "1842 Nauvoo Census", index with images, Margaret Butterfield, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCSX-93D : 23 December 2020), Margaret Butterfield in household of James Lawrence, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).