Martha (Story) Butler (1691 - aft. 1766)

Born 28 Sep 1691 in Ipswich, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Butler — married after 16 Jan 1720 in Ipswich, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died after 21 Mar 1766 after age 74 in Hopkinton, Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

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Biography

This profile is part of the Chebacco Parish, Massachusetts One Place Study.

Martha Story was born on 28 Sep 1691, in Ipswich in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. She was the daughter of Deacon Seth Story, Sr. and Elizabeth (Unknown), of the Chebacco Parish community.^[1]

Martha and Thomas Butler registered their intent to marry on 16 Jan 1719, in Ipswich.^[2]

Martha and Thomas had four of their children baptized at the Chebacco Parish Church:

• Elizabeth Butler (bp. 23 Sep 1727, Chebacco Parish Church)^[3]
• Aaron Butler (bp. 23 Mar 1728/9, Chebacco Parish Church)^[4]
• Hepzibah Butler (bp. 27 Jun 1736, Chebacco Parish Church)^[5]
• Ruhamah Butler (bp. 28 May 1732, Chebacco Parish Church)^[6]

Note: Thomas and Martha probably had more than one additional child, but, apart from the list of surviving children from both of Thomas's marriages, which can be developed from his Last Will and Testament (dated 20 Apr 1764),^[7] record of them has thus far (April 2018) been located. The following is a list of Thomas's children from that will (not including the four listed in the Ipswich records). The order in which they are listed here does not necessarily reflect birth order.

• Thomas Butler
• Stephen Butler
• Abigail Butler
• William Butler (b. ca. 1709; d. 4 Nov 1741, in Lunenburg, Worcester County, Province of Massachusetts Bay)^[8]
• Daniel Butler
• Hannah Butler
• Sarah Butler (deceased by 1764)
• Jeremiah Butler (b. ca. 1724)

In 1745, Thomas and Martha relocated their family to Hopkinton, Middlesex County, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.^[9]

Thomas Butler died in Hopkinton before 21 Mar 1766, when Samuel Danforth, Judge of the Probate Court, set a date for Martha, as his widow, to appear before him, regarding Thomas's will.^[10] The will was approved on 26 Mar 1766, with Jeremiah Butler, identified as the son of Thomas and Martha,^[11] as the executor.

In his will,^[12] Thomas bequeathed to his widow, Martha, the right to live in his house and an annual income of £4 s13 d4, plus one-third of the "improvement of such stock" as existed at the time he died (one-third of the net profit of the shoes he had made for sale?), plus the "improvement" of his household goods. If she remarried, she would retain only the right to live in his house and the use of his household goods for her natural life. In a petition dated 21 Mar 1766, Martha asked the court to allow her the benefit of a contract between Jeremiah and Thomas, rather than the rents specified in Thomas's will.^[13]

No documentation has been found to verify the date or place of Martha Story Butler's death.

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich - Births, p. 358 (accessed 5 Apr 2017).
2. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich - Marriages, p. 417 (accessed 5 Apr 2017).
3. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich - Births, p. 73 (accessed 17 Apr 2017.
4. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich - Births, p. 73 (accessed 17 Apr 2017.
5. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich - Births, p. 73 (accessed 17 Apr 2017.
6. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich - Births, p. 73 (accessed 17 Apr 2017.
7. ↑ Last Will and Testament, Thomas Butler, dated 20 Apr 1764: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, #3699 (accessed 6 Oct 2017).
8. ↑ Davis, Early Records of the Town of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, p. 342.
9. ↑ Citing records of the East Hopkinton Cemetery: Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Hopkinton - Births, p. 44 (accessed 5 Apr 2017).
10. ↑ Citation, dated 21 Mar 1766: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, #3699 (accessed 6 Oct 2017).
11. ↑ Petition to the court by Martha Butler, 21 Mar 1766: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, #3699 (accessed 6 Oct 2017).
12. ↑ Last Will and Testament, Thomas Butler, dated 20 Apr 1764: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, #3699 (accessed 6 Oct 2017).
13. ↑ Petition to the court by Martha Butler, dated 21 Mar 1766: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, #3699 (accessed 6 Oct 2017).

• Felt, Joseph B., ‘’History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton’’, Cambridge, MA: Printed by Charles Folsom, 1834, p. 334.
• Hammatt, Abraham, The Hammatt Papers: Early Inhabitants, Ipswich, Mass 1633-1700, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1880-1899, p. 352.
• Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org) (subscription required)
• Storey, Betty Andrews, compiler, ‘’The Descendants of William Story and Sarah Foster of Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts’’, Hales Corner, WI: self-published, 2004, p.7.
• ‘’Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849’’, vol. 1, ‘’Births’’, Published by The Essex Institute, Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1910.
• ‘’Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849’’, vol. 2, ‘’Marriages and Deaths’’, Published by The Essex Institute, Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1910.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to David Smith for creating WikiTree profile Story-397 through the import of Smith Family Tree-2RGS_2013-04-28.ged on May 5, 2013.