The 27th Maine Volunteers
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William N Butler
Private, Company D, Age 21 From Berwick
WILLIAM NEAL BUTLER was the son of Samuel and Sarah (Hanson) Butler, born 14 Oct, 1840 in
Berwick, Maine [ME VR]. He died on 27 Jan, 1917 in South Berwick,ME, aged 73 yrs,3 mos,13 das,
of Brights Disease and Influenza [ME VR]. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Berwick.
He married on 31 Mar,1866 [obit][intents filed 27 Mar,1866, cert.issued the 31st in South Berwick -VR
of Berwicks p390] to LYDIA ELLEN BUTLER, the daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia (Bean) Butler of
Berwick,ME. She was born in South Berwick,ME on 24 Apr,1840 [Thomas Butler & Desc. p142]. She
died in 1920 [g.s.]. She had been in that year's census, living in South Berwick at age 79.
William worked as a farmer while living in Berwick, seen here through the 1870 census. After his move
to South Berwick circa 1872, he went to work at the David Cummings Co shoe shop, employed as a
cutter there for 38 years until a hand injury brought on his retirement. He was a member of C.W.Sawyer
Post, No 18, GAR, and of the Olive Branch Lodge, No28, I.O.O.F. of S.Berwick. He was a member of
South Berwick's Baptist Church [obit].
The ancestry of William and his wife, a distant cousin of his, can be found in Thomas Butler and His
Descendants by George H Butler,MD.
William and Lydia had the following children [names/birth dates of first five from Thomas Butler & Desc
p142]:
I. CARRIE E, born 2 Feb,1867 in Berwick,ME. She married SAMUEL BUTLER BROWN of
Boston,MA on 26 Sept,1894 [ME Marr Index] He was born in Berwick, ME [childrens birth rec's] on 1
Sept,1870 [or Sept,1871 -1900 census], the son of Joseph and Mary H (Butler) Brown of Berwick [VR
of Berwicks p279]. His mother was a sister to William N Butler, making him a first cousin to Carrie.
They lived in Somerville,MA [1900-10 censuses; Will.Butler's obit], where he worked as a bookkeepr
in a piano office. 1910 census shows Carrie with three children, two of them still living:
1. Ralph Butler, born 17 Jan,1898 in Somerville,MA [MA VR v476 p383], died same city on 12
Mar,1898 of pneumonia at age 1m,23das [MA VR v482 p387]. He was buried in Evergreen
Cem,Berwick,ME
2. Marion Elizabeth, born ca July 1899 in Somerville [MA VR not viewed]
3. Albert Samuel, born 3 July,1903 in Somerville,MA [MA VR v533 p615]
II. WILLIAM H [called William N in Butler Gen], born 24 Feb,1869, likely in Berwick,ME. He married on
31 Oct,1905 [ME Marr Index] CORA PLANCHE, also of S.Berwick. She was born in Canada,
immigrating here in 1884 [1920 S.Ber census]. She died prior to 1930 census. As his father, William
worked as a shoe cutter, lived in South Berwick. They had a son:
1. Ralph, born ca 1915 [age 4 6/12 in 1920; a.14 in 1930 S.Ber census]
III. GRACE E, born 28 May,1870 [1871 on gravestone], perhaps in Berwick,ME. She died in 1930
[g.s.] She married MARK ADDISON LIBBY. He was the son of Mark and Eliza A Libby, born 1855
and died in 1940. They are buried at Portland St Cem.,South Berwick, in his parents plot [YCCI
p2054]. They had 5 children (vr not yet viewed):
1. Lauriston B, born 1897 and died in 1904 [YCCI p2054]. Buried with parents.
2. Mary E, b.ca 1900 [age 10 in 1910 census; a.20 in 1920]
3. Mark W, born ca 1903 [age 7 in 1910; 17 in 1920]
4. Theodore A, born ca 1906 [a.4 in 1910; 14 in 1920]
5. Charles K, born 1907, died in 1908 [YCCI p2054]. Buried with parents.
IV. ALBERT M [middle initial N in Butler Gen], born 2 Aug,1873, probably in South Berwick. He was
single in 1920, living with his mother in household of sister Grace Libby in South Berwick [census]
V. MARY FLORENCE [Florence M in Butler Gen], born 14 Feb,1876. She married CHARLES
NATHANIEL HARVEY of Salmon Falls,NH on 15 Dec,1908 [ME Marr Index]. He was a carpenter,
and they lived on Young St in South Berwick,ME They had a daughter:
1. Helen M, born ca 1902 [age 8 in 1920 census; a.18 in 1930]
VI. LULIE A, born in Nov,1879 [age 6/12 b.Nov in 1880 census]. She married, between the
1910+1920 censuses, CHARLES F WHITEHOUSE, who owned "C.F.Whitehouse Printing" on
Central Ave,Dover,NH. Both were alive in 1948 [Dover Street Dir]. No children with them in 1920,
unknown at this time if they had any.
VII. Perhaps the ETHEL S, 1883 - 1884, buried with William and Ellen. 1910 data indicates Lydia had
7 children, 6 of them living at the time.
MoH
Additional Source Data:
1850 Berwick: hh 68/70 -William w/parents and family in hh of Nehemiah Butler
1860 Berwick, ME census (pg 16): hh 121/121 - Wiliam w/parents
1870 Berwick (pg 46): hh 360/385 -Lydia's parents are listed next to them
1880 South Berwick: hh 35/39
1890 Vet.Sch: William in S.Berw. [note error on enlist date of 15 Jun]
1900:
1910 S.Berw: hh 122/158; owned home on Young St
1910 S.Berw: hh 123/159 data on William H
1910 S.Berw: hh 19/21 Mark/Grace Libby data - liv Portland St
1920 S.Ber (pg 4B): hh 104/105; data on Grace, mother,bro liv with her; owned home on Portland
1920 S.Berw: Will H liv Young St
1930 S.Berw: Will. owned home ($2000.) on Young
-Obituary for William N Butler, carried in Fosters Daily Democrat issue 29 Jan,1917
-Civil War Pension Index: William filed on 25 Aug,1891 (app #934,120 cert #691638); widow filed 19
Feb,1917 (app #1,094,209 cert #831,623)
- Vital Records of Berwick,South Berwick, and North Berwick to the Year 1892 edited by Frost and
Anderson c1993 Picton Press [many earlier Butler ancestors listed for William and Lydia]