William Butten

William Butten was a young

indentured servant of Samuel Fuller, a long-time leader of the Leiden Church. Butten died during the voyage of the Mayflower while traveling with Fuller, who had been appointed doctor for the group. At that time, children and young men were routinely rounded up from the streets of London or taken from poor families receiving church relief to be used as laborers in the colonies.^[1]^[2]

Butten was sick the entire voyage and died on November 6, 1620 at sea when near the coast of New England.

Mayflower voyage

The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England, on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship's timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.^[3]

On November 9/19, 1620, after about three months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was Cape Cod. After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day. There were forty-one of the adult males, including the servants, who signed the Compact.^[3]^[4]

Parentage

William Butten's parentage is a mystery. His name is of an ancient French heritage introduced in England after the Norman Conquest.

William Bradford

and other Separatists.

Butten is memorialized on the Mayflower Passengers Who Died at Sea Memorial.^[9] A small residential road in Austerfield (postcode DN10 6SQ) is named Butten Meadow after him, where there is also a memorial artwork

References

^ ^a ^b Morison & Commager, The Growth of the American Republic, Virginia, 1618-1622 (in H.S. vol. 1,(4th Ed., New York, 1950), p.40
^ R.C. Johnson, The Transportation of Vagrant Children from London to Reinmuth (Ed.), Early Stuart Studies: Essays in Honor of David Harris Willson, (Minneapolis: 1970)
^ ^a ^b Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620-1691, (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Publishing, 1986), p. 413
^ George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Compact and its signers, (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1920), Photocopies of the 1622, 1646 and 1669 versions of the document, pp. 7-19.
^ Internet Archives Surname Database
^ Donald F. Harris, PhD., The Mayflower Descendant, (July 1993), vol. 43 no. 2 p.124
^ William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth, (Boston: 1856, Not in copyright), p. 76
^ Charles Edward Banks, Original Narratives of Early American History, (New York: Grafton Press, 1929), p. 94
^ Memorial of William Butten Mayflower passengers who died at sea memorial [1]

[Morison-1] Morison & Commager, The Growth of the American Republic, Virginia, 1618-1622 (in H.S. vol. 1,(4th Ed., New York, 1950), p.40

[2] R.C. Johnson, The Transportation of Vagrant Children from London to Reinmuth (Ed.), Early Stuart Studies: Essays in Honor of David Harris Willson, (Minneapolis: 1970)

[Stratton_p._413-3] Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620-1691, (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Publishing, 1986), p. 413

[4] George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Compact and its signers, (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1920), Photocopies of the 1622, 1646 and 1669 versions of the document, pp. 7-19.

[5] Internet Archives Surname Database

[6] Donald F. Harris, PhD., The Mayflower Descendant, (July 1993), vol. 43 no. 2 p.124

[7] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth, (Boston: 1856, Not in copyright), p. 76

[8] Charles Edward Banks, Original Narratives of Early American History, (New York: Grafton Press, 1929), p. 94

[9] Memorial of William Butten Mayflower passengers who died at sea memorial [1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[9]

v t e Mayflower passengers and related topics
General	Mayflower List of Mayflower passengers who died at sea November/December 1620 who died in the winter of 1620–21 Captain Christopher Jones The More family Cole's Hill Mayflower Compact signatories Pilgrims Plymouth Colony Of Plymouth Plantation Mourt's Relation
Separatists	Priscilla (Mullins) Alden Isaac Allerton Mary Allerton William Bradford Love Brewster William Brewster Peter Browne William Butten John Carver James Chilton Mary Chilton Francis Cooke Humility Cooper John Crackston Edward Doty Moses Fletcher Edward Fuller Samuel Fuller John Howland Degory Priest Thomas Rogers Henry Samson George Soule Edward Tilley John Tilley Thomas Tinker John Turner William White Resolved White Peregrine White Edward Winslow
Other passengers	John Alden John Billington Francis Eaton Constance Hopkins Oceanus Hopkins Stephen Hopkins Christopher Martin Elinor More Jasper More Mary More Richard More William Mullins Myles Standish Richard Warren
Native American associates	Squanto Samoset Hobbamock Massasoit Corbitant
Related	Speedwell Fortune passengers The Anne and Little James passengers Plymouth Rock Mayflower Society Mayflower House Museum Pilgrim Hall Museum Mayflower II Mayflower AI sea drone Harwich Mayflower Heritage Centre Myles Standish Burial Ground Myles Standish Monument National Monument to the Forefathers Pilgrim Monument Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar Signing the Mayflower Compact (1922 relief) Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure (1979 film) The Pilgrim Progress (reenactment)

Mayflower voyage

Parentage

See also

References