Some Boutwell Background
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New England Families Genealogical and Memorial: Third Series, Volume IV Author: William Richard Cutter
BOUTWELL The surname Boutwell is also spelled in early records Boutelle, Boutell, Boutle, Bowtell and otherwise, and some of the other forms are still in use by the American families. The name is of French origin, but whether the first English ancestor went to England with William the Conqueror or several centuries later with the expatriated French Huguenots is a mooted question. Edward Leonard, John, James and Thomas came to the vicinity of Boston before 1650. John and James alone remained in Massachusetts. John Boutwell was in Cambridge in 1638; died August 30, 1676, aged sixty. (I) James Boutwell, immigrant ancestor, was born in England. He settled early in Lynn, of which he was a proprietor. He was admitted a freeman of the colony, March 14, 1638-39. Mary Boutwell, mentioned in the court records of Lynn in 1640, was doubtless his first wife. He died in 1651. His will was dated August 22, and proved August 26, 1651, bequeathing to wife Alice and children: James, John, Sarah. (II) John Boutwell, son of James Boutwell, was born in 1645 at Lynn or Salem, died December 3, 1719. He married, May 10, 1669, Hannah Davis, daughter of George Davis. He settled in Reading, Massachusetts. Children: John, mentioned below; Hannah, born June 3, 1672; Sarah, December 3, 1674, died young; James, September 6, 1677; Mary, January 20, 1679; Elizabeth, March 2, 1683; Sarah, August 20, 1686; Susannah, February 26, 1689; Thomas, February 6, 1692. (III) John (2) Boutwell, son of John (1) Boutwell, was born February 26, 1670, died at Reading, Massachusetts, July 17, 1713, aged forty-two years. He married Sarah (???). Children, born at Reading: John, December 22, 1693, died young; John, mentioned below; Thomas, 1697; Thomas, 1699; Sarah, February 15, 1701-02; Jacob, May 2, 1705; Jonathan, November 1, 1709, ancestor of Hon. George S. Boutwell, United States senator and governor of Massachusetts; Bethiah, 1713. (IV) John (3) Boutwell, son of John (2) Boutwell, was born at Reading, Massachusetts, August 1, 1695. He married, at Reading, October 1, 1723, Rebecca Knight. In 1727 he removed to Woburn, an adjacent town. Children, born at Reading: Rebecca, January 1, 1725; Rachel, February 2, 1726-27. At Woburn; Rebecca, February 21, 1729; Sarah, July 18, 1731; John, February 20, 1734; James, June 26, 1736; Hannah, August 6, 1738; Phebe, May 10, 1741; Martha, September 6, 1746. (V) James (2) Boutwell, son of John (3) Boutwell, was born at Woburn, Massachusetts, June 26, 1736, died at Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, February 6, 1804. He married, at Wilmington, formerly part of Woburn, November 4, 1756, Mary Johnson, of an old Woburn family. The marriage is recorded at Woburn. Soon after his marriage he moved to Amherst, New Hampshire, and thence to the adjacent town of Lyndeborough, then called Salem Canada, where he settled in 1767, and where his descendants have lived to the present day. The farm is in the center of the town commanding a beautiful view, a fertile and productive place. He was prominent among the early settlers of the town. In 1768 he was a selectman and in 1771 was state senator. He served on the committee of safety, and by virtue of this service his descendants are entitled to membership in the revolutionary societies. He was chairman of the committee and had charge of the town ammunition. Children: Asa, mentioned below; Mary, Abigail, Judith, James, Nehemiah, Alice. (VI) Asa Boutwell, son of James (2) Boutwell, was born at Amherst, New Hampshire, 1758-70. He settled in Barre, Vermont. He married (???). Children: Asa, Nehemiah, Scott, Levi, mentioned below; Polly. (VII) Colonel Levi Boutwell, son of Asa Boutwell, was born at Barre, Vermont, February 5, 1802, died March 27, 1874. He learned the trade of spinner when a boy and followed his trade in mills at Hartland and Strafford, Vermont. Afterward he became part owner of a cloth dressing mill at Thetford. It was destroyed by the great freshet in 1828, leaving him penniless. From 1830 to 1837 he was a general merchant at West Fairlee, Vermont, and afterward he engaged in the hotel business at Lebanon, New Hampshire, and later at Chelsea, Vermont. In 1846 he leased the Union House at Montpelier. Ten years later he became the proprietor of the old Pavilion House, of which he remained landlord for a dozen years. Afterward he leased this hotel, retaining ownership to the end of his life. As landlord of the Pavilion House he was best known and is still remembered by the old citizens of Montpelier. Many characteristic anecdotes are told of him. He was keen of wit and tongue and many caustic retorts are related. Beneath his brusque manner and rather vitriolic speech, however, he had a warm heart and a benevolent and kindly nature. He was highly respected for his sturdy independence, his uprightness and integrity of character. He was a colonel in the state militia and prominent in public affairs. He married (first) Jerusha Peabody, (second) Elizabeth Burbank. Children by second wife: |
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Harry Sylvester, mentioned below; Elizabeth Jane, married Hon. Timothy R. Merrill. (VIII) Harry Sylvester Boutwell, son of Colonel Levi Boutwell, was born at Port Mills, Vermont, January 3, 1824, died August 6, 1908. He received his education in the public schools. In early life he was employed as a stage driver, afterward as conductor of the Vermont Central Railroad and he was the first conductor on the Montpelier & Wells River Railway. He left the railroad business to engage in the livery stable business at Montpelier, in which he continued until 1873, when he returned to the railroad, continuing as a conductor until he retired late in life. He was a member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, Free and Accepted Masons, and of King Solomon Chapter, No. 7, Royal and Select Masters. He married Lucy E. Mead, born at Montpelier, August 6, 1829, died November 3, 1892, daughter of Joel and Lucy E. (Langdon) Mead. Children: James Mead, mentioned below; Levi Fred, born May 28, 1858, died July 16, 1861. (IX) James Mead Boutwell, son of Harry Sylvester Boutwell, was born at Montpelier, Vermont, May 16, 1856. He attended the public schools of his native town and at the age of sixteen began to serve an apprenticeship in a machine shop. Shortly afterward he became a fireman on the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad. A year later he was appointed locomotive engineer and continued to run on this road until he was made assistant superintendent of the Barre Railroad. He resigned May 10, 1890, to engage in the granite business, as manager of the Langdon quarries, and after five years in this position he bought the business of James R. Langdon; these quarries are among the best in the state. He conducted them until 1904, when he sold a half interest and the business since then has been conducted under the name of Boutwell, Milne & Varnum, a corporation of which Mr. Boutwell is president and treasurer. The company employs at present 360 hands. Mr. Boutwell is a director of the Quarry Savings Bank of Barre, Vermont. In politics he is a Republican. He served the city of Montpelier three terms as alderman and in the spring of 1902 was nominated for mayor of the city by the Republican party. He was elected without opposition and received the largest vote ever given a candidate for that office. He was a popular and efficient magistrate. He was again elected without opposition, March 3, 1914, and is now the chief magistrate of the city. Mr. Boutwell is a member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, Free and Accepted Masons; of King Solomon Chapter, No. 7, Royal Arch Masons; Montpelier Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; Mount Zion Commandery, No. 9, Knights Templar; and Mount Sinai Temple, Mystic Shrine. Mayor Boutwell married, April 29, 1880, Jennie E. Rumsey, of Wells River, Vermont, daughter of Charles E. and Helen S. (Chamberlain) Rumsey. Her father was born in England; her mother in Newbury, Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Boutwell have no children. |