John Butler

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 20 dated events in the chronology →

1. September 1768 William Few and John Butler stand surety for the Regulator William Butler At the September 1768 court in Hillsborough, William Few, who sympathized with the reforms but took no part in the agitation, and John Butler, who opposed the Regulation, went on the bond of John's brother William Butler, one of the most active Regulators. People: William Few, John Butler, William Butler (Regulator) Place: HillsboroughInternet Archive: Archibald Henderson, ed., "Hermon Husband's Continuation of the Impartial Relation", North Carolina Historical Review 18 (1941), p. 78
2. April or June 1770 William Few conveys his home place near Hillsborough to John Butler In debt and weighing a move to Georgia, Few deeded the Kirkland place east of town to his friend John Butler, sheriff that year. Butler in turn sold the tract to the Scottish merchant Ralph MacNair on July 23, 1771. People: William Few, John Butler, Ralph McNair Place: Kirkland place, near Hillsborough · Also named: Ralph MacNairSearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 93 · Also: Internet Archive: Archibald Henderson, ed.
3. October 1770 Regulators name the Orange County sheriff one of two officials charging fair fees John Butler of the Hawfields was sheriff of Orange County in 1770, at the height of the Regulator crisis, and testified to the General Assembly that the Regulators had obstructed him in carrying out his duties. A Regulator petition of October 1770 nonetheless named him as one of only two public officials charging fair fees for their services. Place: Orange CountySearch the index · NCpedia: Butler, John
4. August or September 1775 The Provincial Congress names Orange County's minutemen and militia officers Orange was to raise three companies of minutemen, and James Thackston was named colonel of minutemen for the Hillsborough district. For the county militia the Congress named John Hogan colonel, John Butler lieutenant colonel, William Moore first major and Nathaniel Rochester second major. People: John Butler, Nathaniel Rochester, James Thackston, Colonel John Hogan Place: Orange County · Also named: William MooreSearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 51 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
5. August to September 1775 The Provincial Congress forms the Hillsborough District and its committee of safety The Congress grouped Orange, Granville, Chatham and Wake counties into a Hillsborough District with a thirteen-member committee of safety; John Atkinson, John Butler and William Johnston sat for Orange. Thomas Person and John Kinchen represented the district on the Provincial Council. People: John Butler, William Johnston, Thomas Person, John Kinchen Place: Hillsborough · Also named: John Atkinson · Also mentions: Hillsborough DistrictLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 43 · Also: Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary
6. September 9, 1775 John Butler is commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Orange County militia The Third Provincial Congress named John Butler to the committee of safety for the Hillsborough District and on September 9, 1775 made him lieutenant colonel of the Orange County militia under Colonel John Hogan. Minutemen officers were named by district, not county. Butler went on to lead the county's militia in the Moore's Creek Bridge campaign and became its colonel in April 1776. People: Colonel John Hogan Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Hillsborough DistrictSearch the index · Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 10, pp. 204-205: Journal of the Provincial Congress, September 9, 1775 · Also: NCpedia: Butler, John
7. April 19, 1776 John Butler and John Atkinson are named Orange County commissioners to gather and buy firearms for the troops The congress appointed two commissioners in each county to take in arms seized from the Tories, buy serviceable guns and have broken ones repaired for the new regiments. John Butler and John Atkinson served for Orange, each county drawing an advance of 300 pounds. Place: Orange County · Also named: John AtkinsonSearch the index · North Carolina Provincial Congress, Journal of the Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, Held at Halifax, April 4, 1776 (1831), scan p. 28
8. April 22, 1776 The Provincial Congress divides the Orange County militia into Northern and Southern regiments The congress split the county militia into two equal regiments along an east-west line the county court had already run. John Butler became colonel of the Southern Regiment with Nathaniel Rochester as lieutenant colonel, and James Saunders colonel of the Northern Regiment with William Moore as lieutenant colonel. People: John Butler, Nathaniel Rochester Place: Orange County · Also named: James Saunders, William MooreSearch the index · North Carolina Provincial Congress, Journal of the Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, Held at Halifax, April 4, 1776 (1831), scan p. 33
9. Spring 1776 Orange County sends Rochester, Burke, Kinchen, Butler and Saunders to the Provincial Congress at Halifax Orange County elected Nathaniel Rochester with John Kinchen, James Saunders, John Butler and Thomas Burke to represent it at the Provincial Congress at Halifax in 1776, the session that set up a provisional government, ordered six more Continental regiments raised and instructed the state's delegates in the Continental Congress to vote for independence. People: Nathaniel Rochester, John Kinchen, John Butler, Thomas Burke Place: Halifax · Also named: James SaundersSearch the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 38 (1961), p. 473
10. May 1, 1776 John Butler and William Tate are named to inventory the estates of Orange County Loyalists held or sent away The congress named commissioners in six counties, Butler and Tate for Orange, to list the property of prisoners sent out of the province or out on parole or bail, guard it against waste, and see that their wives and children did not go without. Place: Orange County · Also named: William TateSearch the index · North Carolina Provincial Congress, Journal of the Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, Held at Halifax, April 4, 1776 (1831), scan p. 48
11. December 10, 1776 Orange County votes again after the Halifax Congress voids its October return The Congress first upheld the sitting Orange members on November 21, then on November 28 ordered a new election run by named commissioners over as many as three days. Held December 10, it returned Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, Alexander Mebane, John Butler and John McCabe, who took their seats just before the state constitution was adopted. People: Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, John Butler, Alexander Mebane Place: Hillsborough · Also named: John McCabeSearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 56 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
12. December 18, 1776 The new state constitution provides for public schools and a university Section 41 of the constitution adopted at Halifax, modeled on Pennsylvania's, told the legislature to establish schools and to promote learning in one or more universities. Orange's delegates voted on it, and it became the legal basis for chartering UNC. People: Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, John Butler, Alexander Mebane Place: HalifaxLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 68