Top of Site > Company Information > Company Histories > Buttrick, maker
According to Lemuel Shattuck's History of Concord, published in 1835, Carlisle had a population of 566 in 1830, with 4 grist and saw mills. Unfortunately, he doesn't name the mill owners.
According to a history of Middlesex County, published in 1880,
Spencer Brook, rising near the centre of the town [Carlisle] and flowing southwardly into Concord River, supplies water in its course for Buttrick's saw and turning mill.This would imply that the Mill was in existence at the time.
I hope to gain access to one or more histories of Carlisle in order to find more detail about when it was built, and what it was used for.
The mill is gone (without a trace); the bridge over the pond is replaced by a road between two ponds connected by a culvert; the dam has breached and been repaired. The pond nearest the dam was excavated to its original depth, but nothing of interest was found on the bottom.
The property is now registered with the Town of Carlisle as an historic site. It has passed through only three families: Buttrick, Drummy, and Macone. The grandfather of the current owner (Paul Macone) purchased the propery in 1938; the Drummy deed mentions "the mill by the bridge".
According to the Genealogy of the family, we find Nathan Butrick (note the single t), born in 1725 (p13), and in 1801 (p146); these will be ignored.
We find persons named Nathan Buttrick (note the double t), born in
Also, we find
The operator of Buttrick's Mill is Nathan Buttrick Jr, [G487 in the genealogy], born in Carlisle, 19 Feb 1811, the son of Nathan and Susan (Hart). He died in Carlisle, 20 Aug 1883.
On 4 July 1837, he married Thankful A Green of Carlisle, in Carlisle. (He is identified as living in Chelmsford.) She was born 1 May 1818, the daughter of James and Lois (Hutchinson).
On 26 March 1838, at age 20, Thankful died. On 9 June 1838, at the age of 3 months, 9 days, their daughter Lois died.
On 1 May 1842, he married Martha Butterfield of Carlisle, in Carlisle. She was born 20 March 1818, daughter of Samuel.
They had a number of children:
Henry Oscar on 9 April 1844
James G on 17 January 1846
Estella A on 30 November 1847 (died 4 January 1849)
Ella Howard on 5 November 1849 (at this birth, Nathan's
occupation is given as "mechanic" which at the time meant
one who works with, or operates, machines.)
Albert Law on 1 January 1853
Charles E on 28 March 1855
and Herbert Anderson on 31 March 1861.
If we accept Nathan Buttrick jr. as the only clamp maker, then the clamps marked Chelmsford date to 1837 or before, and those marked Carlisle date after 1837. Examples of each mark are available.
I have a clamp marked Chelmsford with the owner's mark of W. Norcross. I do not yet know the dates of operation of the Norcross Mill, so I can't determine the consistency of the dating.
I have a clamp with the style of Chelmsford, without town, and with the owner's mark of Charles Schwamb 2 d. He can be dated after 1846, but before 1902. This presents some difficulties with Chelmsford before 1837.
A Nathan Buttrick appears in them from 1849 until 1866, when Mrs Nathan Butttrick is the head of the household. His death is given in the city records as the 9th of October 1865, when he was aged 54 years, 9 months, and 15 days. Working backwards, his date of birth would be 24 December 1810.
This does not match any Nathan listed in the family genealogy. (Little discrepancies in dates or ages occur often in death notices.) Also, "our" Nathan has a listing for a child Maria, born 27 March 1847, in Lowell. This entry has a notation "may be child of another Buttrick."
The records for the Lowell newspapers do not go back to 1865, so I
have no access to any obituary that might have been printed. He
appears to have moved about, and to have worked for various textile
mills. The details are:
1849, and 1851: living at corner of Wamen't and Mill, working for
Hamilton;
1853, and 1855: living on Pine, near Liberty, working for Fiske &
Norcross;
1858: living on Liberty above Pine (not clear if this is a change of
adress or description), working for Norcross;
1859: living on Pine near School, working for Norcross &
Co;
1861, living on Westford, corner of School, working for
Norcross;
1865, same address, occupation now listed as farmer.
In 1866 and 1868, at the same address, the head of the household is Mrs. Buttrick. I hope to find her obituary, and thereby discover his relatives, and early occupations.
But there is more! I found a second Nathan Buttrick lived in Lowell in 1851 (but not '49 or '53); he is a painter (apparently self-employed), living (not boarding) on School Street, near Pawtucket Street. This person is (at the moment) quite unknown to me.
Lowell City Directory, 1850 ff
History of Concord, written by Lemuel Shattuck, published by Russel, Odiorne, and Company, Boston, 1835
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Samuel Adams Drake, published by Estes and Lauriat Pub., 301 Washington St., Boston, 1880
Vital Records of Carlisle, Massachusetts to the end of the year
1849, published 1918 by The Essex Institute, Salem
This information is also available on the Web.
The information relating to "our" Nathan are from private records, namely a Bible in the possession of Mrs. A. G. Hood. Prior to 1849, most information was in private or church records; afterwards, government records are available.
Butrick, Butterick, Buttrick in the USA, 1635-1978, by Richard P. Buttrick
last revised and validated
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