Lewis J. Butler

1. Lewis James Butler was the youngest son of William and Elizabeth Butler (née Cooke). He was the brother of Elizabeth Butler (1784), John Laforey Butler (1786-1848) (q.v.), William Henry Butler (1781-1822), Margaret Pearson Butler (1797-1868).

2. Lewis was made an executor of his mother's will along with George White, while Margaret Pearson (q.v.), a widow and Elizabeth's friend, was made an executrix. Lewis was joint beneficiary with his sister Margaret Pearson Butler of Elizabeth's land, house and furniture. In the will, Elizabeth also left 'a mulatto boy named Sam' to Lewis and a 'mulatto girl named Grace' to Margaret.

3. The 1832 Antigua Slave Register showed Lewis J. Butler as executor under the will of Elizabeth Butler deceased. Two enslaved people are listed: Alicia, who was 13 and nine months, and Rachel who was 49 years old.

4. Lewis also represented his sister’s interests. In the 1817 register he was Margaret's acting guardian. She was listed as the proprietor of six enslaved persons including Maria aged 29, Margaret aged 10, Ann aged 20, Eliza aged 8, Grace Cornwell aged 11, and William Aska aged 4.

5. The 1821 register shows that Maria, Eliza, and William Aska were sold to Sarah Blair, Margaret was sold to Ann Baker and Ann was ‘given up to the Collector of His Majesty’s Customs in consequence of his informing me that she had been imported in to the Island contrary to the Abolition Act, by the late Hugh Mackay deceased by whom she was conveyed to Margaret Butler on the 11th March 1812 by a deed of gift.’

6. In the 1824 register Lewis J Butler was attorney to Margaret Pearson Butler, who was listed as the ‘owner’ of Grace Cornwall who was by that time 18 years old.

7. Many of the above named enslaved persons were mentioned in a undated letter written by Ann Done (Dow), believed to be an enslaved girl, to Margaret Pearson Butler who was away in school in Britain. Depending on the date of the letter, some of the people mentioned may be the children of Lewis Butler and enslaved women.

8. Some of Lewis' children include William who was born in 1817 to Peggy "property of Joseph S Warner"; Elizabeth who was born in 1818 to Sarah Harman "mulatto, property of Margaret Harny" [Harney]; and Margaret also born to Sarah Harman in 1822.

9. Sarah can be found on the 1821 Antigua Slave Register.

10. Peggy can be found in the 1817, 1821, 1824, 1828, and 1832 registers. Meanwhile, William is shown to be eight months old in the 1817 register, but has died by the 1821 return.

1. Butler Family Tree, Butler Family.

2. Will of Elizabeth Butler, Butler Family - a copy can be found in the Antigua and Barbuda National Archives.

3. Antigua Slave Register 1832 (TNA T71/250/96), Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database online].

4. Antigua Slave Register 1817 (TNA T71/245/25), Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database online].

5. Antigua Slave Register 1821 (TNA T71/247/15), Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database online].

6. Antigua Slave Register 1824 (TNA T71/248/107), Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database online].

7. Undated letter from Anne Done (Dow) to Margaret Pearson Butler.

8. St Johns Registers of Marriages and Baptisms, Antigua and Barbuda National Archives.

9. Antigua Slave Register 1821 (TNA T71/247/176), Ancestry.com, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 [database online].

10. Antigua Slave Register 1817 (TNA T71/245/166); Antigua Slave Register 1821 (TNA T71/246/660).

We are grateful to Michael Butler for his assistance in compiling this entry.