In This Article
His Story
On August 8, 1832, seventy-two-year-old Sherebiah Butts appeared before a probate judge in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. More than half a century had passed since the American Revolution, yet the aging veteran had come to seek recognition for his service in the struggle for American independence.
By then, Butts was living in South Hadley, Massachusetts, far removed in time from the days when he had served as a private in the Connecticut Line under Captain Bacon and Colonel Chester. His surviving pension records would ultimately credit him with one year of military service.
But Sherebiah’s story may be part of a larger family history of Revolutionary War service.
Genealogical records identify him as the probable son of Captain Sherebiah Butt of Canterbury, Connecticut, a militia officer whose reported service included the Lexington Alarm and the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. If confirmed, their relationship would connect two generations of the same family to the founding struggle of the United States.
The elder Sherebiah served during the opening campaigns of the Revolution, while the younger served as a private in Connecticut’s military forces. Their experiences, though separated by rank and circumstance, offer a glimpse into the families whose contributions helped secure American independence.
For the younger Sherebiah, much of that history survives not in a celebrated battlefield account, but in the pension documents he left behind—records that preserve the name and service of a soldier whose life might otherwise have been forgotten.
Early Life and Family
Sherebiah Butts was born around 1760, based on the age he gave in his 1832 pension declaration.
Genealogical research associates him with the family of Sherebiah Butt and Deborah Knight of Canterbury, Connecticut. The elder Sherebiah, generally dated 1733–1807, married Deborah Knight in 1759 according to published lineage accounts.
A son named Sherebiah, born about 1760, appears in accounts of this family. The agreement between that birth period and the pensioner’s age makes the identification plausible.
Nevertheless, matching names and approximate dates alone do not constitute conclusive proof. The connection should ultimately be established through contemporary birth, marriage, probate, or other family records.
The younger Sherebiah grew up during an era of increasing conflict between Great Britain and its American colonies. When fighting began at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, he would have been approximately fifteen years old.
A Revolutionary War Father and Son
The possible military service of two generations of the Butts family provides an important dimension to this biography.
The elder Sherebiah Butt, born in 1733, appears in published Revolutionary War lineage records as a Connecticut militia captain from Canterbury.
Those records credit him with commanding a company during the Lexington Alarm and with service associated with the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.
The Lexington Alarm followed the British expedition to Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. News of the fighting spread rapidly through New England, prompting militia companies from Connecticut and other colonies to mobilize.
The Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on June 17, 1775, demonstrated the determination of the colonial forces surrounding British-held Boston, even though the British ultimately occupied the battlefield.
The elder Sherebiah’s reported participation in these early events deserves further examination through Connecticut military rolls.
The younger Sherebiah’s own military record identifies him as a private under Captain Bacon and Colonel Chester. His service must be considered separately from his father’s reported activities.
There is presently no evidence in the reviewed pension transcription that father and son served in the same company or participated in the same battle.
What makes the family connection historically significant is the possibility that a father and his son each served the Revolutionary cause in different military roles.
Service in the Connecticut Line
Connecticut played a major role in the American Revolution, supplying men, military equipment, provisions, and organizational support to the Continental war effort.
Sherebiah Butts’s federal pension certificate identifies his service as that of a private in the Connecticut Line. It names Captain Bacon as his company commander and Colonel Chester as his regimental commander.
The certificate credits him with one year of service.
The available transcription does not establish his exact enlistment date, discharge date, movements, or battlefield participation.
The surnames Bacon and Chester are valuable clues. Connecticut Revolutionary War records include officers bearing these surnames, but additional comparison with muster rolls is necessary to establish the precise organization and period of Butts’s service.
Until that identification is secure, it would be misleading to assign him to a particular battle solely because a similarly named officer was present.
The strongest established fact remains the one recognized by the Pension Office: Sherebiah Butts served one year as a private under the named officers.
Life in Massachusetts
Although Butts served in a Connecticut military organization, he eventually made his home in Massachusetts.
By August 1832, he was a resident of South Hadley, a community in Hampshire County along the Connecticut River.
The surviving pension entries do not explain precisely when he left Connecticut or when he established his residence in South Hadley.
Genealogical accounts associated with his probable family contain references to both Connecticut and Massachusetts, suggesting avenues for further research into the family’s movements after the Revolution.
The distinction between his service state and residence state is important. His federal pension was recorded on the Massachusetts roll because that was where he lived, not because he necessarily served in a Massachusetts military unit.
The Pension Application of 1832
On June 7, 1832, Congress enacted a major Revolutionary War pension law providing benefits to eligible surviving veterans.
On August 8, 1832, Sherebiah Butts appeared before the Hampshire County probate court to make his declaration.
The surviving transcription identifies him as a seventy-two-year-old resident of South Hadley.
His pension certificate was issued on March 9, 1833. It recognized one year of service as a private in the Connecticut Line and established an annual pension of forty dollars.
The certificate recorded a pension commencement date of March 4, 1831. Its payment calculation listed eighty dollars in arrears and a twenty-dollar semiannual allowance, for a total of one hundred dollars.
The pension certificate was directed to J. C. Bates, identified in the document as a member of the House of Representatives.
These documents provide a valuable official record of Butts’s military service and his presence in South Hadley more than fifty years after the Revolution.
From His Account
The available transcription preserves the beginning of Sherebiah Butts’s declaration before the Hampshire County probate court.
August 8, 1832
“Sherebiah Butts resident of South Hadley in the County of Hampshire & Commonwealth of Massachusetts, aged Seventy two years”
This passage is the court’s introductory description of the applicant rather than a verbatim statement personally spoken by Butts.
The reviewed transcription does not include the complete declaration. It therefore cannot support a detailed first-person account of his marches, encampments, battles, or experiences.
Source: Revolutionary War Pension File S.29674, National Archives Identifier 54132561.
Military Service
| War | American Revolutionary War |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Military Organization | Connecticut Line |
| Rank | Private |
| Captain | Bacon; first name not established from the reviewed certificate |
| Colonel | Chester; first name not established from the reviewed certificate |
| Credited Service | One year |
| Specific Battles | Not established from reviewed pension entries |
| Pension Declaration | August 8, 1832 |
| Pension Certificate | March 9, 1833 |
| Annual Pension | $40 |
| Pension Number | S.29674 |
| National Archives ID | 54132561 |
Later Life and Burial
The final decades of Sherebiah Butts’s life remain incompletely documented.
He was living in South Hadley, Massachusetts, when he applied for his Revolutionary War pension in August 1832.
His pension was approved the following year, when he was approximately seventy-three years old.
Genealogical compilations identify a Sherebiah Butts who died in 1836, a date consistent with the general chronology of the pensioner.
A Find a Grave memorial has also been created for a man named Sherebiah Butts.
The memorial is an important research reference, potentially offering burial information, family relationships, and cemetery documentation. However, its full contents have not yet been independently examined for this article.
Consequently, the reported 1836 death year and the burial identification remain subject to confirmation against the memorial, gravestone evidence, and contemporary records.
Find a Grave Memorial
Sherebiah Butts
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 248732613
View Sherebiah Butts’s Find a Grave Memorial
Research note: The memorial is supplied as a genealogical reference. The cemetery name, grave inscription, and any family links shown on the memorial should be checked directly before being treated as verified facts.
Family and Descendants
Father: Captain Sherebiah Butt
Genealogical sources identify the younger Sherebiah as a probable son of Captain Sherebiah Butt, generally dated 1733–1807.
The elder Sherebiah was associated with Canterbury, Connecticut, and appears in Revolutionary War lineage literature as a militia captain.
His reported service includes the Lexington Alarm and the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The father-son identification is supported by the existence of a son of the appropriate name and approximate age in published family accounts, but should be confirmed through original records.
Mother: Deborah Knight
Deborah Knight, generally dated 1735–1824, is identified in genealogical accounts as the wife of the elder Sherebiah Butt.
Their marriage is reported as having taken place on January 3, 1759.
If the younger Sherebiah’s identification with this family is confirmed, Deborah Knight would be his mother.
Wife: Lydia Pettingill
Genealogical compilations identify Lydia Pettingill, reportedly born in 1760 and deceased in 1826, as the wife of Sherebiah Butts.
This identification is consistent with the chronology of the pensioner, but the reviewed pension transcription does not independently name his wife.
A marriage record or other contemporary document connecting Lydia to the South Hadley pensioner would strengthen the identification.
Children and Descendants
Secondary genealogical accounts associate Sherebiah Butts and Lydia Pettingill with children including:
- Hannah Butts
- Asaph Butts
- Seth Butts
- Simon Butts
- Orelia Butts
- Elias P. Butts
- Lydia Butts
- Betsy Butts
These names are presented as genealogical research leads, not as independently established children of the pensioner.
One especially promising lead concerns Seth Butts, reportedly born in Canterbury, Connecticut, in 1789 and deceased in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1798.
If supported by original records, this association could help document the family’s movement from Connecticut to Massachusetts.
The Find a Grave memorial may provide additional family connections that can be compared against these accounts.
Original Sources and Historical Note
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National Archives — Revolutionary War Pension File S.29674.
National Archives Identifier 54132561. Primary documentation of Sherebiah Butts’s recognized Connecticut military service and his Massachusetts pension.
National Archives record - Hampshire County Probate Court — Pension Declaration, August 8, 1832. Identifies Sherebiah Butts as a seventy-two-year-old resident of South Hadley, Massachusetts. Transcription image 4154276_00756.jpg.
- United States Pension Office — Certificate of March 9, 1833. Records his service as a private under Captain Bacon and Colonel Chester, with one year of credited service and an annual pension of forty dollars. Transcription image 4154276_00755.jpg.
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Find a Grave — Sherebiah Butts.
Memorial number 248732613. Genealogical and burial research reference provided for this biography. The memorial’s underlying details have not yet been independently verified.
View memorial - Published Revolutionary War lineage and family histories. Secondary accounts identifying Captain Sherebiah Butt (1733–1807), Deborah Knight, and a son named Sherebiah born around 1760. Original family and military records should be consulted to confirm the connection.
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FamilySearch — Seth Butts (1789–1798).
Genealogical profile associating Seth with Sherebiah Butts and Lydia Pettingill.
View genealogical profile
Historical Note
Identity: This article concerns Sherebiah Butts, the seventy-two-year-old Revolutionary War pension applicant living in South Hadley in 1832. He must not be confused with the older Captain Sherebiah Butt, born in 1733.
Father-son relationship: Published genealogical accounts support the proposed connection between the two men. The relationship is presented as probable pending examination of original records.
Military service: The younger man’s documented pension service was in the Connecticut Line. His father’s reported participation at Lexington and Bunker Hill must not be attributed to the son.
Marriage and children: Lydia Pettingill and the children named in genealogical compilations remain provisional identifications.
Death and burial: The reported death year of 1836 and Find a Grave memorial number 248732613 are research leads. The specific cemetery and grave have not been independently verified for this article.
Sources: The pension transcription establishes the younger Sherebiah’s age, 1832 residence, military organization, rank, officers, credited service, and pension award. Family connections come from separate genealogical sources and are distinguished accordingly.
Portrait: The image displayed above is a historical illustration, not an authenticated likeness of Sherebiah Butts.