I am accumulating information about my Philadelphia Butcher ancestors so was interested in your e-mail about a Philadelphia John Butcher. I do have Philadelphia John Butchers' in my background. The first ancestor I have is a John Butcher who was a preacher in the Friends Society from Oxfordshire and London England. He came to America in 1680 and settled as a colonist as a "Propreitor" of West New Jersey (Springfield Township, Burlington County), a settlement on the East side of the Delaware River just North of what was to become Philadelphia. He was one of the major land holders of the area and spent his life farming there. Living near John were his brothers, William and Thomas and a sister, Frances, who married John Antrum (Antrim?). The ancestor John Butcher had five children, Rebecca (became the wife of Job Ridgeway), Damaris (became the wife of Daniel Zelley), Sarah (became the wife of Joseph Ridgeway-a younger brother of Job), William (died unmarried abt 1728), and John Jr. (the eldest of the five and the only child with John's first wife whose name is not known). The other four children were from John's second marriage to Mary Walker (they were married in 1691). I have considerable information about descendants from this ancestor John Butcher. Basically, to get to Philadelphia, John Jr. had a son John III and the line continues: Job Butcher (b 1742, d 1819), Amos Wright Butcher (b 1781, d 1841), Washington Butcher (b 1815, d 1873), Henry Clay Butcher (b 1844, d 1938), Henry Clay Butcher Jr. (b. 1871, d 1918), Henry Clay Butcher III (b 1914, d 1942), Henry Clay Butcher IV (this is me). We may have an ancestral connection but I haven't found all of the children of all of these ancestors yet so I don't have any record of a Samuel in my lineage as yet. However, we may have a connection through the Philadelphia John Butchers. Perhaps some of the other respondants to your e-mail can add to this. By the way, much of this information comes from a very useful newspaper article about the Philadelphia Butchers published in The North American, Philadelphia, Sunday, July 12, 1908. THE PHILADELPHIA OF OUR ANCESTORS, by Frank Willing Leach. Old Philadelphia Families-LVIII-Butcher. Best of luck hunting! Henry (Harry) C. Butcher IV HB6621@aol.com