William Butten

William Butten was called "a youth" by Gov. William Bradford in his passenger list of the Mayflower.  He came as a servant with the family of doctor Samuel Fuller.  He was the only Mayflower passenger to die during the voyage itself--just three days before land was sighted.

William Butten's English origins remain unknown.  There were a couple of William Buttens baptized in William Bradford's home parish of Austerfield, co. Yorks, but they are all for men that would have been in their 20s or 30s and thus unlikely to have been referred to as "a youth."  There is a William Button, son of John, baptized on 13 March 1605 in Worksop, co. Nottingham, which is where some of the original Separatists met prior to fleeing to Holland.  This individual might be a good candidate, but there is no evidence (beyond name and age, which could be just coincidental) to support this identification.