107 Main Street

This house stands on a small, shallow lot on the west side of Main Street.

Notable Features

The plain, trim facade central doorway is surmounted by a convex doorhood •
The double leaf, moulded panel doors each have replacement toplights.
Full windows are 8/12 sash.
A shed-roofed addition is attached to the northwest corner.

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Historical or Architectural Importance

The Jeremiah Butler House is a three-bay, 2 1/2 story Colonial period double-overhang building, erected c. 1775. Its wooden post-and-beam frame has a wood-shingled gable roof with a replacement painted brick central chimney, clapboarding, and a cut sandstone foundation. In 1772, Isaac Jones of Milford sold this lot to Jeremiah Butler. When Butler finally conveyed the property to Guernsey Bates forty years later, it had a dwelling house upon it. The house was owned by the Parsons family from 1839 until this century. Jeremiah Butler was one of Durham’s leading citizens and a prosperous shoemaker. As a lieutenant, he was chosen in 1782 to be a member of a committee
“… to procure able bodied men to serve in a Regiment ordered by the General Assembly … to be raised for the defense of Horse Neck and the western frontier.” (Fowler, 1866,
pp. 143-144). In 1805 he served as a Durham representative in the state General Assembly. His prosperity did not last, however, for like many of the town’s shoemakers,
he was caught up in the turbulence of the early national economy. In 1831 judgements were delivered against him for unpaid debts, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
The Jeremiah Butler House is an example of classic Colonial period architecture.