John Marten Butt (174)

John Marten Butt (14 October 1738–18 October 1769) was a physician and a member of the American Philosophical Society via his 1768 election to the American Society. He was born in Lichfield, England, and in 1760 earned an M.D. degree at Edinburgh University, where he met a number of future APS members, including Dr. John Morgan. Butt’s sole publication was his M.D. thesis, which was highly praised by Morgan and translated at his request so it could become part of his medical lectures. In 1762, Butt matriculated to St. Mary Hall, Oxford, perhaps with the intention of becoming a clergyman. But by the fall of 1763 he had relocated to Jamaica. He shared a short paper on the vegetating fly of Dominica with the Bishop of Carlisle, who forwarded it to the Royal Society of London. The paper was read at a Royal Society meeting in 1764, and Butt was elected a fellow three years later. He was also an honorary member of the Medical Society of Edinburgh. He died unexpectedly in England in 1769 shortly after his return from Jamaica. His father-in-law Fortunatus Dwarris was an APS member. (PI)