John Newton Butler (1841-1923) was born near Cincinnati, Ohio to Isaac Newton Butler (circa 1805-1882) and Nancy Gibson Butler (circa 1815-1850). During the American Civil War Butler enlisted for a three year period and was assigned to Company G 39th, Ohio Infantry. While serving in the US Army, Butler was under the command of General Grant with the western army, and was wounded on July 4, 1864 during General Sherman's famous march to the sea.
Butler then returned home and married Jennie Dickey (1844 -1911) on December 24, 1867. They had four children who lived to adulthood: Cora A. Butler Gage (1869-1958), Frank G. Butler ( -1944), John Butler (1872 -1896), and Alfred Dickey Butler (1878-1941). John Butler taught classes in Eugene, Oregon for a short period of time before relocating his family to a farm in Spokane, Washington in 1877. Between 1900 and1906, he served as a County Commissioner of Spokane County, Washington. Following his wife's death in 1911, Butler remarried in 1914 to Rebecca J. Brown.
Cora A. Butler Gage (1869-1958) graduated from Cheney State Normal School and began a teaching career. She taught in Honolulu, Hawaii for five years before moving to the State of Washington. She married Andrew J. Gage (1861-1951) and served as principal of the Garden Springs Elementary School in Spokane, Washington.
Alfred Dickey Butler (1878-1941) graduated from Spokane High School and attended Washington State College, where he earned his degree in civil engineering. He worked for the Great Northern Railway engineering department before becoming the Spokane City Engineer, a position he held for 24 years. He was married to Zella Elvira Bisbee Butler (1881-1941) who also attended Washington State College, 1901-1904.
This collection consists of correspondence, clippings, photographs, certificates, and other papers of the Butler Family, including Civil War reminiscences of John Newton Butler, pioneer reminiscences of Cora A. Butler Gage, genealogy of the Meeds family, historical materials on the Methodist Church in Spokane, Washington compiled by Zella Elvira Bisbee Butler, and a scrapbook, created by Zella Butler, of photographs and mementos from her student days at Washington State University, 1901-1904.
The scrapbook assembled by Zella Butler contains photographs of WSU's campus, clubs, teams, etc. There are two student handbooks, dating 1902-1904. Also includes memorabilia from Zella Butler's Golden Grad weekend in 1954.
This collection is arranged in a single series with the scrapbook located at the end of the series.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply.
Butler Family Papers, circa 1841-1958
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Washington State University Libraries Pullman, WA
This collection was donated to the Washington State University Libraries circa 1966 by Alfred and Ava Butler. Alfred Butler was John Newton Butler's grandson.
Cora A. Butler Papers, 1905-1927 (Cage 3063).