Person:Thomas Butts (1)

DAR/WPA Interview

Preface On behalf of the Major Molly chapter D.A.R. of Hamilton, Mo. it gives me great pleasure to submit to the historian of the D.A.R. of the state of Missouri this collection of interviews with old citizens, numbering 181. This collection of 181 interviews while a time consuming project, has been a pleasant and instructive procedure. When the Major Molly chapter in 1934 compiled a collection of 150 interviews for the 1934 conference, the main interviewer realized that the work was far from completed. This year, after spending another year on the same sort of work, she again realizes that there is much to be done in gaining information from the old folks before they leave us. Further study may bring even richer results in knowledge of local history. One of the best results yet seen is the interest which has been aroused in our own local history. People are eager to tell their family history as it relates to the county. By this means, we hope to do our part in arousing interest in the coming celebration in 1936 of the hundredth anniversary of the organization of Caldwell county. (Miss) Bertha Ellis Booth Major Molly Chapter Hamilton, Missouri DOCTOR LEWIS BUTTS, EX-SLAVE Narrator: James McGill, Hamilton Lewis Butts was a slave, the possession of Thomas Butts of Kingston Township. As such, he had no education except what he gained through memory or observation. During the war, he lived partly in Kingston Township, partly in Hamilton. After he received his freedom, he stayed on in Hamilton. Here he died 1897. No one knew exactly how old he was, but he was considered one of the oldest Negroes in the county. Some said he was 100, at any rate, he always looked very old, as one thinks back on his white wooly head, wrinkled face and bowed back. Some called him Uncle Lewis, some called him Doc Butts because he actually did compound simple remedies. He and his wife Aunt Cynthy lived in a low white washed house with boards running up and down in the east end of town, near the Eldredge home. He knew old old Hamilton when it was just one solitary house on the prairie (A.G. Davis house), and he saw it grow to about 1700. He talked much about things before the war. He was much older than Jim McGill, the narrator also a colored man, ex-slave. Jim McGill spoke of him with a great deal of respect. In the 70s and 80s, he supported himself and wife by a variety of ways. He owned his own place and raised garden truck to sell from door to door, he peddled horseradish, and gathered wild nuts to sell or wild herbs for his medicines. His wife was a fine washerwoman and he delivered the clothes by carrying the big basket on his head with one hand up, a thing you rarely see now, even among the colored folks. Then on certain days of each week, he was employed at the printing office of the Hamiltonian in inking and turning the hand press, and when not on duty, he loafed around telling stories or giving his philosophy of life. (The printers often printed this as fillers.) He was one of the remnants of old slave days, and in his words, manners and ideas never forgot to be very polite to the white folks. His wife Aunt Lizy, died in Chillicothe about 1907, and about all the colored population of Hamilton bought train tickets that day to go to the funeral. They had three boys, Jim, (well known character in the 80s), Wilbur and Henry. Julius Butts, favorite house cleaner two decades ago was a grandson. Interview 1934. Interviewer's note: Eva Glasener whose mother came here about 1865, declared that Uncle Lewis Butts was one of their best neighbors when they moved here and lived near him, and this too, despite the fact that he was black.

Census

U.S. Federal Census 1830 Anderson County, Kentucky, Page 92 Thomas Butts Males Females No Slaves 10-15, 20-30 0-5, 20-30 1 1 2 1 U.S. Federal Census 1840 Ray County, Missouri Page 336 Tho. N. Butts Males Females 10-15, 60-70 10-15, 15-20, 40-50 1 1 1 1 1 U.S. Federal Census 1850 Caldwell County, Missouri Page 179 Family 136 Butts, Thos. 46 M Virginia Harriet 41 F Kentucky Saml . 15 M Missouri William 12 M Missouri Octavia 10 F Missouri Sarah 7 F Missouri Jackson 5 M Missouri Elliss, Jessie 70 M Maryland James, Alice 1 F Missouri U.S. Federal Census 1860 Caldwell County, Missouri Family 24 Butts, T.N. 56 M Virginia Harriet 52 F Kentucky W.M. 22 M Missouri S.F. 16 F Missouri T.J. 13 M Missouri Mumpower, J.M. 25 M Illinois

Research Notes

Mormon War The 1830s brought a time of religious conflict to Missouri when western Missouri counties swelled with Mormon migration. In 1831, the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation from God identifying Jackson County as the location of Christ's return. In obedience to God's word the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as the church later came to be known) set about forming a communitarian settlement they named Far West. Mormon clannishness and rapidly rising numbers, however, frightened non- members who believed they would soon be pushed off their land. Eventually, the "old settlers," as they styled themselves, attacked and drove "the Saints" into Clay County, where the local citizens received them sympathetically for what they believed would be a temporary stay. When it became obvious that a permanent Mormon community seemed likely, the troubles began again. Clay County citizens requested removal of the Mormons in 1836. In response, the state legislature created Daviess and Caldwell counties, with the understanding by many that the Mormons would settle in Caldwell County. Mormon settlers, however, felt no such obligation and members soon spread to Carroll, Clinton, Daviess, Chariton, and Livingston counties. Distrust, fear, and soon fiery rhetoric on both sides again emerged. Eventually, open warfare, including raids and individual acts of violence, broke out between the Mormons and non-Mormon neighbors. Governor Lilburn Boggs called the militia to settle the problem. He also issued Executive Order No. 44, of doubtful legality, it declared, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for public peace..." Under duress, the Mormons signed away their Missouri property and organized a move to Illinois.

1. ↑ Undocumented Research Notes
   12/29/06.

   Full name may be Thomas Nugent Oder Butts

2. ↑ Marilyn Williams; updated by David Bethel 2004. Kingston Cemetery, March 1986. (The Kingston Cemetery Board)
   12/29/06.

   Cemetery Headstone - D. Jan. 26, 1864 aged 59 ys., 6 ms., 25 ds.

3. ↑ Missouri State Archives. Soldiers Database. (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/soldiers/).
4. ↑ Notes
   
   Name: Butts, Thomas N.
   Rank:2nd Sergeant
   Conflict: Mormon War
   Name of Unit:Capt. Samuel S. Bogart's Company Mounted Volunteers
   Alternate Unit Name:3rdCompany:
   Muster In:10/4/1838
   Muster Out:11/25/1838
   Note: Brig. Gen. Park's Command
   Record Group: Office of Adjutant General
   Series Title: Record of Service Card, Mormon War, 1838Box:Reel:
5. ↑ Research Notes
   
   Mormon War
   The 1830s brought a time of religious conflict to Missouri when western Missouri counties swelled with Mormon migration. In 1831, the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation from God identifying Jackson County as the location of Christ's return. In obedience to God's word the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as the church later came to be known) set about forming a communitarian settlement they named Far West. Mormon clannishness and rapidly rising numbers, however, frightened non-members who believed they would soon be pushed off their land. Eventually, the "old settlers," as they styled themselves, attacked and drove "the Saints" into Clay County, where the local citizens received them sympathetically for what they believed would be a temporary stay. When it became obvious that a permanent Mormon community seemed likely, the troubles began again. Clay County citizens requested removal of the Mormons in 1836. In response, the state legislature created Daviess and Caldwell counties, with the understanding by many that the Mormons would settle in Caldwell County. Mormon settlers, however, felt no such obligation and members soon spread to Carroll, Clinton, Daviess, Chariton, and Livingston counties. Distrust, fear, and soon fiery rhetoric on both sides again emerged. Eventually, open warfare, including raids and individual acts of violence, broke out between the Mormons and non-Mormon neighbors. Governor Lilburn Boggs called the militia to settle the problem. He also issued Executive Order No. 44, of doubtful legality, it declared, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for public peace..." Under duress, the Mormons signed away their Missouri property and organized a move to Illinois.