William Ward Butler, 18521924 (aged 71 years)

Name
William Ward /Butler/
Nickname
Billy
Birth
Source: Headstone
Text:

Supreme Woodman of the World

Death of a paternal grandfather
Source: 1850 Census
Citation details: Shelby Co. AL
Text:

died after 1850 census.

Marriage of a parent
Death of a mother
Birth of a half-brother
Birth of a half-brother
Birth of a half-brother
Source: 1900 census
Birth of a half-brother
Census
Death of a paternal grandmother
Source: 1860 census
Citation details: Fayette Co. AL
Text:

died after 1860 census

Birth of a half-sister
Marriage
Citation details: 14
Text:

Geo Harrell, M. G.

Birth of a son
Census
Occupation
Methodist evangelist
between 1874 and 1924
Death of a brother
between 1880 and 1900
Birth of a daughter
Death of a daughter
Source: Headstone
Text:

"Dau. of Rev. W. W. & M. E. Butler"

Death of a wife
Marriage
Citation details: 14
Text:

J. G. Burks, M. G.

Marriage
Source: Family Bible
Birth of a daughter
Death of a daughter
Birth of a daughter
Death of a daughter
Source: Headstone
Birth of a son
Birth of a daughter
Death of a half-brother
Source: Headstone
Birth of a daughter
Death of a father
Birth of a son
Birth of a son
Death of a daughter
Death of a daughter
Source: Headstone
Birth of a son
Birth of a son
Death of a sister
Birth of a son
Census
Birth of a son
Death of a son
Birth of a son
Marriage of a son
Citation details: 14
Text:

J. B. Jones, J. P.

Marriage of a son
Birth of a daughter
Marriage of a daughter
Death of a brother
Census
Occupation
Farmer
1910
Death of a daughter
Marriage of a son
Text:

Jan 1900 - May 1923, Copyright 2000 by Natalie Huntley(NHuntley@aol.com)

Death of a brother
Burial of a half-brother
Marriage of a son
Census
Occupation
Farmer
1920
Residence
Death of a half-brother
Source: Headstone
Citation details: Ivey Cemetery
Text:

"1859-1918, Father"

Death of a half-brother
Source: Headstone
Marriage of a son
Marriage of a son
Death of a son
Burial of a son
Burial of a father
Death
Burial
Family with parents
father
Land Patent
18131900
Birth: about 1813 27 21 probably Elbert Co. GA
Death: between 1891 and 1900Decatur Co. TN
mother
18151854
Birth: about 1815 45 South Carolina
Death: between 1852 and 1854Winston Co. MS
elder brother
18371900
Birth: about 1837 24 22 Alabama
Death: between 1880 and 1900
4 years
elder brother
18401916
Birth: September 3, 1840 27 25 Alabama
Death: August 13, 1916Paragould, Greene Co. AR
4 years
elder sister
1844
Birth: about 1844 31 29 Alabama
3 years
elder brother
James M. "Jimmy" Butler (1846 - 1907)
18461907
Birth: June 1846 33 31 Alabama
Death: before 1907St. Francis, Clay Co. AR
4 years
elder sister
18491896
Birth: about 1849 36 34 Winston Co. MS
Death: before 1896
21 months
elder brother
1850
Birth: September 1850 37 35 Winston Co. MS
2 years
himself
18521924
Birth: October 8, 1852 39 37 Winston Co. MS
Death: June 19, 1924District 6, Crockett Co. TN
Father’s family with Amanda Bishop
father
Land Patent
18131900
Birth: about 1813 27 21 probably Elbert Co. GA
Death: between 1891 and 1900Decatur Co. TN
stepmother
Amanda Bishop Butler
18281910
Birth: September 1828Alabama
Death: between 1900 and 1910Decatur Co. TN
Marriage MarriageAugust 1, 1854Coosa Co. AL
-3 years
half-sister
18511936
Birth: February 11, 1851 38 22 Coosa Co. AL
Death: April 15, 1936District 4, Decatur Co. TN
4 years
half-brother
18551920
Birth: July 2, 1855 42 26 Alabama
Death: August 2, 1920Decatur Co. TN
19 months
half-brother
18571918
Birth: January 21, 1857 44 28 Walker Co. AL
Death: April 19, 1918Decatur Co. TN
3 years
half-brother
18591889
Birth: December 23, 1859 46 31 Walker Co. AL
Death: February 18, 1889Decatur Co. TN
2 years
half-sister
18621944
Birth: January 8, 1862 49 33 Tuscumbia, Franklin Co. AL (now Colbert Co. AL)
Death: October 27, 1944Memphis, Shelby Co. TN
Family with Eliza Julita Edwards
himself
18521924
Birth: October 8, 1852 39 37 Winston Co. MS
Death: June 19, 1924District 6, Crockett Co. TN
wife
18661936
Birth: October 13, 1866 37 23 Decatur Co. TN
Death: February 19, 1936Crockett Co. TN
Marriage MarriageNovember 2, 1882Decatur Co. TN
Marriage MarriageNovember 15, 1882Dunbar, Decatur Co. TN
2 years
daughter
18841885
Birth: December 18, 1884 32 18
Death: January 8, 1885
20 months
son
18861947
Birth: June 17, 1886 33 19 Scotts Hill, Henderson Co. TN
Death: August 7, 1947Memphis, Shelby Co. TN
2 years
daughter
18881951
Birth: July 9, 1888 35 21 Tennessee
Death: 1951
17 months
daughter
18891892
Birth: December 4, 1889 37 23
Death: September 14, 1892
15 months
son
18911964
Birth: March 8, 1891 38 24 Scotts Hill, TN
Death: July 24, 1964
2 years
son
18931970
Birth: July 28, 1893 40 26 Tennessee
Death: January 25, 1970
17 months
son
18941924
Birth: December 25, 1894 42 28 Scotts Hill, Decatur Co. TN
Death: June 6, 1924Bells, Crockett Co. TN
4 years
son
18981955
Birth: July 18, 1898 45 31 Tennessee
Death: September 8, 1955
19 months
son
19001900
Birth: January 30, 1900 47 33 Tennessee
Death: August 20, 1900
3 years
son
19021985
Birth: September 1, 1902 49 35 Scotts Hill, Henderson Co. TN
Death: March 26, 1985Lexington, Henderson Co. TN
3 years
daughter
19061911
Birth: January 7, 1906 53 39
Death: October 30, 1911Crockett Co. TN
Family with Martha E. Stanfill
himself
18521924
Birth: October 8, 1852 39 37 Winston Co. MS
Death: June 19, 1924District 6, Crockett Co. TN
wife
18621880
Birth: about 1862 25 19 Tennessee
Death: about 1880
Marriage MarriageDecember 4, 1877Decatur Co. TN
10 months
son
18781945
Birth: September 17, 1878 25 16 Decatur Co. TN
Death: November 30, 1945Lexington, Henderson Co. TN
21 months
daughter
18801880
Birth: June 18, 1880 27 18
Death: July 10, 1880
Birth
Source: Headstone
Text:

Supreme Woodman of the World

Marriage
Citation details: 14
Text:

Geo Harrell, M. G.

Marriage
Citation details: 14
Text:

J. G. Burks, M. G.

Marriage
Source: Family Bible
Shared note

William Ward Butler was born in 1852 in Winston Co. MS as the seventh child of James M. Butler and Sarah Crawford. Billy's Mother died shortly after his birth. In 1857, Billy moved with his father and step-mother Amanda Bishop to Walker Co. AL to live on a land patent purchased by her father. In 1861, Billy moved with the family to northern Alabama. By 1870, Billy had moved to Decatur Co. TN along with his parents and several siblings.

Billy married Martha Stanfill in Decatur Co. TN in 1877. They had one surviving son, Elbert Eldest Butler and a daughter Alice who died shortly after birth and is buried at the Sardis Cemetery. E. E. Butler finished a scientific course at Scotts Hill College, and was one of the first rural mail carriers in Scotts Hill, TN. He later entered the grocery business in Lexington, TN and continued in this business for 25 years.

Martha died shortly after Alice's birth in 1880 and is probably buried at the Sardis Cemetery in Henderson Co. TN. Billy married the orphan, Eliza Julita Edwards in 1882 in Decatur Co. TN. Billy and Eliza had eleven children - Sallie, William Festus, Mary Louise, Nora, Joseph Lewis, Robert L., John T., George Washington, James Ernest, Charles Paul and Thelma Inez. Sallie, Nora and James died young and are buried at the Scotts Hill Methodist Cemetery in Scotts Hill, Tennessee.

Billy was a farmer and lay preacher/evangelist in the Scotts Hill area starting in the 1870's. He preached at the early Scotts Hill Methodist Church. He was admitted to the Lexington District of the Memphis Conference on trial in 1889 and discontinued from trial in 1891. He remained a lay preacher associated with the Scotts Hill mission and performed several marriages in Decatur Co. between 1890 and 1907.

By 1910, Billy and Eliza had moved their family to Crockett Co. where Billy continued to work as a farmer and serve as a lay preacher for the Methodist Church. Their daughter Thelma died at age five in Crockett Co. in 1911 and was returned by a horse drawn hearse to be buried at the Scotts Hill Methodist Cemetery in Decatur Co. TN.

From 1911 to 1914, Billy was assigned to the Gadsden Circuit of the Brownsville District of the Methodist Church. From 1915 to 1924, he was assigned to the Alamo Circuit of the Brownsville District.

Billy had a sad ending to his life. Billy's son, John T., ended his life and two others in a tragic murder-suicide in 1924. Billy died within two weeks of this tragic episode and is buried at the Belleview Cemetery in Crockett Co. TN.

Billy's many descendants include teachers, merchants, pubic servants and a variety of business people who were all productive and successful members of society.

From The History of Scotts Hill, Tennessee, Gordon H. Turner, Sr., (Carter Printing Company, Southaven, Mississippi, 1977):

Methodists erected a meeting house and began worship across the road from present Bethel Cemetery. It was called the Bethel Methodist Church and whether the church or the cemetery came first may never be known. The church dates from about 1843.

The Bethel Methodist church was well organized and growing before the Civil War. After the war, more and more people were moving into the little town proper. About 1885 Bethel Methodists erected a frame meeting house on the site of the present building donated by Edd Austin and the congregation moved to meet and worship there.

Other early Methodist membership names -- individuals or families -- before and since 1900, included: Tom and George Smith, Nat Huggins, Dr. W. B. Keeton, the Bagbys, Brights, Davidsons, Austins, McCollums, Waltons, Whites, Butlers and others.

In 1943-44 a pretty concrete block building replaced the worn and leaning frame house. The Pastor, John P. Murphy, worked mightily also with his hands, assisted much by Dee McCollum, Jim S. Walton and others. Other well-known preachers and leaders through the years were: Billy Butler, O. H. Lafferty, and the Treadwells, Flatts, Gilliams, etc.

Marriages performed by William W. Butler in Decatur Co. TN
Decatur County Marriage Records 1869-1921
Page 4
A. F. Austin, Mary Kincannon, 11-20-1901, W. W. Butler, MG
P. L. Brasher, Virgie Davison, 12-20-1897, W. W. Butler, MG
Page 59
George C. McClearen, Lillian Wright, 12-25-1905, W. W. Butler, LE
Page 61
N. R. Marr, V. A. Butler, 4-17-1890, Wm. W. Butler, MG
Page 62
Z. T. Meggs, Authand E. Herndon, 3-17-1896, W. W. Butler
Page 77
Jasper Rickets, Annie Williamson, 2-23-1903, W. W. Butler, MG
Page 85
Ed Stout, Alley Tuck, 8-20-1904, W. W. Butler, MG
Page 86
W. T. Stuberfield, Maude E. Kirk, 11-7-1907, W. W. Butler, MG
Page 101
Guy Yarboro, Clara Swift, 3-30-1905, W. W. Butler, MG

The archives of the Memphis Conference of the United Methodist Church indicate that William W. Butler was admitted to the Lexington District of the Memphis Conference on trial in 1889 and discontinued in 1891. In 1911, he was listed as a local preacher in the Memphis conference.

Minutes of the Fiftieth Annual Session of the Memphis Conference of the M. E. Church, South 1889
Page 12-13
Ques. 1. Who are admitted on trial into the traveling connection?
Ans. <deleted Wm. W. Butler, of Sardis circuit, Lexington district; <deleted having been recommended by their respective quarterly conferences, and having stood an approved examination before the committee, were admitted on trial.
Page 28
LEXINGTON DISTRICT
Sardis ct, W. W. Butler

Minutes of the Fifty-First Annual Session of the Memphis Conference of the M. E. Church, South 1890
Page 16
Ques. 2. Who remain on trial?
Ans. <deleted Wm. W. Butler <deleted having passed in examination of character, and being approved by the committee, were continued on trial.
Page 30
LEXINGTON DISTRICT
Scott's Hill mission ---W W Butler.

Minutes of the Fifty-First Annual Session of the Memphis Conference of the M. E. Church, South 1891
Page 15
Ques 3. Who are discontinued?
Ans. Wm. W. Butler

DIRECTORY OF LOCAL PREACHERS. 1911
Brownsville District.
W. W. Butler, L. E., Gadsden, Tenn., R. F. D.

MEMPHIS CONFERENCE YEAR BOOK 1921
Directory of Local Preachers
Page 16
Butler, W. W.
Grade E
Post Office Bells, R. F. D. 3
Brownsville District
Alamo Circuit

Funeral of Rev. W. W. Butler
Interment in Belleview Cemetery
In our last week's issue a brief announcement appeared of the death of Rev. W. W. Butler, which occurred at his home near Cypress church, where he had resided for the past seventeen years. He moved from Scott's Hill, Henderson County, to the place where he succumbed, after a long and useful life. He was a faithful, earnest and successful Minister of the Southern Methodist church for near fifty years. He is survived by a lonely companion, six sons and one daughter. Funeral services were held in the Methodist church in Bells, Friday morning, June 20th, by his pastor, Rev. E. L. Robinson, assisted by Rev. C. C. Newbill and J. C. W. Nunn. Brief tributes of respect and love were also paid by Esq. F. M. Goldsmith, a long co-laborer and close friend, and Revs. Bryant, Hope and Maxedon, pastors of the Presbyterian, Christian and Methodist churches, respectively, of Humboldt. But few funeral services so impressive, so full of deep sympathy, have been held in this place for the past twenty-five years. After the services at the church, his body was taken in charge by his Masonic brethren of the Alamo Lodge, assisted by members from Bells and Humboldt, and impressive burial services conducted at the grave. Rare, numerous, beautiful and fragrant floral offerings covered the grave, underneath resting the body of a loyal, true soldier of the Cross. May the Good Spirit be your constant help in this time of deep sorrow, is the united prayer of hosts of friends, bereaved companion, children, grand-children and other near relatives of this departed servant of God.

Compiled by Jerry Butler, source: Mary Butler Curry.

Death