CONSUL WILSHIRE BUTTERFIELD-HISTORIAN.
BY W. H. HUNTER. Consul Wilshire Butterfield, the famous Historian, was born near the village of Colosse, Oswego County, New York, July 28, 1824. He was of Knickerbocker stock, his father's peo- |
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ple coming to America in 1634. His parents, Amroy Butter- field and Mary Lamb Butterfield, immigrated from Brattleboro, Vermont, to the State of New York. Consul Wilshire Butterfield died at his home in South Omaha, Nebraska, on,Monday, September 25, 1899. At noon Mr. Butterfield appeared to be in usual exuberant spirits and was apparently in good health. Shortly after two o'clock he decided to visit his near neighbor, Mr. O'Connor, and while he was ascending the steps to the O'Connor residence was stricken with a sinking spell, from which he never rallied. When it was known that Mr. Butterfield was seriously ill, neighbors corveyed (177) |
178 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
him to his home and summoned a
physician, who pronounced
life extinct on his arrival.
Ripe in years he passed to his reward;
and thus ended the
earthly career of a man whose
achievements marked him as a
genius and his memory will be cherished
as long as letters are
a factor of progress. When he died a
noble spirit took its
"earthless flight"; a lovable
husband was taken from a happy
home; a kind father was separated from a
daughter who cher-
ished every fiber of his being.
Mr. Butterfield lived a long and busy
life. He was even at
work when came the summons that called
his spirit hence.
While Mr. Butterfield stood alone as
writer of American
history that has relation to the
American Indian and the Pio-
neer, he was the most modest of men. He
never sought re-
nown. He loved his fellows, and his work
was his pleasure.
In a letter to the writer he said his
whole ambition was
to record the truth to this end his life
was consecrated, and
his many historical works, all
recognized as authorities and
to which all other writers must go for
information, attest the
sincerity of his statement.
While not so graphic in style as
Parkman, he was always
accurate. He never printed as a fact in
history any incident or
statement until he had examined every
authority to ascertain
the truth. His style was direct; he
never employed a super-
fluous word and his work was always
comprehensive.
A profound historical scholar, an
indefatigable worker, he
left as his monument numerous books
invaluable to the student
and the reader. Mr. Butterfield was a
genius; he never worked
for money. The word money seldom came to
his mind; his
achievement was not the accumulation of
wealth. His masterful
efforts directed along other lines of
human endeavor would have
procured a fortune, as the world
understands fortune. But he
wrote history as a patriot performs a
service for his country,
without pay, as the world understands
pay. He devoted his life
to work that few men could perform.
Working night and day,
he accomplished much, and the world of
letters is richer be-
cause he lived. He was one of those
sweet souls whose devo-
tion to patriotic duty was a sacrifice
of pleasure, as the world
Consul Wilshire Butterfield. 179
knows pleasure. He never made money, for
his works were not
of the popular-novel character demanded
by the mass of those
who read history. Indeed it took much of
his time to correct
the errors set forth by men who wrote
history for the money
results.
Writers of Butterfield's bent and
attainments are so rare
that, when discovered, the state should
possess their talents and
thus give the people the benefit of all
their time, for it is too
valuable to be given up to
bread-winning; and men who write
history, as Mr. Butterfield wrote
history, cannot make money
selling books.
The production of one of his works is an
achievement
greater than coining wealth; while
thousands can coin money,
only one could do the work Butterfield
did. But Butterfield
never received the one-thousandth part
of the wealth that other
men receive for like expenditure of
nerve-force in other lines of
labor. While rich men spend millions to
establish libraries
which reduce the sale of books such as
he wrote, there are men
writing books at their own expense, we
might say, to fill the
shelves of these libraries, who scarcely
afford a roof they can
call their own. There should be equity
in philanthropy: It is
easier for an iron king to put up
library buildings than it is for
men like Butterfield to fill their
shelves.
Mr. Butterfield was admired not only for
his great ability
manifest in his literary achievements,
but for his generous, kindly
spirit and his sincerity as a friend.
His was an unselfish life;
his time was given for the benefit of
others. It was always a
pleasure to him to aid the student of
history, and in response to
a mere suggestion he wrote a chapter on
Fort Laurens for the
Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
although at the time he was ill
and was engaged on important work of his
own; and this chapter
was the labor of several days. He loved
his friends of whom
he must have had many, for no one of his
great ability and kindly
nature could pass in and out among the
activities of life without
gaining the appreciation of his
fellowmen. He always spoke
kindly of friends. The writer of this
cherishes more than all
else the kind words written of him to a
mutual friend, and ever
will be green the writer's memory of
this man who is at rest.
180
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Mr. Butterfield was always particularly
fond of music and
poetry, of children and of all kinds of
pets. He considered
Shakspere the one great genius, but the
poets he studied and
most admired were Milton, and our own
Bryant. In a letter
to the writer after his death, Alice
Butterfield said of her father:
"Though not a church member, his
faith in the immortality
of the soul was strong, as evidenced by
a great many little things
easy to perceive, but hard to write
about."
His home-life was quiet and uneventful.
He loved his fam-
ily, and his wife and daughter were
devoted to him, and all were
happy in their little circle.
Order was the keynote of his method of
labor. He did
not await the moving influence of the
spirit, but wrote regularly
a certain length of time, (preferably
the morning hours) each
day, much as any one would go about a
business enterprise. At
times, though, when becoming much
engrossed in his subject
he would keep right on until compelled
to quit from sheer
exhaustion.
Mr. Butterfield's writing was always
done at his home. His
desk was in the sitting-room, and he was
not easily disturbed.
His daughter, in answer to inquiry,
wrote: "As to how father
would come to select a certain subject
upon which to write a
book, I do not know; but imagine he
would become interested
in a particular historical character or
event from general reading
and then if he considered it
inadequately represented he would
determine to elaborate upon the subject
himself."
A correspondent writing to Mr.
Butterfield, expressed sur-
prise that any one living in South
Omaha, in far away Nebraska,
could write a book showing so much
research as Brule; but ac-
cepted it as a possibility if Mr.
Butterfield had an extensive
private library. Mr. Butterfield, in
speaking of this, quoted
"extensive private library" as
a jest; for it is a fact, fifty to one
hundred books would be the size of his
library at any one time,
though he was constantly changing it and
a large number of
books passed through his hands. In
speaking of this incident
Miss Butterfield said: "I remember
having remarked at the
time that there was not so much in
having a lot of informa-
tion at one's elbow as there was in
knowing how to get what one
Consul Wiishire Butterfield. 181
wanted, and father responded, 'That's
just it exactly;' and it
seems to me that to this ability to get
the information he wanted
his merit as a historian is largely
due." Mrs. Butterfield was his
proof-reader, she being a person of
literary attainments.
In 1834 Mr. Butterfield's father's
family removed from New
York to Melmore, Seneca County, Ohio. At
the age of eighteen
Butterfield commenced teaching a
district school in Omar,
Chautauqua County, N. Y. He afterward
attended the Nor-
mal School in Albany for two terms, but
his health failing, he
left the school to take a trip to
Europe. He returned in 1846
coming to Seneca County, Ohio, where his
parents had located
in 1834.
The next year he wrote a history of
Seneca County which
was published in 1848. In 1847 he was
elected Superintendent
of the Seneca County schools. Early in
1849 he resigned this
position to make an overland trip to
California. The next year
he was an independent candidate in that
state for Superintendent
of Public Instruction, but was defeated
by a few votes. He re-
turned to Ohio in 1851 and finished a
course in law which he had
commenced in San Francisco, and in 1855
he entered upon the
practice of his profession in Bucyrus,
Crawford County, relin-
quishing it in 1875.
In 1854 he served as Secretary of the
Ohio and Indiana Rail-
road Company, and while engaged in this
occupation found time
to write "A Comprehensive System of Grammatical and Rhe-
torical Punctuation," which was
printed, but afterward sup-
pressed. An abridgement of the book was
published in 1878,
this publication becoming a very popular
work and was intro-
duced into many schools.
After quitting the practice of law he
devoted his time to
literary pursuits, having, however,
previously written "An His-
torical Account of the Expedition
Against Sandusky, under
Col. William Crawford, in 1782." Thisbook
written in Bucy-
rus, Ohio, was issued from the press of
Robert Clarke & Co.,
Cincinnati. The work gave the story of
one of the most thrilling
expeditions of the Revolutionary War,
the death of Col. Craw-
ford at the stake being perhaps the most
tragic of all the narra-
tives of border warfare during the
struggle for American Inde-
182 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
pendence. The story is told in Mr.
Butterfield's direct style and
is so thrilling of itself that the
incidents need no elaboration to
interest the reader.
In 1875 he wrote, at Madison, Wis., where he had moved
in that year, a work jointly with Lyman
C. Draper, a gentle-
man who had gathered many manuscripts
and information of
pioneer history, which he afterward
presented to the Library
of the Wisconsin Historical Society, on
"Border Forays, Con-
flicts and Incidents ;" but this
book was never printed on ac-
count of some disagreement between the
two authors; and the
evidence as to this does not lay the
least blame upon Mr. But-
terfield. In the Spring of 1877 was
published "The Washington-
Crawford Letters" edited by Mr.
Butterfield, and issued from the
press of Robert Clarke & Co., which
is invaluable to the histori-
cal writer, for it contains information
not to be found elsewhere,
and like all of Butterfield's works must
be read to find author-
ity for many historical statements of
fact. In it is given an
idea of Washington's interest in the
West and the immense
tracts of land he secured for his
military services as a Virginia
officer during the French and Indian
wars.
In the fall of 1875 Mr. Butterfield
completed for an "His-
torical Atlas of Wisconsin," (which
was published the next year)
a "History of Wisconsin,"
assisting also in the preparation of the
county histories and biographical
sketches found in that atlas.
The "History of the University of
Wisconsin" was written
by him and published in 1879. His next
work was one of the
most important of all his books, being
"Discovery of the North-
west in 1634 by John Nicolet" which
also contained a sketch of
Nicolet's life. This is a remarkable
book, but Mr. Butterfield,
after his work on Brule was published,
insisted that the latter
should be read first by the student of
the French discoveries
in America. The production of Nicolet
gave evidence of But-
terfield's complete knowledge of French,
of his painstaking
and wide research as well as his marked
literary ability. It is a
record of the indomitable perseverance
and heroic bravery of
John Nicolet in an exploration which
resulted in his being the
first of civilized men to set foot upon
any portion of the North-
west, which is to say, any part of the
territory now constituting
Consul Wilshire Butterfield. 183
the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan and Wisconsin.
It is also shown how he brought to the
knowledge of the world
the existence of a fresh-water sea-Lake
Michigan. It was al-
ways Mr. Butterfield's intention to
rewrite this very remarkable
work and make it more popular by
eliminating the many French
passages which were introduced for the
purpose of adding to its
interest by employing the language of
the early French writers
and explorers, but this he never found
time to accomplish.
In 1882 he edited and published the
"Washington-Irvine
Correspondence," the work to which
all historians must go for
authority on the West in the Revolution.
This work was pub-
lished through the generosity of George
Plumer Smith of Phi-
ladelphia who not only subscribed for
numerous copies before
it was printed, but furnished the maps
in the book. This work,
as its title indicates, consists of the
official letters which passed
between Washington and Brig.-Gen. Wm.
Irvine, and between Ir-
vine and others concerning military
affairs in the West from 1781
to 1783; these letters being arranged
and annotated with an intro-
duction containing an outline of events
occurring previously in the
Trans-Allegheny country. No other
workhas ever been published
containing so much information of value
to the student of West-
ern history, and today no American
library is considered com-
plete without it. In speaking of Mr.
Smith's part in the publica-
tion of this book, Mr. Butterfield wrote
the writer of this in June,
1898, the writer having conveyed to him
information of Mr.
Smith's death: "I was pained to
hear that George Plumer Smith
was no more. I saw him last in Omaha
some three or four years
ago. He and I corresponded for a long
time. But for him,
the 'Washington-Irvine Correspondence,
would, probably, not
have been published. He subscribed for
fifty copies and after-
ward purchased as many more, always
insisting on paying for
each copy, catalogue price. He also paid
for the map which you
will notice in the book. I return you
the letters written by
him. How familiar is his handwriting to
our whole household !"
The "Washington-Irvine
Correspondence" was revised by Mr.
Butterfield and after his death the MS.
was sent to the Chicago
Historical Society Library in accordance
with his desire.
184 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
In 1883 he edited a "Short
Biography of John Leeth," fol-
lowed by the "Journal of Capt.
Jonathan Heart," published in
1885; this work being an account of the
march to the West of
the first troops under the government of
the New Republic.
Meanwhile he wrote with Frank A. Flower
a series of bio-
graphical sketches entitled "The
Giants of the West;" but the
book was never given to the public.
While residing in Wisconsin he wrote, in
chief, histories of
the Counties of Rock, Fond-du-Lac,
Columbia, Dane, Vernon,
Crawford and Greene of that state. For
the last three men-
tioned he furnished a "General
History of Wisconsin," which
was published as an introduction to
those works; his previous
"History of Wisconsin,"
published in the "Historical Atlas"
already mentioned, appearing as
introductory to all the other
Wisconsin County Histories.
He was on the editorial staff of the
"Northwest Review"
for March and April, 1883, assistant
editor of "Descriptive Amer-
ica" from December 1884, to
February, 1885, inclusive; and
on the first day of January, 1886, he
began editorial work on
the "Magazine of Western
History," afterward writing a large
number of special articles for that
magazine, principally histori-
cal and biographical. He severed his
connection with that peri-
odical in 1889.
Having removed to South Omaha, Nebraska,
in 1888, he
there finished the "History of the
Girtys," for which he had
gathered much material while a resident
of Wisconsin. This
work was published by Robert Clarke
& Co. in 1891, and is, per-
haps, the most important of Mr.
Butterfield's later works. It
contains a vast amount of information as
to the border warfare
of the Trans-Allegheny country with the
three Girtys-Simon,
James and George-as the central figures.
The work, as Mr.
Butterfield has written to the writer of
this and as well has
printed in the preface of the book, was
undertaken because of the
notoriety they had obtained, and
likewise because there was an
apparent necessity for our Western
annals to be freed, as near as
possible, from error, everywhere
permeating as to the part actu-
ally taken by these
brothers-particularly Simon-in many of
the important events which make up the
history of the region
Consul Wilshire Butterfield. 185
immediately west of the Alleghenies. It
had become the rule
to give Simon Girty all the odium that
came of diabolism prac-
ticed by American renegades employed by
the British for this
purpose, and while Mr. Butterfield does
not relieve Simon of
his proper place, he shows that he was
not always responsible-
not even always present, when atrocious
acts credited to him
by most of the writers of romance called
history, were commit-
ted. In this work, as in all of his
productions, Mr. Butterfield
kept constantly in mind one object
paramount to all others-the
statement of facts, as he understood
them, and the truth was
reached after research that encompassed
everything bearing on
the subject. The reader must be
impressed with the large
number of documents and authorities
quoted in the History of
the Girtys; in fact nothing seems to be
omitted that would aid in
clearing up many of the mysteries of the
border conflicts during
and after the Revolutionary War which
opened in the West in
1774 and continued until Wayne's Victory
at Fallen Timbers
twenty years after. He takes up matters
published as fact by
other writers and in a few words shows
them to be only romance
without foundation in history. He
particularly takes Theodore
Roosevelt to task for printing in his
"Winning of the West"
stories absolutely absurd, as history,
when he might have
printed truth. In this work some
attention is given to the whole
Girty family, the father, mother, and
Simon's brothers, includ-
ing Thomas, and a half-brother, John
Turner, in whom interest
is awakened because of the bearing their
lives had upon the
most notorious of their relatives. In
all, the student of Trans-
Allegheny history is lacking in
information if he has not used
the History of the Girtys as a text
book. In it will be found
all of interest in the Western country
previous to, during and
after the Revolutionary War. After
reading this work one must
be impressed with the fact that history
is filled with statements
made without truth as a basis. This work
was revised before
Mr. Butterfield's death, and the MS.
complete throughout,
when examined by his daughter was found
to contain on the
title page a note giving the manuscript
to the Western Reserve
Historical Society, to be held by it
until the copyright of the
first edition shall have expired, and
then to be the absolute
186
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
property of the Society. This MS. is now
in the Western Re-
serve Library at Cleveland.
Brule has already been mentioned in this
sketch. This was
the last work of Mr. Butterfield,
published. The manuscript
was presented to the Western Reserve
Historical Society in 1897
and published by this Society the
following year. Brule is a
narrative of the discovery by Stephen
Brule of Lakes Huron,
Ontario and Superior, and of his
explorations, the first by civil-
ized man, of Pennsylvania, and Western
New York, and of the
Province of Ontario, Canada. It is a
most thrilling story and it
reads like a novel. In the preface the
author truthfully says,
"Few, if any, of the early events
properly belonging to the
pages of American history are of more
interest and importance
after the discovery of the New World,
than are those relating to
the journeyings of Stephen Brule."
The achievements of this
daring Frenchman (Norman) in the
northern part of this country
and the southern part of Canada, have
not heretofore been given
in detail, and it was well that the
story remained for Butterfield
to tell, for he has left no leaf
unturned and no musty document
unexamined that gave information on the
exploits of Champlain's
first interpreter, who came to America a
mere boy to live among
the Indians with the view of learning
their language. He
came to America at a very early
period-he had discovered Lake
Huron before the Pilgrims landed on
Plymouth Rock. All his
work is followed closely and detailed in
attractive historic style
up to the hour Brule was killed and
eaten by the Hurons.
Brule is the most important work of
recent years, and must
attract the mind of the pupil who would
know the early history
of his country. There are copious notes
and an extended ap-
pendix, all of the greatest value.
Butterfield himself, as did his
intimate friends, considered Brule his
best effort from a literary
point of view, and the letters written
to him in regard to this
work and the reviews of it in the papers
gave him great plea-
sure. He was so grateful for kindly
mention of his work that
he frequently expressed his thanks, and
this was the key to his
whole life, ever considerate, ever
generous.
In 1892 and 1893 he
wrote a "History of South Omaha"
which was printed in the last-named year
as an annex to a
Consul Wilshire Butterfield. 187
"History of Omaha." Nearly all
the biographical sketches ap-
pearing in the Omaha history were
prepared by him.
Mr. Butterfield left several important
works in manuscript,
among them "History of Col. David
Williamson's Expedition
to the Tuscarawas River in 1782,"
this being a correct story of
the massacre of the Moravian Indians,
and is a most valuable
contribution to the history of the West. It was left to the
Western Reserve Historical Society
Library which Society will
no doubt have it published. But the most
important of these
works is the "History of Lieut.
Col. George Rogers Clark's
Conquest of the Illinois and the Wabash
Towns from the Brit-
ish in 1778 and 1779." Mr.
Butterfield had this book ready for
publication in 1896, but as another work
came out that year on
the same subject, he concluded not to
publish it, and he worked
on it almost to the day of his death. In
correspondence with
the writer of this, Mr. Butterfield said
that it was his intention
to present it to the Chicago Historical
Society; but when advised
by the writer to give the manuscript to
Washington and Lee
University of Virginia on the ground
that the supporters of the
University were, many of them, descended
from Clark's soldiers,
he hesitated; but after his death his
daughter gave the manuscript
to the writer who was expected to have
it published by the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society, and if this society
does not give it to the public, the
manuscript will be sent to the
Washington and Lee University. His note
book used in gath-
ering material for his Crawford's
Sandusky Expedition was also
presented to the writer.
He also left the manuscript, but incomplete,
of "The West
in the Revolution," which has been
presented to the Chicago
Historical Society. This book ought to
be published, for it
will fill the one vacant place in
American literature.
He left several other manuscripts which
he had designed
publishing in pamphlet form, and these
are still in possession of
his family.
In speaking of her father's death, his
daughter writes, "I
never saw an old person in death look so
'like one who lies down
to pleasant dreams.' . . The children in the neighbor-
hood all came in to see him and seemed
startled. One little miss
188 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
of six or seven, whom I did not know,
came to the door all
alone and asked, 'Please might I see Mr.
Butterfield?' She
looked earnestly quite a while and then
smiled and said, 'That
looks just like Mr. Butterfield.' "
Mr. Butterfield was twice married. His
first wife was
Elmira, daughter of John Scroggs of
Bucyrus, Crawford County,
Ohio, the marriage being May 8, 1854.
She died May 15, 1857.
He was again married March 30, 1858 to
Letta Merriman,
widow of James H. Reicheneker. Of this
union four children
were born: Minnie Bell, who died
September 22, 1859, aged six
months; a son and daughter both of whom
died in infancy;
and Alice, who now resides with her
widowed mother, and who
was a strong right arm to her father
during his later years.
Of his father's family, a sister, Mme.
Hyacinthe Loysen,
of Paris, France; and Mrs. Cylvia Barry
are still living. An
adopted daughter, Mrs. W. J. White, is
the wife of Major White,
Chief Quartermaster in the army at
Havana, Cuba.
CONSUL WILSHIRE BUTTERFIELD-HISTORIAN.
BY W. H. HUNTER. Consul Wilshire Butterfield, the famous Historian, was born near the village of Colosse, Oswego County, New York, July 28, 1824. He was of Knickerbocker stock, his father's peo- |
|
ple coming to America in 1634. His parents, Amroy Butter- field and Mary Lamb Butterfield, immigrated from Brattleboro, Vermont, to the State of New York. Consul Wilshire Butterfield died at his home in South Omaha, Nebraska, on,Monday, September 25, 1899. At noon Mr. Butterfield appeared to be in usual exuberant spirits and was apparently in good health. Shortly after two o'clock he decided to visit his near neighbor, Mr. O'Connor, and while he was ascending the steps to the O'Connor residence was stricken with a sinking spell, from which he never rallied. When it was known that Mr. Butterfield was seriously ill, neighbors corveyed (177) |