Butler-Everett Family Papers

Due to the timeframe that the materials within the collection cover, there is a wealth of information to be found within. This collection provides researchers firsthand accounts of historical and religious movements and events. J.J. Butler was very active in the Free Will Baptist ministry and there are dozens of letters from various colleagues and acquaintances that are related to the church. Both the Butler and Everett families were involved in the temperance and abolition movements; mentions of both can be found throughout the letters in the collection. The American Civil War also plays a prominent part of many letters written during the 1860.

Letters particularly of note include those written to J.J. Butler from an acquaintance who discusses the possible outcomes of the 1832 presidential election between Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay. A letter from the same man the following year describes watching Jackson and his troops travel through Concord, NH. After the start of the Civil War, Elizabeth received July, 1861 letter from her sister Jennie that included an insistence that, “we can have no peace without first destroying slavery,” and a letter that follows two years later from another sister, Cynthia, discusses men being drafted to fight in the war. Perhaps the most important of these wartime letters was written to J.J. Butler by an acquaintance who lived on Roanoke Island. The 1864 letter describes the fear and horror of witnessing a confederate attack on Plymouth, NC. These examples are only a small sampling of what exists in the collection, which is comprised of hundreds of letters.

Also important to highlight is the folder of letters written to J.J. Butler from Oren B. Cheney, another member of the Free Will Baptist ministry, from 1833 – 1866. Cheney is best known as the founder and first president of Bates College in Lewiston, ME. Though their correspondence was not consistent over the years, it would appear that Butler and Cheney were at least casual acquaintances and later worked together within the Free Will Baptist church.

The Butler-Everett Family collection is an incredibly important collection for those studying 19th century America. The sheer volume of material available within the collection and the years that it spans make this collection invaluable for research. The extended Butler and Everett families and many of their acquaintances were prominent members of their communities and within the churches and movements that they belonged to. While this information is reflected in the collection here, much more information about the history and activities of the extended Everett family can be found in collections held by other institutions. The Newberry Library of Chicago, IL holds a large collection of papers related to Elizabeth’s father and siblings, Everett Family Papers, 1794-1949 (http://mms.newberry.org/html/Everett.html), and the Kansas Historical Society holds a smaller collection concerning Elizabeth’s brother John Roberts, The John Roberts and Sarah Maria Everett Papers (http://www.kshs.org/archives/40340). While this collection does contain material that is related to these outside collections, the Butler-Everett Family collection is primarily concerned with J.J. and Elizabeth Butler and their children.

Finding aids for both of these collections are also available in the first folder of the collection research files, along with other information such as grave locations and relevant census copies. The remaining five research files contain a calendaring project completed by donor Lee Newcomer.