Old Settlers of Chicago

My cousin Jeff recently found another link between our ancestor William Moulton Butler and Chicago on the great site, Internet Archive. He found reference to William in a book commemorating the Thirteenth Annual Reception for the Old Settlers of Chicago, as held by The Calumet Club. The booklet lists the events for the evening of the reception and the Old Settlers of Chicago.

William's mention in the program for the Thirteenth Annual Old Settlers reception in 1891.

It is not clear whether William attended the event, or whether he was just acknowledged as an Old Settler of Chicago. I had never heard of this reception so I did a little digging. I found that The Calumet Club was a private social club in Chicago located at Michigan Avenue and Twentieth Street.

A view of the Calumet Club, Chicago, from the Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views at the New York Public Library.

The Calumet Club was started in 1878 and many of its programs focused on the history of Chicago. It was therefore a natural choice for the club members to recognize the first settlers of the city. The first reception was held May 27, 1879, and the criteria for recognition as an Old Settler was to be a resident of Chicago and "of age" prior to 1840. William is not mentioned at the first reception but I do find reference to him in 1890 and 1891. I was not able to find any other mentions of the receptions online.

In fact, I could not find many mentions of the Calumet Club or the Old Settlers reception online. I do not know if there are more records of this club, or even how William became noticed, as by the time the receptions started he lived in Hobart, Indiana.

This new information rekindled my interest in William's time in Chicago. In a search for Chicago history I came across The History of Chicago, From the Earliest Period to the Present Time by A.T. Andreas, which contains three volumes of Chicago history from it's earliest days through 1885. All three volumes are available on Internet Archive:

The History of Chicago, From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, I
The History of Chicago, From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, II
The History of Chicago, From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, III

Volume II has a reference to William, again, as an Old Settler.

The first clipping mentions the Old Settlers Society, founded in 1871. The men listed signed the constitution of the society in 1871. You'll note William M. Butler listed as having arrived in Chicago in 1836. I found references to a similar club for African-American Chicago settlers, but nothing more about the Old Settlers Society.

I would be interested to know if any records of the Calumet Club or the Old Settlers Society survived the great fire of 1871. Feedback welcome!

I was hoping for terrific-ness...

About a month ago I wrote about William M. Butler and court case he was involved in against his daughters here. I wrote to the Cook County Circuit Court and requested a search of their archives for the case between Willa Mina Butler and Celia S. Butler against their father, William M. Butler. A few days ago I received a response and copies of the documents related to the case. I was hoping for terrific-ness.

I am not sure that I found it. The documents I received were few and not very robust with information. In fact, it is not even very clear what the case was about. The outcome was that William M. Butler agreed to pay $55,000 to Willa Mena and Celia in order for them to drop any further claims against him. I found one inflation calculator that estimated $55,000 in 1877 being equivalent to around $1 million dollars in today's money. I have to wonder where William Butler got the money. The court documents do not explain why the daughters sued their father, but it does mention a tract of land. I know that their birth mother, Celia Temperance Bliss, was from a wealthy family. I can only conjecture that when she died (the date of which is yet to be discovered) she provided for her children and her husband misappropriated the funds. Perhaps the daughters only wanted their fair share.

At first it seemed that the only information I would be able to squeeze from the file was that William M. Butler owed the girls $55,000. But iinterestingly, he is mentioned as their guardian and they his wards...not a father and child relationship. If they were his blood children, why would they be listed as "wards" in court documents? That could just be a clerical error.

Alas, I was hoping to find out what happened to Celia Bliss Butler and determine why her children would have sued their father. This all is a backdoor method of determining information about the death of Celia and whether or not she is my ancestor's mother. But I only walked away with more questions.

BRICK WALL - Who is your mama?

William Moulton Butler, Jr. appears to have been a good and loving husband and father, albeit a rolling stone. He was born in Illinois June 27, 1863 and moved to Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and finally Los Angeles, California where he died. His career seems to vary throughout his life: day laborer, farmer, real estate salesman and citrus farm owner.

William Moulton Butler, Jr. and his wife
Carrie Johnston Butler

I have been able to track his life and times fairly accurately...my big issue with Mr. Butler, Jr. is that I do not know who his mama was. It's not a question of not having options...it a question of knowing which option to choose. His father, William Moulton Butler, Sr. has been a piece of work from day one. He was married twice, had like a million children and apparently misappropriated inheritance funds of his children. But I digress. I know that William was married first to Celia Butler, in 1845. According to the 1850 and 1860 censuses, William and Celia live together in Chicago. On the 1870 census Celia is no longer listed with the family and there are five children, including William Moulton Butler, Jr. There is also a house keeper named Elizabeth Brown, aged 28. In 1880 the family, now with new wife Eliza and five additional children, live in Lake County, Indiana.

Later records show William married to an Eliza, born approximately in 1844. Both their obituaries state that they were married in 1861 and that her maiden name was Johnston. Eliza's obituary states that she had ten children, to include William Jr. And William Jr.'s death certificate lists Eliza as his mother. But the records do not match their story.

With the help of the Illinois State Archives and their Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900, I was able to find documentation for the marriages of William Sr. The first to Celia T. Bliss in November 1845 and the second to an Eliza Brown in April 1872. An Elizabeth Brown was William's housekeeper in 1870...did he marry her? And if he was married in 1861 why is there no wife on his 1870 census? Could it be a convenient lie to cover for a pre-marital relationship? And to make several children legitimate? I ordered a copy of the Cook County marriage certificate for William M. Butler and Eliza Brown. She is listed as Mrs. Eliza Brown, which could account for a second marriage for Eliza as well and explain why there is no marriage license on record for William and Eliza Johnston.

The solution to this issue is to determine the death date for Celia. I have found no burial record or obituary for Celia Bliss Butler. I found a reference to Celia and William in the Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America from about the year 1550 to 1880, compiled by John Homer Bliss. This history states that Celia married William Butler, Sr., had four children and died in 1866. Another family history, The Descendants of George Little who came to Newbury, Massachusetts in 1640, by George Thomas Little (available at HeritageQuest Online) states that William married first Temperance Celia Bliss and second Mrs. Eliza Brown. The same reference states that Celia and William had four children, with the last being born on October 29, 1861. It states that his first child by Mrs. Eliza Brown was born on February 9, 1862. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that those dates don't add up...only 90 days between children is funky math.

So I am at an impasse. I have found no documentation for William and Eliza's supposed marriage in 1861, but several references altering that to 1872. I have looked all over Chicago, but can find no death information for Celia. If I could find Celia's death date I believe I could at least iron out the parentage for William Butler, Jr. I cannot account for the disparity in wedding dates given by William and Eliza, other than the obvious: they wanted a legitimate answer to who their babies' daddy was.