Butts Family Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MS-153

Staff Only

Content Description

A collection of family papers, books, and other material accompanied by a travel trunk (or chest) from the Butts Family of Forest Grove, Oregon.

The trunk was used during the family's travel on the Oregon Trail. It is made of blind-stamped leather over wooden boards with metal hardware and is approximately 3' x 2' x 2.5'. The initials "J. B." are written in faint letters on the top of the trunk. The interior is lined with decorative paper probably dating from the 1840s or earlier.

The papers in this collection relate to the Butts Family and descendants, notably members of the Wilcox and Sheelar families. These items were originally stored within the trunk. Components include: Butts Family documents, correspondence and accounts, with a large quantity of letters to/from Dudley Wilcox; several photographs; printed ephemera such as calling cards; genealogical notes, booklets, and other sources related to the history of the Butts Family; and news clippings related to the family. These papers have been filed into archival boxes, stored separately from the trunk.

Books and other items in the collection have been kept with the trunk, including: a small Bible belonging to Mary Smith containing a lock of hair and pressed flowers; 14 other books, most of which are inscribed by family members, including school textbooks and religious works; 2 small wooden boxes containing small pieces of hardware and 2 starched cuffs; and 2 leather straps.

Dates

1834-2010
Majority of material found within 1860-1920

Creator

Butts Family (Forest Grove, Oregon) (Family)

Historical Note

The Butts Family of Forest Grove, Oregon, were among the earliest European-American settlers of the area. John Butts (1810-1890), his first wife, Catherine Bonnett Butts (1812-1845), and their children emigrated from Iowa to Oregon with the Meek Party of 1845. Catherine died at Sherar's Falls on the Deschutes River while travelling on the Meek Cutoff portion of the Oregon Trail. John and the children settled on land just north of Forest Grove, Oregon, near what is now Porter Road. During the early days of the Gold Rush, John Butts left for California to search for gold, leaving his children to be boarded with Tabitha Brown. Some of the Butts Family children were likely among the early students of Tualatin Academy when it opened in 1849.

On John Butts' return, he took a new land claim on Scoggins Creek and ran a sawmill, which supplied some of the lumber used to construct Pacific University's oldest building, Old College Hall (1850).

In later years, the Butts intermarried with several other Oregon families, including the Wilcox, McKinney, Sheelar and Hall families. Many of these families remained in the Forest Grove area for decades. Dudley Wilcox, who has many letters present in this collection, lived near the small town of Gaston.