Weekly Column

Each week a small segment of Vernon County history is published in the county papers.

For the week of 7/19/2020
by Carol Krogan, assistant curator

In celebration of the 150^th birthday of the Sherry-Butt House, we are featuring brief biographies of the people who lived in the home. The House is located at 795 N. Main St. in Viroqua, and is owned and operated as a museum by the Vernon County Historical Society.

This week we’ll look at another member of the household, Cyrus and Margaret Butt’s oldest daughter, Esther, who was known to all as Etta. She was born on October 30, 1868 and was just 2 years old when her family moved into their new home, now the Sherry-Butt House.

Etta graduated from Viroqua High School in 1885 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating in 1892 with a degree in English. Her interests were in history, government and literature.

She went on to have a career in teaching. J.C. Freeman, University of Wisconsin English Literature professor, wrote her a recommendation, saying, “I should think it a happy thing if Miss Butt should find service where she would have charge of young women, for not one in a hundred of your graduates have manners of such womanly reserve and sweetness and of unexceptionable charm.”

Etta taught for several years in various high schools in Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa. She was a teacher at the School for the Blind in Janesville, Wisconsin beginning in 1900, and also served as principal.

In 1920, Etta returned to Viroqua to care for her elderly father, and lived with him in the family home. Often she would take him in his wheelchair into the city to socialize with his many friends.

Etta suffered a stroke in 1927 but even as her health failed, she travelled to Cleveland, Ohio where she was cared for by her sister Beth. She spent her summers in California with her sister Jane.

She was a long-time member of the Congregational Church, a member of the Delta Gamma sorority and of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Viroqua. She was a charitable person and even in her last days called on a local aged couple who due to ill health and poverty were forced to move to the County Home.

While attending church on September 21, 1930 Etta Butt was stricken with pneumonia and passed away the next morning. She had also suffered from chronic nephritis, or inflammation of the kidneys. Her funeral was held at the Butt home on September 24 where many friends came to pay their respects. She was laid to rest in the Viroqua Cemetery in the family plot.

Learn more about Etta Butt and all the other past residents of this gracious historic home by visiting the site for a tour. The Sherry-Butt House is open to visitors on summer Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5PM, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Admission is $5, and children under age 9 are free.

Esther Fretwell Butt, oldest child of Cyrus and Margaret Butt.

For the week of 8/2/2020
by Carol Krogan, assistant curator

In celebration of the 150^th birthday of the Sherry-Butt House, we are featuring brief biographies of the people who lived in the home over the years. The House is located at 795 N. Main St. in Viroqua, and is owned and operated as a museum by the Vernon County Historical Society.

This week we feature the biography of another member of the Butt family, William. William, known as “Tom”, was born the same year that the Butt family home was built, in 1870.

William Edward Butt was born in Viroqua on March 28, 1870 to Cyrus and Margaret (Mc Auley) Butt. After graduating from Viroqua High School in 1888, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, entering into the Agricultural Course. In 1891 he was licensed to teach in Crawford County schools but it is unknown when and if he actually taught. His career goal changed again and in 1895, he graduated from the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. He practiced in Fox Lake, WI from 1896 to 1898.

In 1898 he returned to Viroqua where he continued to practice medicine. Tom married Nellie Wagner, daughter of Joseph and Theresa (Reine) Wagner, on May 28, 1900. She was born May 25, 1874 in the town of Hillsboro, WI. Nellie and Tom are found on the June 5, 1900 census living in a hotel in La Farge; Tom is listed as a physician.

During the years 1903-1905, he took classes through the Chicago Correspondence School of Law. In 1908, he ran as a Reform candidate for State Assembly but lost to David F. Mains by 2,394 votes.

By 1910, Nellie and Tom were living with his parents and sister Esther along with their son, Cyrus M. Butt III. Cy the third was born October 16, 1909. In 1911, they built a home right nearby, at 725 N. Main Street, Viroqua. Tom continued to work as a physician while Nellie raised their son and became involved in various local organizations and her church. She was a member of the Eastern Star for over 50 years. Nellie did needlework and painted and also enjoyed cooking and gardening.

In April, 1920, Star Theatre manager Ben Brown offered anyone $10.00 to sleep in the cemetery to help promote “The Greatest Question”, a film about spirituality being shown at the theater. Tom decided to take the challenge and made it through the night, later relaying his experience to theater-goers during the showing of the film.

William Edward “Tom” Butt passed away on November 20, 1946. Funeral services were held at the Church of Christ and he was interred in the Viroqua Cemetery in the Butt plot. Nellie Butt died 20 years later at the age of 91 on January 12, 1966. She is buried in Mount Vernon Cemetery in the Wagner family plot.

Tom Butt, in the middle, with friends, circa 1890, posing with what appears to be lamplighting equipment.