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Weekly Column

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


For the week of 9/6/2020
by Carol Krogan, assistant curator

Cyrus and Margaret Butt built their home in 1870. The second owners were Orbec and Hilda Sherry. Today the Sherry Butt House is owned and operated as a museum by the Vernon County Historical Society.

The Butts’ fifth child was Margaret Elizabeth Butt, known as Beth. Beth Butt was born in Viroqua in 1878 to Cyrus and Margaret (Mc Auley) Butt. She attended Viroqua Schools and graduated in 1895. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1900.

While attending the university, she met her future husband, Allard Smith, a native of Eau Claire. Smith graduated from the engineering department in 1898. Beth and Allard were married at the Butt home on June 30, 1903. According to the Vernon County Censor, “In social circles this affair has for some time been looked forward to as among the leading events of the season, and the great throng of guests who were privileged to attend were not disappointed, for it was indeed a function most perfectly arranged and appointed…It was a happy blending of the mature and golden-haired with the youthful and light-hearted.”

Allard and Beth made their home in Chicago where Allard was the first assistant manager of the Chicago Telephone Company. In 1914, they relocated to Cleveland Heights, Ohio where Allard was appointed general manager of the Cleveland Telephone Company. In 1920 he became associated with the Citizens Savings & Trust Company as Vice President.

Beth and Allard travelled extensively. Sadly, Allard passed away from a heart attack in 1933 at the age of 57. Beth was active in many social organizations before her husband’s death. Her sister Jane Butt came to live with her in the 1950’s and Beth cared for her until Jane’s death in 1962. Beth passed away on March 1, 1967 in Cleveland Heights. She and Allard had no children.

You can learn more about Beth Butt Smith and all the other past residents of this gracious historic home by visiting the site for a tour. The Sherry-Butt House is open by appointment only throughout the autumn. Admission is $5, and children under age 9 are free. Contact the Vernon County Museum at 637-7396 or at museum@vernoncountyhistory.org to schedule an appointment.

More information about the house and its residents is also available at the Vernon County Museum. Hours for the museum in September and October are Monday through Friday, noon to 4PM, or by appointment.


Beth Butt

Margaret Elizabeth (Butt) Smith, 1878-1967


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For the week of 9/20/2020
by Carol Krogan, assistant curator

The Sherry Butt House, 795 N. Main St. in Viroqua, was built by Cyrus and Margaret Butt in 1870. Their family lived in the home, including their only grandchild, Tom and Nellie Butt’s son, Cyrus M. Butt III, who was born on October 16, 1909. He graduated from Viroqua High School in 1927 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, graduating in 1956 at the age of 47.

Intelligent but eccentric, Cy III attended UW Madison for about 30 years, earning a yearly stipend from the family as dictated in his grandfather’s will if he remained enrolled at the university. He also attended an Experimental College formed by the University of Wisconsin; it existed from 1927 to 1932 and had only 200-250 students.

Cy was a WW II veteran, as a member of the Coast Guard. A letter he wrote while stationed in Alexandria, VA, dated Feb. 17, 1943, was published in the local newspaper. He told of his recent work and recreation schedule and reported on the cold temperatures. He stated that one day when it was 6 degrees he won a $5.00 bet by walking a half mile with nothing on but his track pants and shoes!

He was married to Gertrude T. Johnson of Viroqua in 1938 but was later divorced. He had no children. His main residence was in Madison but he returned to the family home in Viroqua in his later years.

Cy was a colorful character, known well by residents of Madison and Viroqua for his letter writing and unique perspective. His letters were printed in two Madison papers, and also in the Chicago Tribune, Milwaukee Sentinel and the La Crosse Tribune. Letters to the Madison papers were sometimes signed by an assumed name although editors always recognized his writing style.

According to his obituary he had “an ‘irreverent’ attitude toward everyone and everything.” Once after a shot was fired in his apartment in Madison, the police arrived to find Cy sitting at his typewriter with a gun nearby and a sword hanging over his head by a single thread. When asked why he fired his gun, he said “It spurs my writing.” When asked about the sword above his head, he said it helped him concentrate.

Cy was known to walk down State Street in Madison and tip his hat to the ladies, only to reveal a live mink on top on his head. He loved books and was often seen in the city and University libraries. He once found a long-forgotten city ordinance which stated that citizens could carry side arms in visible holsters. Just for fun he tested the ordinance and was soon arrested by a Madison policeman. After some investigation, the charges were dropped and the ordinance was repealed.

Bill Stokes, a Wisconsin newspaper writer, stated that Cy had once been institutionalized for reasons related to alcohol. Cy Butt wrote to Stokes and told him that he was “being studied” for addiction. While there he was placed in charge of the clothing dispensary. He was released after a few days and showed up at one of his favorite hang-outs, the Congress Bar in Madison, with about a dozen belts around his waist. He gave them away as “welcome home presents.”

In the 1950’s Cy had several friends who were athletes and decided he should be able to see them in action at Camp Randall without paying for a ticket to get in. So, he became a gate-crasher at football games by posing as a popcorn vendor, pretending to look for his little girl, or riding in a wheelchair.

Cy did actually work as a lawyer. His obituary printed in the Wisconsin State Journal says that on a bet in 1958 he wrote the exam for Wisconsin assistant attorney general and received the highest score of all applicants. He worked collecting overdue veterans’ loans but resigned after about one year.

Cyrus M. Butt III died November 2, 1968. Bill Stokes recalled attending Cy’s funeral in Viroqua, held at Jacobson and Vance Funeral Home on North Main and West Decker Streets. He stated that a party was held afterward at a blacksmith’s shop and featured jazz music, drinking and storytelling.


Cyrus Butt

Cyrus M. Butt III, 1909-1968