Weekly Column

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

For the week of 2/16/2020
by Kristen Parrott, curator

This year, 2020, we will mark the 150^th birthday of the Sherry-Butt House, located at 795 North Main Street in Viroqua. The house is owned by the Vernon County Historical Society and operated as a historic house museum. It is named for its two previous owners, the Butt family and the Sherry family, and tours of the house focus on their lives and remaining belongings.

Lawyer and Civil War colonel Cyrus Marion Butt had the house built in 1870 for his growing family. An article in the Vernon County Censor of May 11, 1870, reads, “Col. Butt has begun the erection of his proposed dwelling house. It will be located on the fine building spot just north of the village, on the right hand side of the road.”

And two months later, on July 20, the newspaper remarked that, “Col. Butt’s new residence is progressing. It is situated on the beautiful rising ground just north of the village, and shows off to good advantage. It will be a large, roomy house.” Note that Viroqua was still called a village in 1870; it officially became a city in 1885.

When the house was first built, the Butt family consisted of Cyrus, his wife Margaret, their toddler daughter Esther, and their newborn son William. Three more children were born once the family had moved into the big white house on Main Street: Jane, Cyrus Jr., and Beth. Cyrus and Margaret lived in the house until their deaths, and then daughter Jane inherited it.

Orbec and Hilda Sherry purchased the home in 1947 from Jane Butt. The Sherrys married in 1922, and then lived and farmed south of Viroqua, on Belgium Ridge, where they raised their two children, Mary and Orbec Jr. Two years after Orbec and Hilda moved into town to settle into what was still called “Col. Butt’s residence”, their daughter Mary held her wedding at the house. The Vernon County Historical Society bought the house shortly after Orbec died in 1988.

To help celebrate the house’s 150^th, we’d like to tell some of the lesser-known stories about the people who have lived there. We plan to cover all of the Butt family members and all of the Sherry family members, plus the maids and farmhands and maybe even the renters who once lived in the house. Some of the house’s past residents have been thoroughly researched and discussed in recent years, but this is an opportunity to talk about the other residents of the house as well.

This postcard of what is today called “the Sherry-Butt House” is dated 1926.
The woman standing just behind the fence is probably one of the Butt family’s daughters.

For the week of 6/21/2020
by Carol Krogan, assistant curator

This week we feature Margaret (Mc Auley) Butt, wife of Cyrus M. Butt. Colonel and Mrs. Butt built their home in Viroqua in 1870.

Margaret was born in Indiana in 1836, one of 13 children born to William and Jane (Megee) Mc Auley. Their family moved to Grant County, which was then a part of Iowa, and owned 240 acres near Lancaster. In 1854 they moved to the town of Utica, Crawford County, near Mt. Sterling.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Margaret married Cyrus M. Butt of Viroqua, a young attorney and a 1st Lieutenant in Company A of the 25th Wisconsin Volunteers. Margaret gave birth to their first child, Esther, in 1868. Their son William Edward, known as Tom, was born in 1870, before the family moved into their new home.

Margaret raised three more children in this home: Jane, also known as Jennie, born in 1872; Cyrus M. Junior, born in 1874; and Margaret Elizabeth, known as Beth, in 1878.

Mrs. Butt was described in her obituary as “a good wife and mother and a splendid neighbor, ever generous and kind and especially ready to help the unfortunate poor and needy, and her many deeds of kindness will be remembered by many in the community in which she was so long an honored member and ever friend.”

According to her obituary, Mrs. Butt suffered from epilepsy and nervous and mental trouble. She was ill for approximately two weeks before her passing at the age of 78 in 1913. Her funeral was held from the home and she was laid to rest in the Viroqua Cemetery.

Learn more about Margaret 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.

Margaret Elizabeth McAuley Butt, 1836-1913

For the week of 7/5/2020
by Carol Krogan, assistant curator

The Sherry Butt House is a simple but elegant two-story home, located at 795 N. Main in Viroqua, was built in 1870 by Cyrus M. and Margaret (Mc Auley) Butt. An excerpt from the Vernon County Censor, dated May 11, 1870, states: “Col. Butt has begun the erection of his proposed dwelling house. It will be located on the fine building spot just north of the village, on the right-hand side of the road.”

Today the Sherry Butt House is owned and operated as a museum by the Vernon County Historical Society. In order to get to know the members of the Butt family and of the second family to own the home, Orbec and Hilda Sherry, we are featuring the home’s residents in a series of columns. This week we’ll look at Colonel Cyrus M. Butt.

Cyrus Marion Butt was born in Morgan County, Ohio in 1833. His father was a Methodist minister, a veteran of the war of 1812, and of Irish descent. Butt attended Ohio Wesleyan University, taking the scientific course, from 1853-55, then studied law with a law firm in Mc Connellsville, Ohio in 1856.

In the spring of 1857 he moved to Des Moines, Iowa with his father. (His mother had died in Ohio in 1849.) One year later he moved to Viroqua. It was here that he finished studying for the law and was admitted to the Bar in 1859. He partnered with other attorneys in his law practice and later with his son Cyrus M. Butt II. His lifelong interest in education also prompted him to teach in the Viroqua schools.

When the Civil War broke out, he assisted in assembling Company A of the 25th Regiment, along with his neighbor, Jeremiah M. Rusk. His tour of duty took him first to Minnesota in 1862 during the U.S.-Dakota War, and later he fought under General Sherman at Vicksburg. Butt served 4 years, 3 months, 14 days and was never wounded or taken prisoner. In January, 1865 he joined with the 48th Wisconsin Infantry and was sent to “Indian Territory” in western Kansas. He was discharged on February 26, 1866 and mustered out as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Col. Butt married Margaret Mc Auley of Mt. Sterling, Crawford County on October 16, 1864. They had five children: Esther, called Etta; William Edward, or “Tom”; Jane, also known as Jennie; Cyrus II; and Margaret Elizabeth, called “Beth”. They only had one grandchild, Cyrus M. Butt III, born to Tom and his wife Nellie in 1909.

In addition to his law practice, Butt also managed their farm, consisting of 240 acres. They raised stock, grew tobacco and had a large apple orchard.

Butt served the public in many capacities – as State Senator, County Judge, District Attorney, County Treasurer, Vernon County Asylum Trustee, Village Trustee and Mayor.

The Colonel was described as a “free thinker” when it came to religion and politics. He and his wife were both regarded as considerate of the unfortunate. He stayed active up until his death in 1921 at the age of 86.

Cyrus Butt I with his grandson, Cyrus Butt III.