by Mrs. Luther Boone, Wheeling, Missouri

reprinted with the permission of the Chillicothe Constitution Tribune

Most of the early history of Butler school was found in clerk’s record books and teacher’s report books; however no such history could be obtained for the 10-years period from 1930-1940.  The following former pupils and teachers of the school were very helpful in giving additional facts: Mrs. Mary E. Patrick, Portland, Oregon; Mrs. Charles Wilson, Chula; Mr. and Mrs. Cleve Kissick, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hill, John Slattery and Mrs. Theodore Israel, all of Chillicothe.

Mrs. Mary E. Patrick of Oregon who was Mary Hellam when a pupil at Butler, furnished most of the information obtained outside the written records obtainable.  She entered the school at the age of 6 in 1893.  Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Hellam, with their four children, one boy and three girls, came from Pennsylvania in 1888 and settled three-fourths mile southwest of Butler school where all their children attended.  Mr. Hellam bought a 5-acre tract of land from Sam Summerville who then moved near Avalon.   Mrs. Patrick was untiring in gathering data about the school in general, writing letters in regard to it to many former residents and pupils of the district, furnishing the picture accompanying this history, and informing the writer where valuable information could be secured.

Mrs. Patrick, who is now retired, taught school for 42 years.  Her first term was taught at the Bowman school at the age of 18 years.  She taught in schools in Livingston County six years, left the state in 1912, taught two years in Texas, 32 years in South Dakota and the last two years before her retirement, in Oregon.  She is now a resident of the Patton Home, 4619 N. Michigan Avenue, Portland, Oregon, a non-profit, non-sectarian home where there are opportunities to “learn new skills, new games, pursue hobbies, make new friends and participate in service projects and programs.”

The first school built in the district was known as the Wolfskill school, named for the man on whose land it was built.  Later the name was changed to Butler. General J. Y. Slack gave an acre of land in 1858 for Butler in District 1, Range 23, Township 57, Section 9, five miles southeast of Chillicothe.  The number of the district was changed in 1910 to No. 58.  General Slack had a residence in Chillicothe on North Washington street.   After his death, his wife served as matron at the then Industrial Home for Girls and one of the cottages at the institution was named “Slack Cottage” for her.

The History of Livingston County states that the Pleasant Grove church was organized at the Wolfskill school in the fall of 1860, three-fourths mile south of the present edifice. The Reverend Samuel Alexander was in charge of the organization, assisted by G. W. Caples, Josesph Wolskill and wife, David Mumpower and wife, and John Mumpower, charter members. John Mumpower, who was a relative of Mrs. Maude (Kent) Gordon of Chillicothe, was licensed to preach in Chillicothe on August 1862.

Records as far back as April 21, 1874 were available.  The oldest covered a period of 38 years from 1874 to 1912, and its table of contents, all written in longhand, contained annual meetings, oaths of directors, teachers’ contracts, teachers’ reports of school terms, names of textbooks adopted, itemized expenditures for each year, balance sheets, enumeration of school-age children.

Thirty-eight boys and an equal number of girls were enrolled for the 1874-75 term with Helen Hunt as teacher for two months the previous summer term at a salary of $35.  Angil Bryant taught the 1874 winter term beginning in October at a salary of $40 and also the 2-month spring term of 1875 for $25.  Eighty-five pupils could be seated in the schoolroom.

The oldest meeting recorded states that O. F. Butler, W. R. G. Humphrey and Azel F. Summerville were elected directors.  A. D. Fulkerson served as chairman.

Other early directors and clerks were William McVey, F. W. Coleson, David French, A. D. Wilson, A. D. Fulkerson, Peter Young, G. W. Putman, Henry Lear, Theodore Grothe, J. W. Wannamaker, Andrew Mires, F. F. Thompson, W. H. Botsfore, James Kester, Walter Chamberlain, J. C. Kester, O. D. Kester, A. G. Price, Conrad Hellam, W. G. Mires, Elijah Babb, C. E. Lair, B. G. Weitrick, Seymour Gale, John Manning, Alfred Dryden, Ernest Hoerath.  Others recorded later were Pat Slattery, Ed Colton, Mel Holm, Mrs. George Hass, W. S. Price, J. F. Reed, Robert Martin, J. W. Hill, W. V. Grothe, W. F. Weber, G. A. McBride, W. L. Wannamaker, A. J. Jones.  Some recorded as serving after 1914 were Elmer Reed, William Manning, J. J. Slattery and George W. Elliott. Some recorded after 1921 were Mrs. William Grothe, Frank Englert, Mrs. Harry McVey, Mrs. William Manning, Mrs. J. E. McVey and Mr. and Mrs. Guy Hamilton.

Early teachers were M. C. Purvin, 1874; G. A. Chapman, 1875 (he held a first grade certificate and received a salary of $46 for six months);  Thomas Hurst, 1876, $43.75; G. M. Brassfield, 1877, salary $50; Hattie Thompson, fall of 1879, $40; Nellie Dodge, summer of 1881, $24; R. E. Dixon, winter of 1881, $45;  Mile Gilchrist (who was later county commissioner), summer of 1882 and winter of 1883;   Virgie Dodds, summer of 1883, $25;   Rob Roy Dixon (later county commissioner), winter of 1883, $50, and summer of 1884, $35;  Adella Holdridge, 1885, $75;  L. A. Martin, winter of 1885, $50; G. F. Bundy, winter of 1886, $50.

Grades for Mr. Bundy’s second grade certificate was based on a scale of 10 by Commissioner Rob Roy Dixon.   Grades and subjects listed were Orthography, 9;  written arithmetic, 9½;  civil government, 8½;  algebra, 8; penmanship, 8;  English grammar, 9½;  physical geography, 9;  zoology, xx;   mental arithmetic, 9½;  U. S. history, 9½; physiology, 8½;  physics, 8½;  theory and practice, 9.  Sixteen subjects were necessary. He resigned before the term ended and Oswald Hicks was his successor.

Mr. Hicks held a first grade certificate which required additional subjects of rhetoric, geometry, English literature, bookkeeping, botany, chemistry, geology, trigonometry and mental philosophy.  For reasons not stated, he gave power to W. S. Wannamaker to finish the term, making three different teachers for the one term.  Each received a salary of $50.

D. W. Gibbons taught the winter term of 1888 at a salary of $50;  Minnie Shea, 1889, $45;  John Henry Drake, 1890, who held a 2^nd grade certificate, $45.  Records stated that J. H. Lowe was conductor, W. E. Johnson, B. F. Heaton and C. F. Christianson were instructors.   Ella Casey, first grade certificate, 1891 to 1893; also F. H. Sparling taught in 1891, salary $45;  L. A. Wallace, 1892, $45;  Vemie Turner, summer of 1893, $25;  E. B. Currin, 1894, $45;  Alice Shea, summer of 1894, $30;  J. E. Maguire, 1895, $40;  Estella Seiser, summer 1895, $30;  Iva Hargrove, 1898, $40;  Kate Shea, summer 1899, $27.50; Mrs. Iva Clute, 1899.  She received $2 extra for janitor work, but otherwise salaries of most of the teachers mentioned usually included janitor work.

Later teachers were John McBride, 1900, $40;  O. K. Hargrove, 1901;  Pearl Altman, 1902 and 1903, $40;  Elizabeth Grothe, 1904, $80;  Ethel Kinzy, 1905-1906, $40;  Myrtle Deardorff, 1907, $45 ($2.50 extra for janitor work);  Emily Allen, 1910, $50;  Kate Slattery, 1911, $50;  Harriett Hawker, 1913, $50;  Mabel Reilly, 1914, $55;  Rocelia Seidel, 1919, $65;  Alice Hall, 1920, $80;  Mae Walby, 1921, $80;  Ethel M. Crooks, 1922, $95;  and 1923 at a salary of $100.  Miss Crooks taught four consecutive terms.

Edith Kissick taught two terms beginning in 1926 at a salary of $90;  Elizabeth Grothe, 1928 and 1929, $80;  Appollonia Moylan, 1930, $90.  Another teacher’s name supplied for the early 1900’s by Mrs. Theodore Israel, which was not listed in the records, was Mrs. Jemima Glenn Astrander.  Teachers from 1930 through 1940 are not known.

Textbooks adopted at the meeting of January 5, 1875, were McGuffey’s readers and spellers, Ray’s arithmetic and algebra, Montieth’s Geography, Quackenbo’s U. S. History, Civil Government, the Electric system of Penmanship and Pinnie’s Grammar.

In 1875 there were eight Negro children in the district and a special meeting was called January 30 of that year for the purpose of considering the petition of Bartlet Bridget to establish a Negro school in the district. It was rejected on grounds that it did not comply with the common school laws of the state.

Three additional months of school was voted in April of 1876, five months winter and two months summer.

On the first Tuesday in April of 1878, it was voted to build a new schoolhouse on the site of the old.   One half of the money was to be borrowed, the loan to extend five years, and a levy made for the other half.  Total cost of the building was $580.  The old building was sold to James Nester for $15, and used for a barn.  It also was voted at this meeting to change the boundary line to include the E½ of NE¼ of Section 8, Township 51, Range 23.  The boundary line was again changed in April 1885, cutting off the Higgins 60 acres on the northeast and in April of 1886 the north half of the SW½ of Section 4, Township 57, Range 23 was detached on petition of S. B. Mumpower.

Following are some of the names of the early taxpayers of the district: Elisha and James Hereford, A. D. Wilson, Patrick Hickey, Aaron Trice, Michael August, John Higgins, James Strickler, Henry Whitick, G. W. Putnam, David French, Theodore Grothe, Joseph Venio, Joseph Kalie, John Venie, Dennis Wolfskill, Peter Manning, Edward Bell, Henry Lair, Azel Summerville, Samuel Bollinger, James Felt, T. W. Colson, Peter Young, J. W. Wannamaker, Robert Bruce, R. G. Kester, Edward McConnick, William Dougherty, James Hereford, Michael Slattery, A. D. Fulkerson, Henry McMillan, James Ryan, William Chase, William Goodwin, Iva Goodwin, William McVey, Bennett Kester, John Kester, O. F. Butler, Robert Canida, George Birch, John Heriford, James Brown, George O’Brian, James Kester.

Additional names by 1894 included Mary Andrews, Henry Botsford, Ira Crawford, Harry Crawford, Tom Chamberlain, Mike Deloughery, James Dillard, Andrew Griffey, Tom Gottshall, Ernest Garzee, James Hickey, Conrad Hellam, John Jewell, James Jennings, George Jennings, John Kappas, George Lindsay, C. E. Mires, Frank Miller, William Manning, John Manning, George Manning, Garrett McBride, Frank Oliver, Aaron Price, George Reed, Stephen Schoemig, Pat Slattery, Dick Scott, William Samuelsbarger, Alfred Wittich.

It is interesting at this point to tell of some of the old settlers who came to the district in the early years.  Mrs. Patrick supplied the data for most of them and some names and dates were verified by Mrs. Dillie (Scott) Wilson of Chula, a former pupil at Butler whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Richard Scott, came to Missouri from Iowa in 1889 and settled three and one-fourth miles southeast of the school.  She attended four terms. She had one brother and a sister who were also pupils there.

The earliest settler was probably Elisha Heriford, who camped on Medicine Creek as early as 1833. Ed, Ben, George and Charles, his grandsons and Mrs. Nelson, his granddaughter, were Butler pupils.

George Reed migrated from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1883 or 1884.  He served in the Civil War.  His children were Freen, Elmer and Hannah.  Mrs. Frank (Summerville) Hill of near Chillicothe, whose father, A. F. Summerville, came from Pennsylvania in 1858, lived with her uncle, George Reed, after the death of her mother in 1893 or 1894 and started to school at Butler in 1902.   Her first teacher was J. E. Maguire.   She later married Frank Hill, a former pupil of the school, living near Chillicothe.  His first teacher was Miss Pearl Altman.  Miss Altman later married Guy Hatcher of Chillicothe and they owned a gift shop and bookstore on the west side of the square.  Their son is now the owner of the store.

There were several Kestrel families who were early settlers in the district.  Bennett Kester (he had no children) arrived in 1850;  J. W. Kester (had a son, William) 1853; Oliver Kester (had no children), who moved to St. Louis and became a successful businessman;  J. C. Kester, 1855;  J. P. Kester, 1858.  Others were W. R. McVey, 1842; O. H. Saunders, 1857.  Saunders married Margaret Todd and their children were Wesley, Laura and Todd.  William Todd and J. Y. Todd arrived in 1845.

There were two different migration periods to Livingston County from western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.  The Fullertons, Lintons and a family of Shields all knew each other before they came to Missouri.

Fannie (Colson) Price moved with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Colson, from Elkhorn, Wisconsin in 1867 at the age of 4 and lived on the same farm, six miles southeast of Chillicothe, in the Butler district until her death in 1953.  In 1901 she was married to William Price.  They had no children but reared her niece, now Mrs. Fred Linville.  Mrs. Linville and her daughter, Vella Rose, made their home with her and still live on the old home place.

Another pioneer was Andrew Myers, with his children, George, Jim, Ella and Ervin, who were Butler pupils.   Mrs. Patrick writes descriptively of the Andrew and Ervin Meyer families leaving the district for Indian Territory when she was a small girl.  They homesteaded there and lived at Kingfisher, Oklahoma when the territory became the state of Oklahoma.  Mr. Meyers sold his farm to a Mr. Galvin.  It is owned now by John Slattery.  The two families had their farm wagons converted into covered wagons for the trek.  Ervin’s wagon was originally a spring wagon.   Neighbors and friends gathered to see them off.  Ervin and wife were the first to drive out on the road and head west; then the wagon of Andrew and wife as everyone sang “God be with you till we meet again.” They watched until the wagons crossed the Wabash Railroad tracks, started down “cut-off hill and disappeared.

The schoolhouse, which was built in 1878, was a large frame building painted white, about 40x30. It was built by W. G. R. Humphrye.  It faced the east and had five windows on the north and south and a door in the east.  When it was built, the floor was of wide pine boards, later re-floored with narrow boards.   The walls above the 4-foot wainscoting and ceiling were plastered.  There were five rows of double seats and long benches down each side of the room and across the back.  The room was heated by a box-type wood-burning stove with a drum, which used 3 foot logs.  Later there were two stoves with the same stovepipe and flue.  On each side of the door were shelves reaching from the door to the comer.  They were used for dinner palls.  Wraps were hung underneath the shelves and overshoes were placed on the floor beneath the wraps.   In later years a cloakroom was built.

The water bucket was kept on a bench in the back of the room.  A cedar bucket and tin dipper was used in the early days.  Painted blackboards extended across the west end of the room and down the sides to the first windows.  A low, wide rostrum eight inches high was built across the front of the room.  The room was lighted by coal oil lamps placed on brackets on the windows with tin reflectors back of them.  In the early days there were no free textbooks, the parents being obliged to buy books for all their children.  Readers went to and included the sixth grade.  There were few library books.

There were no compulsory school laws and boys and girls could attend as long as they wished.  Some of the boys had to quit school when crops were to be tended and therefore were longer getting through school.  It was not unusual for boys and girls to attend even in their early twenties.  After finishing the sixth reader some studied primary algebra, American literature and physical geography.

Charts were supplements to the regular texts.  The charts stood on legs and usually consisted of work for primary children, word drills, sentences with pictures, and phonic drills.  One chart had maps and drills for teaching on one side while on the other were maps and outlines for teaching history.  One of these charts contained three pages of drawing objects, which the children loved to copy in spare time.  Another chart contained outlines for teaching physiology, anatomy and hygiene.  Illustrations of the human body and the skeleton were pictured.  Some maps were kept in a case on the wall.  A globe was always on the teacher’s desk.

In the early years, drinking water was obtained from a cistern located north of the schoolhouse.  An old-fashioned chain pump was installed.   When the water got too low or unfit to drink, water was carried in a pail by the children from a near-by neighbor’s well.  There were two or three trees along the east fence north of the porch.  A few other smaller trees were to the north and east of the school ground.  Most of the yard was free from trees or shrubbery, giving much clear space for games.

Some of the games played in the early years were named by Mrs. Patrick and Mrs. Wilson to be clap-in and clap-out, drop-the-handkerchief, blackman, shinny, whip-cracker, go-in and out the windows, needle’s eye, fox and geese, miller boy, button button, leap frog, charades, Ruth and Jacob, Isaac and Rebecca, poison, run sheep run, drown the duck, anti-over, ball, baseball, dare base, jump the rope, skating on the pond near the schoolhouse, snowball games and push off the porch, which occurred on the low porch which extended across the east end of the building.

Mrs. Theodore Israel, whose parents were Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Weitrick and who lived with their daughter, Honor, a mile and one-fourth east of Butler, stated that for years there was a well organized literary society at the school, with varying forms of entertainment, debates, spelling and ciphering contests, musical programs and miscellaneous numbers.  They were held on Friday afternoons and evenings and Mrs. Wilson said that sometimes other schools participated.  The teacher usually read a story for opening exercises and the pupils sang.

The records show that an 8-months school was voted in 1879. New desks were purchased in 1886 and new floors laid over the old.  A storm cave was built in 1888 at the rear of the schoolhouse.  Specifications for it appeared in the record as having dimensions of 7x18 feet and 6 feet deep.  It was built 4½ feet below the surface, lined with an 8-inch brick wall.  The rafters were of burr oak and had one-half pitch and 6x4 burr oak sheeting with 2x8 burr or white oak.  The roof was covered with 16 inches of dirt and the whole was roofed with 1x2 pine boards and stripped with 1x6 boards.  The sides of the entrance were walled up and the steps were moveable.  The cave was drained with 3-inch tile, insulated.  A 2-inch burr oak plank protected the cave from dirt on top of it.

The schoolhouse was painted in 1890 and repaired at a cost of $100 in 1893.  Slate blackboards were installed in 1894.  More repairs were made in 1902 at a cost of $175. The wainscoting was removed and the space plastered.  A new front door with a transom was installed; there were new window casings; the house was given three coats of paint, the blackboard and shutters repaired, the flue rebuilt and the seats replaced and fastened down.  The well curb was relaid and two recitation benches bought.  The contract was let to B. F. Weitrick.  A new stove was purchased in 1903 from Minteer and Williams of Chillicothe for $23.00 and another was bought in 1916 for $50.35. A new fence was built in 1905 and a well was bored with tiling and pump installed at an over-all cost of $62.65.

A fuel house was built in 1906 and the schoolhouse painted.  A set of encyclopedia was purchased in 1917 at a cost of $24.75.  New seats were bought for $22.89 and a new fence built for $47.65.

The school had two epidemics through the years, serious enough to warrant closing the school.  The first closing recorded was February 16, 1901, on account of smallpox, and again in October of 1919 when the school was closed for two weeks because of an influenza ban.

An open porch was built in 1923 and free textbooks were voted in 1930.

A statement was found among the records which was issued March 30, 1921, from the State Board of Equalization to school boards, city councils and county courts of Missouri, setting forth the reasons for the necessity of equalization of assessment of property in Missouri and explaining how it was to operate.  The letter stated that there were 852 districts in Missouri which had an assessed valuation so low that their maximum levy could give them only $165 per year for school purposes; 868 with a maximum of $260, 3,791 with a maximum of $500.  It was signed by members of the state board of equalization -- Arthur W. Hyde, governor of the state;  Charles Becker, secretary of state;  George E. Hackmann, state auditor;  L. L. Thompson, state treasurer; James W. Barrett, attorney general.

John Hill, who lives near Chillicothe, a former pupil of the school furnished a teacher’s register for the years covering 1904 through 1915.  Mina Glenn was the teacher for the 1904-05 term with 36 enrolled.  Ethel Kinzy taught the spring term of 1905 with 42 enrolled.  She also taught the winter term of 1905-06 of nine months with 43 enrolled.  W. T. Merrill taught 1906-07 with 42 enrolled.  Margaret Martin taught 1907-08, seven months; also taught 1909-10 with salary of $50.00 in winter and $45.00 for the spring. The school had an epidemic of measles in 1910 when most of the pupils were absent.

Subjects taught that year and texts used were Brooks readers, Kent Spellers, Milnes Arithmetic, Penmanship, Fry’s Geography, Reed and Kellogg’s Grammar, Coleman’s Physiology, Civics, Gordy’s Missouri History and Goff and Maynes Agriculture.  All grades were taught and $12.50 was spent that year for library supplies.  J. F. Reed was clerk;  J. W. McCormick, county superintendent.  Emily Allen taught 1910-11 for nine months.  Katherine Slattery, 1911-12;  Emily Allen, 1912-13 with 42 enrolled;  and Harriett Hawker, 1913-14.  Mabel Reilly taught the 1914-15 term with a salary of $55.00.

Frank Englert, who lives several miles south of the school, was able to furnish some records of the last years of the school.  Mr. Englert has lived there 51 years.  He has five children, all pupils of the school.  The clerk’s records covered 1940 through 1949, the year the school closed.

Teachers for the period were Mrs. Lorene Coffman, 1940-41, salary $70.00;  and Mrs. Mary Harper who taught the remaining seven terms, with the exception of the term of 1945-46 when Miss Nellie Thomas taught with a salary of $125.00.  Mrs. Harper’s salary the last year of the school was $190.00 for a term of nine months.  Board members and clerks during that time were Reuben Linville, Frank Englert, John Hill, Clifford Summerville, Sterling VanLandingham, Harry Lauhoff, Mrs. Cleve Kissick, Mrs. Frank Englert, Mrs. Clyde Harper, Mrs. John Hill, Buel Reece and Dorothy VanLandingham.

A kitchen was built September 1941. Progressive school was bought for $100.00 in 1944. Seventy-five dollars worth of playground equipment was purchased in 1940.  A well was dug in 1945 by Will Coleman for $45.90 and a set of books was purchased in 1946 for $76.50.  Two hundred ninety-five dollars and fifty cents was paid in September 1948 for tuition and transportation of pupils.

Last pupils attending were Jimmy and Jerry Slattery, Jack Chavin, Jessie Lee and Nickie Pittman, Vella Rose Linville, Junior and Theresa Manning, Barbara Jones, Billy J. VanLandingham, Billy Mike Lauhoff, Dora Hill.  They ranged in age from 6 to 13 years.

Subjects taught were arithmetic, general science, health, art, music, reading, language, spelling, writing, history, civics and geography.  Grades taught were the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth.  There were five eighth grade graduates: Barbara Jones, Theresa Manning, Jerry Slattery and Dora Hill.

Last directors serving the school were C. C. Summerville, Frank Englert (clerk), J. E. Hill and P. M. Slattery.

To compare new record books with those used in 1875, the following divisions were found in the last book: teacher’s health certificates signed by a physician;  plat of the school district, organization, recommendations and needs;  oaths of directors;  annual school meeting, minutes of the annual meeting, petition of special meeting, notice of special meetings, notice of special minutes of special meetings, receipts for the school year, record of warrants issued, annual school enumeration record, enumeration of normal children, proposed budget, actual financial data, application for state school money, report of district clerk to county superintendent; statement of the treasurer and county clerk to the district clerk; report of district clerk to county superintendent; teacher’s monthly report to district clerk, teacher’s monthly report to district clerk, teacher’s term report to county superintendent and district clerk, eighth grade graduates, contract for transportation of public school children, bond, annual transportation report, report of pupils transported, teacher’s contracts, record, schedule of payments, insurance record, inventory of library, estimated value of school property and free text book certificates. These were compiled in conformity with the laws of Missouri and the rules and regulations of the State Department of Education.

While perhaps there were several former pupils who later became teachers, possibly some teaching in the home school not mentioned here, it was not possible except for a few to obtain data about them.

Mrs. Israel, then Honor Wietrick, lived with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Wietrick, at the station on the Wabash Railroad then known as Norville.  For 12 years her mother was

postmistress and held that position until the office was closed after Rural Free Delivery was established in this section of the county.  Mr. Wietrick was a carpenter.  According to information from an article published in the Constitution-Tribune in May of 1957, Mrs. Israel had been in school as pupil and teacher about 60 years, 46 of them as teacher, at the time of her retirement in 1957.  She taught in Oklahoma and in several Livingston County rural schools after she returned to Missouri in 1914.  Then she taught in the city of Chillicothe 38 years, 28 of them in the high school as commerce teacher.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeast Missouri Teacher’s College at Kirksville, has done graduate work at the University of Southern California and Denver and has extension credits from Northwest Missouri State College at Maryville.

Mrs. Lucy (Wannamaker) Lebaron, a former pupil at Butler also became a teacher and at the time of her marriage was teaching in the Jefferson City schools.  She is now librarian at the Livingston County Memorial Library.   Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. William Wannamaker who lived one-half mile northwest of the Butler school.  They had a son, Billy, who also attended the school.

Mrs. Kate (Slattery) Donohue, who lives on a farm north of Farmersville, is another former pupil who became a teacher.

John Slattery, who still lives in the district, was an employee of the Missouri State Highway Department for 24 years and has served as the county highway engineer for the last 12 years.

William Wannamaker, father of Mrs. Lebaron, served as Chillicothe city clerk.  Ambrose Wannamaker is a doctor at Hamburg, Iowa.

Mike Donnely at one time served as mayor of Oklahoma City.  Archie Gale became a lawyer in Chillicothe and Joseph Gale is a physician there.   Garrett McBride served as Livingston County treasurer for two terms.

F. K. Thompson whose daughter, the late Garnet (Thompson) Howell, attended Butler school, was a representative in the Missouri legislature during her school years.  He made visits to the school and talked with the children giving them first hand information on the duties of public officers.

Mrs. Edith (Stephens) Kissick is a former pupil at Butler who later taught her home school for two terms, from 1926 through 1928.  Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. M. Stephens.  Her husband, Clive Kissick, is a former pupil as is the son, Paul.  Mr. Kissick’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kissick.

Butler became one of nine rural school districts forming the Wheeling reorganized district R-4 in 1950 under the new Missouri school law.  In August of 1952, W. R. Wilson of Bogard purchased the school building and the acre of land and the structure has been remodeled into a dwelling house.