Elmer Butts
Sept. 17, 1852-Aug. 5, 1931
Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, August 5, 1931, page 1, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library
ELMER BUTTS, 78, DIES AT BEND OF RIVER HOME
Was Uncle of Frank Butts of Niles; Had Been Ill for Several Years
Elmer Butts, 78, resident of The Bend of the River, died last evening at 5:30 o'clock at his farm home on Walton road.
Mr. Butts was possibly the oldest resident of Buchanan township from point of residence, having resided in Buchanan township since 1876. He had lived on this farm where he died for 55 years.
Mr. Butts had been in poor health for several years. He was born in Milton township September 17, 1852. He had been a farmer all of his life. He was married to Miss Flora Cranston in 1876. She did in 1917.
Surviving are two sons, Dr. E.R. Butts of Chicago and Floyd Butts, at home, a brother, Charles Butts, and a sister, Mrs. John Young of Milton township. Frank D. Butts of Niles is a nephew.
Funeral arrangements have not been made. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery, Niles.
Niles Daily Star, Thursday, Aug. 6, 1931, page 1, col. 6, microfilm Niles District Library
Death of Elmer Butts Removes Farm Pioneer
Funeral Service to be held Friday at Home on Walton Road.
Funeral services for Elmer Butts will be held in his home in the Bend of the river, on the Walton Road tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 standard time. The Rev. H. W. Staver of Buchanan will officiate. Burial will be made in Silver Brook Cemetery in Niles.
Elmer Butts, who was a pioneer resident of this section, died on Thursday August 4 at 5:30 p.m. of paralysis. He had been confined to his bed for about 30 days. He had been a great suffer from his eyes and had been blind for about 10 years. Mr. Butts was an industrious and capable farmer in his younger days, and was also one of the oldest farmers in this section, having lived on his farm in the Bend of the River, continuously for 56 years. He was born at Lawton, Mich., Sept. 17, 1852, and with his parents moved to Milton Township, Cass County where when a young man he worked for his grandfather, Peter Truitt, who at one time owned 1500 acres of land and was one the first settlers in the community, going there in 1831. This farm was six miles east of Niles. Peter Truitt owned and managed Truitt’s tavern, which was a popular place for travelers in the early days as they came west by wagon. The tavern, a log structure, was torn down about 10 years ago, near it was the old family cemetery, which is about the only evidence of the site, where this old settler lived.
In 1876 Elmer Butts married Flora Cranston. They moved to the farm where he died. His wife, preceded him in death October 13, 1917. Relatives who mourn are two sons, Lloyd Butts and Dr. E. R. Butts at the home; a sister, Mrs. John Young; and brother, Charles Butts, who lived east of Niles, near the site of Truitt Tavern. Nieces and nephews are Frank Butts of Niles, Mrs. R. Hubbard of Berrien Center, Mrs. Odeorn of Eaton Rapids, Mrs. Ed. Koehler of Evanston, Ill, Orville Butts, Palos Park, Ill, and Mrs. Dewey Annis, Niles.