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A. D. BUTLER.
In the death of A. D. Butler, which occurred October 27, 1923, there was removed another prominent citizen of Napa
county who had made his way in life by the force of his own merit and industry from a small beginning to great
success His memory will long be revered and his influence for good felt in this section, for he belonged to that
class of worthy and noble citizens who leave behind them much that is deathless. He was regarded as one of Napa's
most useful and enterprising men of affairs and had been an active and influential citizen of that community for
many years. Mr. Butler was born in Monmouth, Illinois, on the 21st of May, 1843, and was therefore eighty years
of age at the time of his death. When but a mere lad he crossed the plains with his parents, who settled in the
Williamette valley, Oregon. He secured his education in the schools of that locality and remained there until he
was twenty one years of age, when he returned to Illinois and entered Abingdon College. He was graduated from that
institution in 1869 and returned to Oregon, where he served for a time as principal of the Christian College at
Monmouth.
In 1872 Mr. Butler came to Napa county and settled in Brown's valley, being among the first to locate there. He
taught school there for ten years and then turned his attention to fruit raising, and to him belongs the distinction
and honor of being one of the very first to plant fruit trees in Napa county. His fine cherry orchard was long
known as "Fern Hill" and became widely recognized as one of the first successful orchards in this part
of the state. After he had demonstrated the practicability of growing fruit here, Mr. Butler extended his field
of operations and began packing and shipping his fruit. So successful and entirely favorable were his experiences
along that line that in 1892 he became one of the organizers of the Napa Fruit Company, and he served as its president
from its organization up to the time of his death, a period of thirty years. About 1917 Mr. Butler sold his ranch
and moved to Napa, where he lived quietly and leisurely during the remainder of his life, enjoying the rest which
he had so richly earned.
Mr. Butler was twice married, first, in 1868, to Miss Melvina Morris, who died in 1879; and in 1886 he was married
to Mrs. Hazzie Caldwell Garr, who was a native of Lewis county, Missouri, and came to California in 1872. To the
first union was born a son, Ralph, of Napa, and a daughter, Lena, who married Ira Powell, of Monmouth, Oregon,
where she passed away, leaving three sons, all of whom survive. To the second union were born two sons, one of
whom, Ira C., died in 1900; his death being the result of a hunting accident. The other son, William D., is a successful
horticulturist of this county. Politically Mr. Butler was a democrat and in his earlier years in this county he
had taken a very active part in local political affairs. He was very public spirited, giving his unreserved support
to all measures that promised to be of material benefit to the people of his locality. His religious membership
was in the Christian church at Napa, of which he was an elder for many years. He served as a member of the board
of education for twelve years and had served as president of the Napa County Grange. Mr. Butler was a man of many
sterling characteristics of head and heart and his life was replete with duty faithfully and conscientiously performed,
while his career in the humble sphere of private citizenship was such as to commend him to the respect and esteem
of the best people of the city and county where he had so long maintained his residence.
From:
History of Solano County, California
BY: Marguerite Hune
and
Napa County, California
BY: Harry Lawrence Gunn
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Chicago 1926
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