BUTTERFIELD, ALBERT

BUTTERFIELD, JONES, MOORE, GOULD

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 5/20/2004 at 15:37:48

Biography reproduced from page 432 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Albert Butterfield, who is carrying on general agricultural pursuits in Irvington township, where he owns one hundred and thirty acres of land, was born in Franklin county, Iowa, on the 27th of June, 1867, and is a son of J. S. and Mary Jane (Jones) Butterfield. He is descended from one of Illinois’ early pioneer families, his paternal grandparents, having located in that state in 1812. That section of the country was still infested with Indians at that period and they sought refuge during an uprising among the natives in 1832 in the blockhouse at Fort Dearborn. The grandfather was a typical frontiersman and participated in many of the skirmishes between the Indians and the settlers, while the grandmother, who had passed the greater part of her life in the vicinity of an Indian camp, was familiar with the dialects of several of the tribes. They both lived to attain a ripe old age, the grandfather, who was a veteran of the War of 1812, having passed away in 1872 at the age of eighty-two, while the grandmother, who survived him until 1880, had celebrated the eightieth anniversary of her birth at the time of her death. She was of English extraction and had two brothers in the Revolutionary war. J. S. Butterfield, the father of our subject, was a native of Cook county, Illinois, his birth occurring four miles south of the courthouse. He removed to Franklin county, Iowa, in 1855, and there he passed away in 1893. He had long survived the mother whose death occurred in the same county in 1870. Mr. Butterfield was trained to agricultural pursuits from his early boyhood and always devoted his energies to that vocation. He was a public-spirited, patriotic man and when the Civil war broke out offered his services to the Union, but he failed to meet the requirements of the physical examination and was rejected. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Butterfield, our subject being the youngest. In order of birth the others are as follows: Benjamin, who is living in Clarion, Iowa; Robert, a resident of Brule, Nebraska; Nettie J., who died in 1895; and Clara A., the deceased wife of W. D. Moore, a resident of Irvington township.

The boyhood and youth of Albert Butterfield were passed on a farm, his education being acquired in the common schools. He remained at home until he was twenty-five years of age, when he came to Kossuth county and bought raw land on section 6, Luverne township. He assiduously applied himself to the improvement and cultivation of this tract for three years. At the expiration of that time he disposed of it and returning to Illinois engaged in the mercantile business at Edelstein, that state. Two years later he once more took up his residence in this county and again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He located in Sherman township and for five years thereafter farmed as a renter. His undertaking prospered and at the end of that period he bought a farm on section 12, Riverdale township, on which he made some improvements. He then disposed of this and bought his present place on section 31, Irvington township. Here he has since engaged in diversified farming and stock-raising but has devoted the greater part of his time to buying and selling hay and live stock, in both of which he deals extensively. During the period of his ownership of the farm he has wrought many changes in the place, and has greatly enhanced the value and appearance of the property. He has repaired the old buildings and erected a large commodious barn and also installed on his homestead various modern conveniences and appliances consistent with the spirit of progress he manifests in his undertakings. Mr. Butterfield also owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Cottonwood county, Minnesota.

In 1892, Mr. Butterfield was married to Miss Sarah J. Gould, who was born in Hampton, Iowa, and to them have been born five children, as follows: Roy W., Bernice, Raymond, Geneva and Benjamin, all of whom are at home.

The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally Mr. Butterfield is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Red Men of Irvington, and the Yeomen at Luverne. Politically he is a republican. He is enterprising and reliable in his business transactions and during the period of his residence here has won the respect and esteem of a large circle of acquaintances, who hold him in high regard.