Benton, IA. - On duty night and day as the operator-manager of the Benton Telephone Exchange, Mrs. LeVanita (Vanshie) BUTLER, 76, "mothers' the entire town.

"Whenever anyone is ill, 'Vanshie' knows it, worries about it and tries to help," said Marshal MATTHEWS, Benton postmaster. "Whenever she can't complete calls to the phone subscribers, she takes downthe message and finds some messenger to deliver it."

"Yes, mother just worries too much about everything," said her daughter, Mrs. Russell SWEENEY. "We try to to stop her because

Mrs. BUTLER, whose salary as operator averages about $600 a year, augments her wages with the income from a 53-acre farm she owns here. For thirty years she was a professional dressmaker.

A widow, Mrs. BUTLER was the Benton postmaster twenty-six years before she took over the phone exchange.

The tiny switchboard - which serves about fifty families - is in her home, and a bell awakens her for calls made during the night.

"The subscribers are pretty king about night calls," she said. "They seldom use the phone at night, except in case of emergency, so I don't mind getting up to make the connections."

Born LeVanita DILLE on a farm just outside Benton, Mrs. BUTLER attended a rural school and attended the Benton school two years.

She remembers when the Great Western Railroad line was built through town. "The trains still are running through here, but Benton is only a flag stop now," she said. The 1950 population was 128.

"About fifty years ago," Mrs. BUTLER said, "Benton had two general stores, a post office, opera house, hotel, blacksmith shop and garage, besides the school and two churches."

Service still are held in the Christian and Methodist churches, but the school now serves only fifth and sixth grades as part of the Mount Ayr community school system. Today there is a lone store - operated by MATTHEWS.

Besides her daughter, Mrs. BUTLER has five sons: Homer and Marvin of Mount Ayr, Hollis and Merle of Benton, and Charles of Des Moines. There are eight grandchildren.

LeVantia Ellen DILLE BUTLER was a daughter of Joseph and Fannie HUTCHISON DILLE and was born July 5, 1883. She died December 26, 1963 at the age of eighty years [interment at Benton Cemetery].

She was united in marriage with Floyd BUTLER in 1912 and was the mother of six children: Homer, Hollis, Charles, Marvin, Merle, and Marilyn Marjorie. Hollis, Charles, Marvin and Marjorie are deceased and also a brother Clarance and a sister Virine SHELDON. She has two sons living, Homer of Mount Ayr and Merle of Benton.

NOTE: Floyd Jefferson "Bunk" BUTLER was born on June 23, 1886, and died on August 30, 1959. He was interred at Oakdale Cemetery.

Homer "Red" BUTLER was born in 1913 and died in 1998, with interment at Benton Cemetery.

Hollis W. BUTLER died in 1978 with interment at Benton Cemetery.

Charles V. BUTLER was born in 1917, and died in 1971. He was interred at Benton Cemetery.

Marvin Joyce BUTLER was born on September 28, 1921, served as a S/Sgt. with the AAR during World War II, and died on May 31, 1971. He was interred at Benton Cemetery.

Leland "Merle" BUTLER was born on January 22, 1924, and died June 6, 2009. He was interred at Benton Cemetery.

Marilyn Marjorie (BUTLER) SWEENEY was born at Benton on December 14, 1927, and passed away on September 17, 1979, with interment at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr. She was married on June 3, 1949 to Russell James SWEENEY.

Clarence M. DILLE was born in 1886 and died in 1938 with interment at Benton Cemetery.

Virine (DILLE) SHELDON, wife of Roy SHELDON, was born in 1890 and died in 1962. She was interred at Benton Cemetery.

SOURCE: 1887 - Benton, Iowa Centennial - 1987. Pp. 169-70. Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library, Mount Ayr IA

Transcriptions and notes by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2012

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