San Francisco Call, Tuesday, October 27, 1908, Page 1, Image 1, Column 3 -
HENRY BUTTERS,
FAMOUS MAN OF
MILLIONS, DIES
---
Noted Financier Stricken Down
Suddenly by Congestion
of the Lungs
---
Passes Away With Heart Still
Hardened Toward His
Separated Wife
---
Was Associate of Cecil Rhodes,
John Hays Hammond and
Other Worldwide Figures
---
OAKLAND, Oct. 26-Henry A. Butters, president of the Northern electric railway company, capitalist, mining magnate, street railway constructor of worldwide note, associate of the late Cecil Rhodes in South Africa and one of the foremost figures in the financial activities of California, died at 3 o'clock this morning at the home of his aged mother, Mrs. Sarah L. Butters, 2624 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, after an attack of congestion of the lungs with which he was stricken Friday evening. It was more than a year ago that Butters left his mansion, in the Piedmont hills, where his wife resides. The domestic differences which separated them had never been adjusted, for in his will the millionaire bequeaths his entire fortune to his 16 year old son, Henry Butters Jr., now at school at Exeter, Mass. No provision is made for Mrs. Butters. Although she has holdings in her own name valued at $500,000 a contest is, anticipated.
Business cares, coupled with family differences, had greatly exhausted Butters' vitality, and a cold developed speedily into congestion of the lungs. With him at the end were his brother, Charles Butters, his associate in many of his earlier enterprises; his sister, Mrs. P. R. Boone of Berkeley, and his mother, Mrs. Butters, the widow, was notified at her home, Alta Vista, of her husband's death an hour after it had occurred. She went to the Berkeley residence later in the day.
In his last illness Butter was attended by Dr. S. H. Buteau, Dr. L. L. Riggin and Dr. Clark Burnham. They were in almost constant attendance, but were able only to alleviate at times the intense pain which he suffered.
MONEY CAUSES SEPARATION
The separation of Butters and his wife came at a time when the capitalist was in need of ready money to finance his projects after the disaster of 1906. He had previously transferred to her property valued at $500,000, including the Palmerstone block at Sixteenth Street and San Pablo Avenue in this city. Mrs. Butters, it is stated, did not share her husband' view that the property should be used to assist his industrial enterprises, and from this disagreement followed the differences which led to the separation.
Butters lived for a time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco and later removed to the home of his mother in Berkeley, but he never visited the beautiful mansion in the Piedmont hills.
Butters was married twice, but there are no children from the first union. His second wife, now his widow, was formerly Mrs. David Edwards and later Mrs. Lucy Sanctella, widow of an officer in the United States geodetic survey. Paulding Edwards, who recently married Miss Dolly Tarpey, is a son of Mrs. Butters by her first husband. Mrs. Butters' daughters, Miss Marguerite and Miss Marie, were adopted by the capitalist. Miss Marguerite Butters is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of the secretary of the navy, besides his brother, sister and mother in California, Butters is survived by another sister, Mrs. S. D. Field, who lives in Stockbridge, Mass.
In his will Butters has ignored all of his relatives but his son. His holdings will run well into the millions, but no exact estimate can be formed at this time. The property includes street railways in the capitals of South America and Europe, vast mining enterprises in South America, California and Central America and interurban electric railroads, as well as real estate, stocks and bonds. The will was drawn by former Judge Charles V. Slack of San Francisco, his confidential adviser. As executors it names Slack and Charles Butters.
NATIVE OF BAY STATE
Henry Butters was born, 58 years ago at Haverhill, Mass. He came to California when he was 14 years old. After attending the old College of California he was with the book publishing house of Bancroft & Co. and subsequently was in life insurance work. Butters was attracted to Leadville, Colo., by the great mining excitement of 1878. For years afterward, with his brother, Charles, he was actively engaged in mining and other large enterprises which formed the basis of his fortune.
Charles went to South Africa and became identified with the great development of the Johannesburg and generally the Transvaal mining wealth. Henry followed his brother to the land of the Boers. His wife and their son, Henry A. Butters Jr., joined him there.
JOINS NOTED MEN
In association with Cecil Rhodes, John Hays Hammond, Werner, Beit, & Co. and other distinguished South African promoters, Butters became the pioneer of electrical development in South Africa. So successful were his operations that he subsequently interested his backers in the Transvaal, so that he installed electric railways in Geneva, Switzerland; City of Mexico; Lisbon, Portugal; Valparaiso, Chile and some of the European capitals.
Henry Butters was fortunate enough to escape capture as a result of the Jameson raid, which preceded the Boer war. Charles Butters, however was imprisoned with John Hays Hammond and only liberated by Oom Paul Kruger [AKA Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 5th President of South Africa], after the payment of heavy ransom.
After spending several years abroad in his large operations, Butters, with
Continued on Page 3, mid. Column 1
FINANCIER WILLS
MONEY TO HIS SON
Continued from Page 1, Column 3
his family, returned to Oakland in 1895. But it was not long before he became a heavy investor and an organizer of new projects. His most noteworthy effort was that of the Northern electric, a line from Chico to Sacramento, and planned to girdle the Sacramento valley, ultimately striking the bay cities. Associated with Butters were Louis Sloss, E. R. Lilienthal, Eugene de Sabla Jr., W. P. Hammond, John Martin and others.
Butters gave of his very life's blood to make this enterprise a success. He sacrificed much that he loved best; his love of flowers, his horses and his works of art.
He was extremely generous and philanthropic. Butters gave liberally to all public affairs, and his private benefactions were numerous. He was accounted, in business life, a constructive promoter, not a speculator nor theorizer.
The funeral will be held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from the church of St. Francis de Sales. Rev. Thomas McSweeney will officiate. The honorary pallbearers will be E. R. Lilienthal, E. J. de Sabla, Louis Sloss, A. D. Schindler, Ferdinand Reiss Jr., Charles W. Slack, A. M. Seymour, George W. McNear Jr., Charles G. Wingate and M. F. Tarpey.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, October 27, 1908, Page 13, Image 13, Column 7 -
DEATHS
Butters, Henry A.....58
---
BUTTERS- In Berkeley, October 26, 1908, Henry Augustus, husband of Lucy Beebee Butters, and father of Henry A. Butters Jr., Marie, Lucile and Margaret Butters, a native of Haverhill, Maine, aged 58 years.
Friends and acquaintances arc invited to attend the funeral services tomorrow (Wednesday), October 28, at 10 o'clock a. m. at St. Francis de Sales church, corner of Grove and Hobart streets, Oakland. Interment strictly private.
San Francisco Call, Monday, March 16, 1896, Page 14, Image 14, Column 5 -
TWELVE MILLION DEAL
---
Henry A. Butters Buys the Tramway
System of the City of
Mexico
Intelligence comes from the City of Mexico that a former Californian, Henry A. Butters, has just computed negotiations for the purchase of the entire tramway or transportation system of the City of Mexico.
It is reported that the rights-of-way, franchises and rolling stock were valued at $12,000,000, which Mr. Butters and his associates decided to pay. It is known that the City of Mexico has in progress a complete system of drainage, and now the introduction of modern facilities of rapid transit, such as electric cars give, will mark another step in metropolitan advancement.
Mr. Butters, who has just concluded these important negotiations, made considerable money in mining enterprises on the Pacific Coast. A group of Oregon mines owned by him and his brother yielded a large revenue for several years. The brothers were well known in mining circles of California, as they resided much of the time in this State.
About four years ago the brothers Butters went to South America. Like many other practical mining men, they were active in the development of the rich mines of that region, and as a result acquired immense wealth.
At last accounts one of the brothers was in South Africa and figured among the Americans who had been detained for inciting revolt against the peace and dignity of the Boer republic.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Butters, accompanied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Augustus Bray of Fruitvale, arrived in the City of Mexico in February and have been sojourning there since. They expect to arrive in San Francisco the latter part of this month or early in April.
The inference is plain that Mr. Butters has decided to withdraw from mining ventures in South Africa and engage in the transportation business in Mexico.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, July 8, 1908, Page 4, Image 4, Column 5 -
HENRY BUTTERS IS
NOT WITH FAMILY
---
Rumor of Separation Disclosed
by His Illness at Home
of His Mother
---
Wife and Daughters of Capitalist
Occupy Piedmont
Mansion Alone
---
BERKELEY, July 7.-Society folk in the bay cities learned definitely today that Henry Butters, president of the Northern electric railway and one of the most prominent capitalists of the state, and his wife are living apart. That a separation had occurred between the former South Africa mining man and Mrs. Butters has been a matter of society gossip for some time. It was confirmed today when the disclosure was made that Butters was lying ill at the home of his mother, Mrs. S. L. Butters, in Berkeley rather than at his beautiful mansion in Piedmont, the residence now of Mrs. Henry Butters and her daughter.
The first intimation that Mr. and Mrs. Butters had parted came some time ago when it became known that Butters had left Alta Vista, the Piedmont residence, and had taken apartments in San Francisco. Inquiries at that time led to the announcement from the Butters residence that this had been done as a matter of convenience for Mrs. Butters' daughters, who attended many social affairs on the other side of the bay. But the continued absence of Butters from his domicile, the fact that he had once been reported as having declared with some feeling, "Thank God, I am now free," kept alive gossip which the change had occasioned.
Mr. and Mrs. Butters returned from a European tour some time ago and soon afterward it was noticed that the head of the house took part in none of the elaborate social entertainments given at Alta Vista. His continued absence from these affairs led ultimately to the discovery that he was no longer living there, but was staying the greater part of his time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco. When it became known today that Henry Butters, though ill, had sought his mother's home rather than his own, where his family is installed, inquiry was made which brought to light the further fact that Henry Butters was neither informed nor concerned as to the whereabouts of his wife.
Tonight Mrs. S. L. Butters' home at 2646 Telegraph Avenue was visited. She refused to permit her son to be seen, but said that he was there and was ill. Subsequently Butters responded to a telephone call. He said: "I do not know where my wife is. I suppose that she is at Alta Vista."
At Alta Vista there was a distinct disinclination on the part of the family's representative to disclose anything concerning Butters.
"You cannot communicate with him except by letter or at his office in San Francisco," was the answer.
"Is it not a fact that he is ill at his mother's place in Berkeley?"
"We do not know anything about that."
Mrs. Butters and her daughters have arranged for a summer outing at Aetna Springs. Miss Marie Butters, the younger daughter, is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of Secretary of the Navy Metcalf, and former passed midshipman United States navy.
HENRY BUTTERS,
FAMOUS MAN OF
MILLIONS, DIES
---
Noted Financier Stricken Down
Suddenly by Congestion
of the Lungs
---
Passes Away With Heart Still
Hardened Toward His
Separated Wife
---
Was Associate of Cecil Rhodes,
John Hays Hammond and
Other Worldwide Figures
---
OAKLAND, Oct. 26-Henry A. Butters, president of the Northern electric railway company, capitalist, mining magnate, street railway constructor of worldwide note, associate of the late Cecil Rhodes in South Africa and one of the foremost figures in the financial activities of California, died at 3 o'clock this morning at the home of his aged mother, Mrs. Sarah L. Butters, 2624 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, after an attack of congestion of the lungs with which he was stricken Friday evening. It was more than a year ago that Butters left his mansion, in the Piedmont hills, where his wife resides. The domestic differences which separated them had never been adjusted, for in his will the millionaire bequeaths his entire fortune to his 16 year old son, Henry Butters Jr., now at school at Exeter, Mass. No provision is made for Mrs. Butters. Although she has holdings in her own name valued at $500,000 a contest is, anticipated.
Business cares, coupled with family differences, had greatly exhausted Butters' vitality, and a cold developed speedily into congestion of the lungs. With him at the end were his brother, Charles Butters, his associate in many of his earlier enterprises; his sister, Mrs. P. R. Boone of Berkeley, and his mother, Mrs. Butters, the widow, was notified at her home, Alta Vista, of her husband's death an hour after it had occurred. She went to the Berkeley residence later in the day.
In his last illness Butter was attended by Dr. S. H. Buteau, Dr. L. L. Riggin and Dr. Clark Burnham. They were in almost constant attendance, but were able only to alleviate at times the intense pain which he suffered.
MONEY CAUSES SEPARATION
The separation of Butters and his wife came at a time when the capitalist was in need of ready money to finance his projects after the disaster of 1906. He had previously transferred to her property valued at $500,000, including the Palmerstone block at Sixteenth Street and San Pablo Avenue in this city. Mrs. Butters, it is stated, did not share her husband' view that the property should be used to assist his industrial enterprises, and from this disagreement followed the differences which led to the separation.
Butters lived for a time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco and later removed to the home of his mother in Berkeley, but he never visited the beautiful mansion in the Piedmont hills.
Butters was married twice, but there are no children from the first union. His second wife, now his widow, was formerly Mrs. David Edwards and later Mrs. Lucy Sanctella, widow of an officer in the United States geodetic survey. Paulding Edwards, who recently married Miss Dolly Tarpey, is a son of Mrs. Butters by her first husband. Mrs. Butters' daughters, Miss Marguerite and Miss Marie, were adopted by the capitalist. Miss Marguerite Butters is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of the secretary of the navy, besides his brother, sister and mother in California, Butters is survived by another sister, Mrs. S. D. Field, who lives in Stockbridge, Mass.
In his will Butters has ignored all of his relatives but his son. His holdings will run well into the millions, but no exact estimate can be formed at this time. The property includes street railways in the capitals of South America and Europe, vast mining enterprises in South America, California and Central America and interurban electric railroads, as well as real estate, stocks and bonds. The will was drawn by former Judge Charles V. Slack of San Francisco, his confidential adviser. As executors it names Slack and Charles Butters.
NATIVE OF BAY STATE
Henry Butters was born, 58 years ago at Haverhill, Mass. He came to California when he was 14 years old. After attending the old College of California he was with the book publishing house of Bancroft & Co. and subsequently was in life insurance work. Butters was attracted to Leadville, Colo., by the great mining excitement of 1878. For years afterward, with his brother, Charles, he was actively engaged in mining and other large enterprises which formed the basis of his fortune.
Charles went to South Africa and became identified with the great development of the Johannesburg and generally the Transvaal mining wealth. Henry followed his brother to the land of the Boers. His wife and their son, Henry A. Butters Jr., joined him there.
JOINS NOTED MEN
In association with Cecil Rhodes, John Hays Hammond, Werner, Beit, & Co. and other distinguished South African promoters, Butters became the pioneer of electrical development in South Africa. So successful were his operations that he subsequently interested his backers in the Transvaal, so that he installed electric railways in Geneva, Switzerland; City of Mexico; Lisbon, Portugal; Valparaiso, Chile and some of the European capitals.
Henry Butters was fortunate enough to escape capture as a result of the Jameson raid, which preceded the Boer war. Charles Butters, however was imprisoned with John Hays Hammond and only liberated by Oom Paul Kruger [AKA Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 5th President of South Africa], after the payment of heavy ransom.
After spending several years abroad in his large operations, Butters, with
Continued on Page 3, mid. Column 1
FINANCIER WILLS
MONEY TO HIS SON
Continued from Page 1, Column 3
his family, returned to Oakland in 1895. But it was not long before he became a heavy investor and an organizer of new projects. His most noteworthy effort was that of the Northern electric, a line from Chico to Sacramento, and planned to girdle the Sacramento valley, ultimately striking the bay cities. Associated with Butters were Louis Sloss, E. R. Lilienthal, Eugene de Sabla Jr., W. P. Hammond, John Martin and others.
Butters gave of his very life's blood to make this enterprise a success. He sacrificed much that he loved best; his love of flowers, his horses and his works of art.
He was extremely generous and philanthropic. Butters gave liberally to all public affairs, and his private benefactions were numerous. He was accounted, in business life, a constructive promoter, not a speculator nor theorizer.
The funeral will be held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from the church of St. Francis de Sales. Rev. Thomas McSweeney will officiate. The honorary pallbearers will be E. R. Lilienthal, E. J. de Sabla, Louis Sloss, A. D. Schindler, Ferdinand Reiss Jr., Charles W. Slack, A. M. Seymour, George W. McNear Jr., Charles G. Wingate and M. F. Tarpey.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, October 27, 1908, Page 13, Image 13, Column 7 -
DEATHS
Butters, Henry A.....58
---
BUTTERS- In Berkeley, October 26, 1908, Henry Augustus, husband of Lucy Beebee Butters, and father of Henry A. Butters Jr., Marie, Lucile and Margaret Butters, a native of Haverhill, Maine, aged 58 years.
Friends and acquaintances arc invited to attend the funeral services tomorrow (Wednesday), October 28, at 10 o'clock a. m. at St. Francis de Sales church, corner of Grove and Hobart streets, Oakland. Interment strictly private.
San Francisco Call, Monday, March 16, 1896, Page 14, Image 14, Column 5 -
TWELVE MILLION DEAL
---
Henry A. Butters Buys the Tramway
System of the City of
Mexico
Intelligence comes from the City of Mexico that a former Californian, Henry A. Butters, has just computed negotiations for the purchase of the entire tramway or transportation system of the City of Mexico.
It is reported that the rights-of-way, franchises and rolling stock were valued at $12,000,000, which Mr. Butters and his associates decided to pay. It is known that the City of Mexico has in progress a complete system of drainage, and now the introduction of modern facilities of rapid transit, such as electric cars give, will mark another step in metropolitan advancement.
Mr. Butters, who has just concluded these important negotiations, made considerable money in mining enterprises on the Pacific Coast. A group of Oregon mines owned by him and his brother yielded a large revenue for several years. The brothers were well known in mining circles of California, as they resided much of the time in this State.
About four years ago the brothers Butters went to South America. Like many other practical mining men, they were active in the development of the rich mines of that region, and as a result acquired immense wealth.
At last accounts one of the brothers was in South Africa and figured among the Americans who had been detained for inciting revolt against the peace and dignity of the Boer republic.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Butters, accompanied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Augustus Bray of Fruitvale, arrived in the City of Mexico in February and have been sojourning there since. They expect to arrive in San Francisco the latter part of this month or early in April.
The inference is plain that Mr. Butters has decided to withdraw from mining ventures in South Africa and engage in the transportation business in Mexico.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, July 8, 1908, Page 4, Image 4, Column 5 -
HENRY BUTTERS IS
NOT WITH FAMILY
---
Rumor of Separation Disclosed
by His Illness at Home
of His Mother
---
Wife and Daughters of Capitalist
Occupy Piedmont
Mansion Alone
---
BERKELEY, July 7.-Society folk in the bay cities learned definitely today that Henry Butters, president of the Northern electric railway and one of the most prominent capitalists of the state, and his wife are living apart. That a separation had occurred between the former South Africa mining man and Mrs. Butters has been a matter of society gossip for some time. It was confirmed today when the disclosure was made that Butters was lying ill at the home of his mother, Mrs. S. L. Butters, in Berkeley rather than at his beautiful mansion in Piedmont, the residence now of Mrs. Henry Butters and her daughter.
The first intimation that Mr. and Mrs. Butters had parted came some time ago when it became known that Butters had left Alta Vista, the Piedmont residence, and had taken apartments in San Francisco. Inquiries at that time led to the announcement from the Butters residence that this had been done as a matter of convenience for Mrs. Butters' daughters, who attended many social affairs on the other side of the bay. But the continued absence of Butters from his domicile, the fact that he had once been reported as having declared with some feeling, "Thank God, I am now free," kept alive gossip which the change had occasioned.
Mr. and Mrs. Butters returned from a European tour some time ago and soon afterward it was noticed that the head of the house took part in none of the elaborate social entertainments given at Alta Vista. His continued absence from these affairs led ultimately to the discovery that he was no longer living there, but was staying the greater part of his time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco. When it became known today that Henry Butters, though ill, had sought his mother's home rather than his own, where his family is installed, inquiry was made which brought to light the further fact that Henry Butters was neither informed nor concerned as to the whereabouts of his wife.
Tonight Mrs. S. L. Butters' home at 2646 Telegraph Avenue was visited. She refused to permit her son to be seen, but said that he was there and was ill. Subsequently Butters responded to a telephone call. He said: "I do not know where my wife is. I suppose that she is at Alta Vista."
At Alta Vista there was a distinct disinclination on the part of the family's representative to disclose anything concerning Butters.
"You cannot communicate with him except by letter or at his office in San Francisco," was the answer.
"Is it not a fact that he is ill at his mother's place in Berkeley?"
"We do not know anything about that."
Mrs. Butters and her daughters have arranged for a summer outing at Aetna Springs. Miss Marie Butters, the younger daughter, is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of Secretary of the Navy Metcalf, and former passed midshipman United States navy.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, October 27, 1908, Page 1, Image 1, Column 3 -
HENRY BUTTERS,
FAMOUS MAN OF
MILLIONS, DIES
---
Noted Financier Stricken Down
Suddenly by Congestion
of the Lungs
---
Passes Away With Heart Still
Hardened Toward His
Separated Wife
---
Was Associate of Cecil Rhodes,
John Hays Hammond and
Other Worldwide Figures
---
OAKLAND, Oct. 26-Henry A. Butters, president of the Northern electric railway company, capitalist, mining magnate, street railway constructor of worldwide note, associate of the late Cecil Rhodes in South Africa and one of the foremost figures in the financial activities of California, died at 3 o'clock this morning at the home of his aged mother, Mrs. Sarah L. Butters, 2624 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, after an attack of congestion of the lungs with which he was stricken Friday evening. It was more than a year ago that Butters left his mansion, in the Piedmont hills, where his wife resides. The domestic differences which separated them had never been adjusted, for in his will the millionaire bequeaths his entire fortune to his 16 year old son, Henry Butters Jr., now at school at Exeter, Mass. No provision is made for Mrs. Butters. Although she has holdings in her own name valued at $500,000 a contest is, anticipated.
Business cares, coupled with family differences, had greatly exhausted Butters' vitality, and a cold developed speedily into congestion of the lungs. With him at the end were his brother, Charles Butters, his associate in many of his earlier enterprises; his sister, Mrs. P. R. Boone of Berkeley, and his mother, Mrs. Butters, the widow, was notified at her home, Alta Vista, of her husband's death an hour after it had occurred. She went to the Berkeley residence later in the day.
In his last illness Butter was attended by Dr. S. H. Buteau, Dr. L. L. Riggin and Dr. Clark Burnham. They were in almost constant attendance, but were able only to alleviate at times the intense pain which he suffered.
MONEY CAUSES SEPARATION
The separation of Butters and his wife came at a time when the capitalist was in need of ready money to finance his projects after the disaster of 1906. He had previously transferred to her property valued at $500,000, including the Palmerstone block at Sixteenth Street and San Pablo Avenue in this city. Mrs. Butters, it is stated, did not share her husband' view that the property should be used to assist his industrial enterprises, and from this disagreement followed the differences which led to the separation.
Butters lived for a time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco and later removed to the home of his mother in Berkeley, but he never visited the beautiful mansion in the Piedmont hills.
Butters was married twice, but there are no children from the first union. His second wife, now his widow, was formerly Mrs. David Edwards and later Mrs. Lucy Sanctella, widow of an officer in the United States geodetic survey. Paulding Edwards, who recently married Miss Dolly Tarpey, is a son of Mrs. Butters by her first husband. Mrs. Butters' daughters, Miss Marguerite and Miss Marie, were adopted by the capitalist. Miss Marguerite Butters is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of the secretary of the navy, besides his brother, sister and mother in California, Butters is survived by another sister, Mrs. S. D. Field, who lives in Stockbridge, Mass.
In his will Butters has ignored all of his relatives but his son. His holdings will run well into the millions, but no exact estimate can be formed at this time. The property includes street railways in the capitals of South America and Europe, vast mining enterprises in South America, California and Central America and interurban electric railroads, as well as real estate, stocks and bonds. The will was drawn by former Judge Charles V. Slack of San Francisco, his confidential adviser. As executors it names Slack and Charles Butters.
NATIVE OF BAY STATE
Henry Butters was born, 58 years ago at Haverhill, Mass. He came to California when he was 14 years old. After attending the old College of California he was with the book publishing house of Bancroft & Co. and subsequently was in life insurance work. Butters was attracted to Leadville, Colo., by the great mining excitement of 1878. For years afterward, with his brother, Charles, he was actively engaged in mining and other large enterprises which formed the basis of his fortune.
Charles went to South Africa and became identified with the great development of the Johannesburg and generally the Transvaal mining wealth. Henry followed his brother to the land of the Boers. His wife and their son, Henry A. Butters Jr., joined him there.
JOINS NOTED MEN
In association with Cecil Rhodes, John Hays Hammond, Werner, Beit, & Co. and other distinguished South African promoters, Butters became the pioneer of electrical development in South Africa. So successful were his operations that he subsequently interested his backers in the Transvaal, so that he installed electric railways in Geneva, Switzerland; City of Mexico; Lisbon, Portugal; Valparaiso, Chile and some of the European capitals.
Henry Butters was fortunate enough to escape capture as a result of the Jameson raid, which preceded the Boer war. Charles Butters, however was imprisoned with John Hays Hammond and only liberated by Oom Paul Kruger [AKA Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 5th President of South Africa], after the payment of heavy ransom.
After spending several years abroad in his large operations, Butters, with
Continued on Page 3, mid. Column 1
FINANCIER WILLS
MONEY TO HIS SON
Continued from Page 1, Column 3
his family, returned to Oakland in 1895. But it was not long before he became a heavy investor and an organizer of new projects. His most noteworthy effort was that of the Northern electric, a line from Chico to Sacramento, and planned to girdle the Sacramento valley, ultimately striking the bay cities. Associated with Butters were Louis Sloss, E. R. Lilienthal, Eugene de Sabla Jr., W. P. Hammond, John Martin and others.
Butters gave of his very life's blood to make this enterprise a success. He sacrificed much that he loved best; his love of flowers, his horses and his works of art.
He was extremely generous and philanthropic. Butters gave liberally to all public affairs, and his private benefactions were numerous. He was accounted, in business life, a constructive promoter, not a speculator nor theorizer.
The funeral will be held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from the church of St. Francis de Sales. Rev. Thomas McSweeney will officiate. The honorary pallbearers will be E. R. Lilienthal, E. J. de Sabla, Louis Sloss, A. D. Schindler, Ferdinand Reiss Jr., Charles W. Slack, A. M. Seymour, George W. McNear Jr., Charles G. Wingate and M. F. Tarpey.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, October 27, 1908, Page 13, Image 13, Column 7 -
DEATHS
Butters, Henry A.....58
---
BUTTERS- In Berkeley, October 26, 1908, Henry Augustus, husband of Lucy Beebee Butters, and father of Henry A. Butters Jr., Marie, Lucile and Margaret Butters, a native of Haverhill, Maine, aged 58 years.
Friends and acquaintances arc invited to attend the funeral services tomorrow (Wednesday), October 28, at 10 o'clock a. m. at St. Francis de Sales church, corner of Grove and Hobart streets, Oakland. Interment strictly private.
San Francisco Call, Monday, March 16, 1896, Page 14, Image 14, Column 5 -
TWELVE MILLION DEAL
---
Henry A. Butters Buys the Tramway
System of the City of
Mexico
Intelligence comes from the City of Mexico that a former Californian, Henry A. Butters, has just computed negotiations for the purchase of the entire tramway or transportation system of the City of Mexico.
It is reported that the rights-of-way, franchises and rolling stock were valued at $12,000,000, which Mr. Butters and his associates decided to pay. It is known that the City of Mexico has in progress a complete system of drainage, and now the introduction of modern facilities of rapid transit, such as electric cars give, will mark another step in metropolitan advancement.
Mr. Butters, who has just concluded these important negotiations, made considerable money in mining enterprises on the Pacific Coast. A group of Oregon mines owned by him and his brother yielded a large revenue for several years. The brothers were well known in mining circles of California, as they resided much of the time in this State.
About four years ago the brothers Butters went to South America. Like many other practical mining men, they were active in the development of the rich mines of that region, and as a result acquired immense wealth.
At last accounts one of the brothers was in South Africa and figured among the Americans who had been detained for inciting revolt against the peace and dignity of the Boer republic.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Butters, accompanied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Augustus Bray of Fruitvale, arrived in the City of Mexico in February and have been sojourning there since. They expect to arrive in San Francisco the latter part of this month or early in April.
The inference is plain that Mr. Butters has decided to withdraw from mining ventures in South Africa and engage in the transportation business in Mexico.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, July 8, 1908, Page 4, Image 4, Column 5 -
HENRY BUTTERS IS
NOT WITH FAMILY
---
Rumor of Separation Disclosed
by His Illness at Home
of His Mother
---
Wife and Daughters of Capitalist
Occupy Piedmont
Mansion Alone
---
BERKELEY, July 7.-Society folk in the bay cities learned definitely today that Henry Butters, president of the Northern electric railway and one of the most prominent capitalists of the state, and his wife are living apart. That a separation had occurred between the former South Africa mining man and Mrs. Butters has been a matter of society gossip for some time. It was confirmed today when the disclosure was made that Butters was lying ill at the home of his mother, Mrs. S. L. Butters, in Berkeley rather than at his beautiful mansion in Piedmont, the residence now of Mrs. Henry Butters and her daughter.
The first intimation that Mr. and Mrs. Butters had parted came some time ago when it became known that Butters had left Alta Vista, the Piedmont residence, and had taken apartments in San Francisco. Inquiries at that time led to the announcement from the Butters residence that this had been done as a matter of convenience for Mrs. Butters' daughters, who attended many social affairs on the other side of the bay. But the continued absence of Butters from his domicile, the fact that he had once been reported as having declared with some feeling, "Thank God, I am now free," kept alive gossip which the change had occasioned.
Mr. and Mrs. Butters returned from a European tour some time ago and soon afterward it was noticed that the head of the house took part in none of the elaborate social entertainments given at Alta Vista. His continued absence from these affairs led ultimately to the discovery that he was no longer living there, but was staying the greater part of his time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco. When it became known today that Henry Butters, though ill, had sought his mother's home rather than his own, where his family is installed, inquiry was made which brought to light the further fact that Henry Butters was neither informed nor concerned as to the whereabouts of his wife.
Tonight Mrs. S. L. Butters' home at 2646 Telegraph Avenue was visited. She refused to permit her son to be seen, but said that he was there and was ill. Subsequently Butters responded to a telephone call. He said: "I do not know where my wife is. I suppose that she is at Alta Vista."
At Alta Vista there was a distinct disinclination on the part of the family's representative to disclose anything concerning Butters.
"You cannot communicate with him except by letter or at his office in San Francisco," was the answer.
"Is it not a fact that he is ill at his mother's place in Berkeley?"
"We do not know anything about that."
Mrs. Butters and her daughters have arranged for a summer outing at Aetna Springs. Miss Marie Butters, the younger daughter, is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of Secretary of the Navy Metcalf, and former passed midshipman United States navy.
HENRY BUTTERS,
FAMOUS MAN OF
MILLIONS, DIES
---
Noted Financier Stricken Down
Suddenly by Congestion
of the Lungs
---
Passes Away With Heart Still
Hardened Toward His
Separated Wife
---
Was Associate of Cecil Rhodes,
John Hays Hammond and
Other Worldwide Figures
---
OAKLAND, Oct. 26-Henry A. Butters, president of the Northern electric railway company, capitalist, mining magnate, street railway constructor of worldwide note, associate of the late Cecil Rhodes in South Africa and one of the foremost figures in the financial activities of California, died at 3 o'clock this morning at the home of his aged mother, Mrs. Sarah L. Butters, 2624 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, after an attack of congestion of the lungs with which he was stricken Friday evening. It was more than a year ago that Butters left his mansion, in the Piedmont hills, where his wife resides. The domestic differences which separated them had never been adjusted, for in his will the millionaire bequeaths his entire fortune to his 16 year old son, Henry Butters Jr., now at school at Exeter, Mass. No provision is made for Mrs. Butters. Although she has holdings in her own name valued at $500,000 a contest is, anticipated.
Business cares, coupled with family differences, had greatly exhausted Butters' vitality, and a cold developed speedily into congestion of the lungs. With him at the end were his brother, Charles Butters, his associate in many of his earlier enterprises; his sister, Mrs. P. R. Boone of Berkeley, and his mother, Mrs. Butters, the widow, was notified at her home, Alta Vista, of her husband's death an hour after it had occurred. She went to the Berkeley residence later in the day.
In his last illness Butter was attended by Dr. S. H. Buteau, Dr. L. L. Riggin and Dr. Clark Burnham. They were in almost constant attendance, but were able only to alleviate at times the intense pain which he suffered.
MONEY CAUSES SEPARATION
The separation of Butters and his wife came at a time when the capitalist was in need of ready money to finance his projects after the disaster of 1906. He had previously transferred to her property valued at $500,000, including the Palmerstone block at Sixteenth Street and San Pablo Avenue in this city. Mrs. Butters, it is stated, did not share her husband' view that the property should be used to assist his industrial enterprises, and from this disagreement followed the differences which led to the separation.
Butters lived for a time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco and later removed to the home of his mother in Berkeley, but he never visited the beautiful mansion in the Piedmont hills.
Butters was married twice, but there are no children from the first union. His second wife, now his widow, was formerly Mrs. David Edwards and later Mrs. Lucy Sanctella, widow of an officer in the United States geodetic survey. Paulding Edwards, who recently married Miss Dolly Tarpey, is a son of Mrs. Butters by her first husband. Mrs. Butters' daughters, Miss Marguerite and Miss Marie, were adopted by the capitalist. Miss Marguerite Butters is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of the secretary of the navy, besides his brother, sister and mother in California, Butters is survived by another sister, Mrs. S. D. Field, who lives in Stockbridge, Mass.
In his will Butters has ignored all of his relatives but his son. His holdings will run well into the millions, but no exact estimate can be formed at this time. The property includes street railways in the capitals of South America and Europe, vast mining enterprises in South America, California and Central America and interurban electric railroads, as well as real estate, stocks and bonds. The will was drawn by former Judge Charles V. Slack of San Francisco, his confidential adviser. As executors it names Slack and Charles Butters.
NATIVE OF BAY STATE
Henry Butters was born, 58 years ago at Haverhill, Mass. He came to California when he was 14 years old. After attending the old College of California he was with the book publishing house of Bancroft & Co. and subsequently was in life insurance work. Butters was attracted to Leadville, Colo., by the great mining excitement of 1878. For years afterward, with his brother, Charles, he was actively engaged in mining and other large enterprises which formed the basis of his fortune.
Charles went to South Africa and became identified with the great development of the Johannesburg and generally the Transvaal mining wealth. Henry followed his brother to the land of the Boers. His wife and their son, Henry A. Butters Jr., joined him there.
JOINS NOTED MEN
In association with Cecil Rhodes, John Hays Hammond, Werner, Beit, & Co. and other distinguished South African promoters, Butters became the pioneer of electrical development in South Africa. So successful were his operations that he subsequently interested his backers in the Transvaal, so that he installed electric railways in Geneva, Switzerland; City of Mexico; Lisbon, Portugal; Valparaiso, Chile and some of the European capitals.
Henry Butters was fortunate enough to escape capture as a result of the Jameson raid, which preceded the Boer war. Charles Butters, however was imprisoned with John Hays Hammond and only liberated by Oom Paul Kruger [AKA Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 5th President of South Africa], after the payment of heavy ransom.
After spending several years abroad in his large operations, Butters, with
Continued on Page 3, mid. Column 1
FINANCIER WILLS
MONEY TO HIS SON
Continued from Page 1, Column 3
his family, returned to Oakland in 1895. But it was not long before he became a heavy investor and an organizer of new projects. His most noteworthy effort was that of the Northern electric, a line from Chico to Sacramento, and planned to girdle the Sacramento valley, ultimately striking the bay cities. Associated with Butters were Louis Sloss, E. R. Lilienthal, Eugene de Sabla Jr., W. P. Hammond, John Martin and others.
Butters gave of his very life's blood to make this enterprise a success. He sacrificed much that he loved best; his love of flowers, his horses and his works of art.
He was extremely generous and philanthropic. Butters gave liberally to all public affairs, and his private benefactions were numerous. He was accounted, in business life, a constructive promoter, not a speculator nor theorizer.
The funeral will be held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from the church of St. Francis de Sales. Rev. Thomas McSweeney will officiate. The honorary pallbearers will be E. R. Lilienthal, E. J. de Sabla, Louis Sloss, A. D. Schindler, Ferdinand Reiss Jr., Charles W. Slack, A. M. Seymour, George W. McNear Jr., Charles G. Wingate and M. F. Tarpey.
San Francisco Call, Tuesday, October 27, 1908, Page 13, Image 13, Column 7 -
DEATHS
Butters, Henry A.....58
---
BUTTERS- In Berkeley, October 26, 1908, Henry Augustus, husband of Lucy Beebee Butters, and father of Henry A. Butters Jr., Marie, Lucile and Margaret Butters, a native of Haverhill, Maine, aged 58 years.
Friends and acquaintances arc invited to attend the funeral services tomorrow (Wednesday), October 28, at 10 o'clock a. m. at St. Francis de Sales church, corner of Grove and Hobart streets, Oakland. Interment strictly private.
San Francisco Call, Monday, March 16, 1896, Page 14, Image 14, Column 5 -
TWELVE MILLION DEAL
---
Henry A. Butters Buys the Tramway
System of the City of
Mexico
Intelligence comes from the City of Mexico that a former Californian, Henry A. Butters, has just computed negotiations for the purchase of the entire tramway or transportation system of the City of Mexico.
It is reported that the rights-of-way, franchises and rolling stock were valued at $12,000,000, which Mr. Butters and his associates decided to pay. It is known that the City of Mexico has in progress a complete system of drainage, and now the introduction of modern facilities of rapid transit, such as electric cars give, will mark another step in metropolitan advancement.
Mr. Butters, who has just concluded these important negotiations, made considerable money in mining enterprises on the Pacific Coast. A group of Oregon mines owned by him and his brother yielded a large revenue for several years. The brothers were well known in mining circles of California, as they resided much of the time in this State.
About four years ago the brothers Butters went to South America. Like many other practical mining men, they were active in the development of the rich mines of that region, and as a result acquired immense wealth.
At last accounts one of the brothers was in South Africa and figured among the Americans who had been detained for inciting revolt against the peace and dignity of the Boer republic.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Butters, accompanied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Augustus Bray of Fruitvale, arrived in the City of Mexico in February and have been sojourning there since. They expect to arrive in San Francisco the latter part of this month or early in April.
The inference is plain that Mr. Butters has decided to withdraw from mining ventures in South Africa and engage in the transportation business in Mexico.
San Francisco Call, Wednesday, July 8, 1908, Page 4, Image 4, Column 5 -
HENRY BUTTERS IS
NOT WITH FAMILY
---
Rumor of Separation Disclosed
by His Illness at Home
of His Mother
---
Wife and Daughters of Capitalist
Occupy Piedmont
Mansion Alone
---
BERKELEY, July 7.-Society folk in the bay cities learned definitely today that Henry Butters, president of the Northern electric railway and one of the most prominent capitalists of the state, and his wife are living apart. That a separation had occurred between the former South Africa mining man and Mrs. Butters has been a matter of society gossip for some time. It was confirmed today when the disclosure was made that Butters was lying ill at the home of his mother, Mrs. S. L. Butters, in Berkeley rather than at his beautiful mansion in Piedmont, the residence now of Mrs. Henry Butters and her daughter.
The first intimation that Mr. and Mrs. Butters had parted came some time ago when it became known that Butters had left Alta Vista, the Piedmont residence, and had taken apartments in San Francisco. Inquiries at that time led to the announcement from the Butters residence that this had been done as a matter of convenience for Mrs. Butters' daughters, who attended many social affairs on the other side of the bay. But the continued absence of Butters from his domicile, the fact that he had once been reported as having declared with some feeling, "Thank God, I am now free," kept alive gossip which the change had occasioned.
Mr. and Mrs. Butters returned from a European tour some time ago and soon afterward it was noticed that the head of the house took part in none of the elaborate social entertainments given at Alta Vista. His continued absence from these affairs led ultimately to the discovery that he was no longer living there, but was staying the greater part of his time at the Cosmos club in San Francisco. When it became known today that Henry Butters, though ill, had sought his mother's home rather than his own, where his family is installed, inquiry was made which brought to light the further fact that Henry Butters was neither informed nor concerned as to the whereabouts of his wife.
Tonight Mrs. S. L. Butters' home at 2646 Telegraph Avenue was visited. She refused to permit her son to be seen, but said that he was there and was ill. Subsequently Butters responded to a telephone call. He said: "I do not know where my wife is. I suppose that she is at Alta Vista."
At Alta Vista there was a distinct disinclination on the part of the family's representative to disclose anything concerning Butters.
"You cannot communicate with him except by letter or at his office in San Francisco," was the answer.
"Is it not a fact that he is ill at his mother's place in Berkeley?"
"We do not know anything about that."
Mrs. Butters and her daughters have arranged for a summer outing at Aetna Springs. Miss Marie Butters, the younger daughter, is the fiancee of Victor N. Metcalf, son of Secretary of the Navy Metcalf, and former passed midshipman United States navy.
Inscription
Inscription, side opposite from old walkway:
Georgianna L. Beebee
Died Mch. 11, 1904
Aged. 84.
Lucie Beebee Butters
Died June 20, 1909
Henry Augustus Butters
Died October 26, 1908
Gravesite Details
Henry died earlier Than Lucie, but was interred on the same day as her, June 20, 1909
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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