Jerry and Linda Butler

Carl Butler was born on Ed Renfroe Road near the Mt. Nebo Methodist Church in Bath Springs, Tennessee. Carl was a small child and when the family moved to a new home, Carl traveled in a floor barrel on the moving wagon.

Around 1918, there was a serious flu epidemic in Decatur County. It was said that "there weren't enough well people to care for the sick or to bury the dead." During this time, Carl came down with the flu and was in a coma for 6-8 weeks. This, no doubt, impacted Carl's health in later years as he suffered from asthma throughout his life.

Carl married Edna Welch in 1923 and moved to the Lynn Welch place to set up housekeeping. Carl and Edna worked there as sharecroppers and their three children were born there. It was a challenging time for the family. During the winter months, Edna would split open the cotton sacks and place them on the floor as a rug to block some of the cold air coming through the cracks in the floor.

The family moved to several different locations in Decatur Co. and continued to work as sharecroppers - Richard Blount place, Tom Lacy place, Frank Dees farm, Frog Pond place, Arnold Broadway place. It was difficult to make a living as a sharecropper with the normal share being 1/3 of the corn, 1/4 of the cotton and 1/2 of the hay going to the sharecropper.

They moved back to the Lynn Welch place before Carl bought and sold land in the Largo Community from his Mother's estate. He sold the land to his brother in law Bonnie Keeton and bought a farm in the Davis Community that later became know as the "Locked House." Carl's grandchildren gave it this name because it sat empty for many years before falling in from disrepair.

Carl and his son Charles tried to make a living farming on the new land in the Davis Community but the boll weevil took its toll and they soon went broke. Charles followed his brother in law, Rogers Moore to Jackson, Tennessee to work at the Agricultural Experiment Farm. In the early 1950's, Carl and Edna moved to Jackson along with the family of their son Charles. They were paid a minimal wage for working at the Experiment Station plus a share in the produce of the farm.

Carl and Edna continued to live in the home of their son, Charles, and moved to Chester Street in Jackson and later to Bemis.

Uncle Lynn Welch place - David Welch sold approx. 25-30 acres to the "Coalings Company" for use in charcoal production. Timber was cut in approximate 4' lengths and stacked in large piles for burning or smoldering into charcoal. The charcoal was then hauled by wagon to Brownsport Furnace to fire the furnace for iron smelting. Iron ore dug out of area hills was hauled to the furnace area. During this time, 12-15 houses were built at Brownsport for workers. Years later, when Carl Butler, Sr.'s family was sharecroppers at what is near the present J. G. Brasher home, some of the fields there had places where the plowed ground showed evidence of the charcoal burning operations---dark black soil.

Services For Mr. Butler Held At Decaturville

Services for William Carl Butler, Sr., 76 of Bemis, were held at the Decaturville Methodist Church with Rev. L. R. Williams officiating. Burial was in Decaturville Cemetery with Wylie Funeral Home in charge.

Mr. Butler died August 29 at the Madison County Hospital after a long illness.

He was a retired farmer. He was born in Decatur County, the son of the late Austin and Alice Butler. He was married to the former Edna Welch, who survives. He also leaves two sons, Carl Butler, Jr. of Decaturville and Charles Butler of Bemis; one daughter, Mrs. Rogers Moore of Lexington; a brother, Clyde Butler of Decaturville; six sisters, Mrs. Richard Blount, Mrs. Walt Morgan, and Mrs. Bonnie Keeton of Decaturville, Mrs. William Myracle of Memphis, Mrs. Floyd Welch of Wyatt, Missouri; Mrs. Joe Hopper, Newbern; and nine grandchildren.

Compiled by Betty Butler Maness, Jerry L. Butler, source: William Carl Butler, Jr.