Edgar Ray Butterworth
Encyclopedia
Edgar Ray Butterworth was an American
funeral director
, believed to have coined the professional terms mortuary and mortician.
, Massachusetts
. His paternal grandfather, Noah Butterworth, served in the American Revolution
. His father was William Ray Butterworth; his mother's name was Eliza née Norwood, also from an old New England
family. In 1857 his family moved to Wright County
, Minnesota
, where his father worked as a millwright for six years. This was during the period of the Sioux Wars
in that frontier region. When the American Civil War
, broke out, Edgar Butterworth tried to enlist but he was too young. In 1863, the family returned to Massachusetts.
From the age of 16—that is, roughly from the time of the family's return to Massachusetts—he was the prime breadwinner in his family. He worked for a time as a hatter; then, still in his teens and despite a limited formal education, he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts just after he reached the age of 21. In 1869, he married Grace M. Whipple, a direct descendant of William Whipple
, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
. She died only two years into the marriage, after bearing a child, Gilbert M. Butterworth.
In 1873, Butterworth moved to Saint Louis, Missouri
where he again worked as a hatter. Also in that year, he remarried to Maria L. Gillespie. They relocated to Fort Scott
, Kansas
and in 1876 to the rangelands of southwest Kansas, where he became a cattleman. He also hauled the bones of dead bison
125 miles (201.2 km) to the nearest railroad where he received US$
10 per ton (907 kg).
There, on the plains of Kansas, he also had his first occasion to make a coffin
. Traveling with his team and wagon, he encountered a settler in front of a "dugout
" home, grieving for his wife and newborn child, both of whom had just died. With no lumber available on the grasslands, Butterworth fashioned a coffin from his own wagon box.
in August of that year. He came with the intent of engaging in stock-raising, but that enterprise was not yet under way in Eastern Washington and Butterworth correctly gauged that Washington west of the Cascade Range
was not cattle country. Instead, he built the first steam-powered flour mill west of the Cascades. The following spring the Butterworths relocated a short distance to Centerville, (later Centralia
), where Butterworth set up a small furniture business. He served as a member of the first city council of Centralia and later as the city's mayor; he also served two terms was in the state legislature
. When an epidemic of "black diphtheria
" hit the region, Butterworth was called upon to make coffins, which is he point at which he effectively entered the undertaking business.
Initially continuing in the furniture business, he also went into the business of selling coffins; he stocked a line of ready made coffins manufactured in Olympia, Washington
. In 1892, by now a successful businessman, he relocated to Seattle, where he went into the undertaking business in a bigger way. He purchased a controlling interest in the Cross & Co. Undertakers located in the Masonic Temple that then stood on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Pike street.
in 1998, by which time it was one of the city's longest-running family-owned business of any type. The last Butterworth to run the business—which was by then Butterworth-Manning-Ashmore, after a series of mergers—was Edgar's great-great grandson, Bert Butterworth Jr.
From Second and Pike, the business moved to 1425 Second Avenue (later the 1896–1929 location of The Bon Marché
department store); then to 1426-28 Third Avenue; and on October 1, 1903, to the custom built Butterworth Block at 1921 First Avenue. 1921 First Avenue now falls within the Pike Place Market
Historic District, although the market was not founded until 1907. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
since May 14, 1971.
The Butterworth Block or Butterworth Building
was the city's first custom-built modern mortuary. Jeannie Yandel in 2009 described it as "The city's first place for comprehensive death-related services from corpse retrieval to coffin sales." The building had the first elevator
on the West Coast of the United States
, used to transport bodies. A 2008 Seattle Times article describes the building, still extant, as "[b]eautifully appointed in stained mahogany, art glass, ornamental plaster and specially designed brass and bronze hardware…" The basement, accessible through Post Alley at the rear, is now (as of 2009) home to Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub.
In 1923, the business moved again, to a building on the northeast corner of Melrose Avenue and Pine Street, also extant as of 2009. Clarence Bagley, writing in 1929, described the building as having a crematory
and columbarium
, fireproof receiving vaults, a funeral church and chapel, and drawing rooms, and utilizing "Cadillac
motor equipment with special designed bodies" as their hearse
s, stocking "funeral furnishings… from the most simple to the magnificent." The former chapel of the Melrose mortuary now houses the bar Chapel. Whereas few traces 1921 First Avenue's original use remain at Kells, Chapel retains "leaded glass windows and enormous mirrors, ornate dark woodwork, vaulted ceiling, antique fixtures" and the white stone material composing the bar was also salvaged from the prior use.
Although the family is no longer in the business, the name lives on in the Butterworth-Arthur Wright Chapel at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill.
. During Butterworth's lifetime, his business annually forgave the debts of customers who were not able to pay. Butterworth & Sons were also early adopters of the embalming techniques that now distinguish American funerary traditions from those more common in Western Europe.
He was a member of numerous fraternal organizations. He helped organize the Seattle lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Ancient Order of United Workmen
, and was also a member of the Knights of Pythias
, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Woodmen of the World
, the Royal Arcanum and the Independent Order of Good Templars, as well as being a charter member of the Alaskan Brotherhood Association, and a life member Seattle's Arctic Club. He was an active member of Temple Baptist Church, but also a practicing spiritualist
.
Inevitably, not all of the corpses handled by Butterworth had died peacefully. During the years of the Yukon Gold Rush (which began in 1897), parts of Seattle were dangerous and violent. Undertakers were paid $50 per body to take dead bodies off the street; Butterworth & Sons partook of that business. Butterworth, the city's leading undertaking business of the period, also handled many victims of the Spanish flu
pandemic. Later, when health faddist doctor Linda Burfield Hazzard
was convicted over one of the several patients she starved to death, Butterworth & Sons were implicated in the scandal, because they had cremated one of her victims, then produced a different, less emaciated body for the funeral. The mortuary was not convicted of any wrongdoing, but Hazzard went to prison.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
funeral director
Funeral director
A funeral director , also known as a mortician or undertaker, is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony...
, believed to have coined the professional terms mortuary and mortician.
A slow migration west
Butterworth was born in 1847 in Newton Upper FallsNewton Upper Falls, Massachusetts
Newton Upper Falls is a village situated on the east bank of the Charles River in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, in the United States.The area borders Needham, Massachusetts to the south/southwest, Wellesley, Massachusetts to the west, the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston to the extreme...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. His paternal grandfather, Noah Butterworth, served in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. His father was William Ray Butterworth; his mother's name was Eliza née Norwood, also from an old New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
family. In 1857 his family moved to Wright County
Wright County, Minnesota
Wright County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1855. As of 2010, the population was 124,700. Its county seat is Buffalo.-History:...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, where his father worked as a millwright for six years. This was during the period of the Sioux Wars
Sioux Wars
The Sioux Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and various subgroups of the Sioux people that occurred in the latter half of the 19th century...
in that frontier region. When the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, broke out, Edgar Butterworth tried to enlist but he was too young. In 1863, the family returned to Massachusetts.
From the age of 16—that is, roughly from the time of the family's return to Massachusetts—he was the prime breadwinner in his family. He worked for a time as a hatter; then, still in his teens and despite a limited formal education, he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts just after he reached the age of 21. In 1869, he married Grace M. Whipple, a direct descendant of William Whipple
William Whipple
William Whipple, Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire....
, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
. She died only two years into the marriage, after bearing a child, Gilbert M. Butterworth.
In 1873, Butterworth moved to Saint Louis, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
where he again worked as a hatter. Also in that year, he remarried to Maria L. Gillespie. They relocated to Fort Scott
Fort Scott, Kansas
Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, United States, south of Kansas City, on the Marmaton River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,087. It is the home of the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the Fort Scott National...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and in 1876 to the rangelands of southwest Kansas, where he became a cattleman. He also hauled the bones of dead bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
125 miles (201.2 km) to the nearest railroad where he received US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10 per ton (907 kg).
There, on the plains of Kansas, he also had his first occasion to make a coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
. Traveling with his team and wagon, he encountered a settler in front of a "dugout
Dugout (shelter)
A dugout or dug-out, also known as a pithouse, pit-house, earth lodge, mud hut, is a shelter for humans or domesticated animals and livestock based on a hole or depression dug into the ground. These structures are one of the most ancient types of human housing known to archeologists...
" home, grieving for his wife and newborn child, both of whom had just died. With no lumber available on the grasslands, Butterworth fashioned a coffin from his own wagon box.
Becoming an undertaker
In 1881 the Butterworths moved farther west, to Washington, arriving in ChehalisChehalis, Washington
Chehalis is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,259 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County.-History:...
in August of that year. He came with the intent of engaging in stock-raising, but that enterprise was not yet under way in Eastern Washington and Butterworth correctly gauged that Washington west of the Cascade Range
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
was not cattle country. Instead, he built the first steam-powered flour mill west of the Cascades. The following spring the Butterworths relocated a short distance to Centerville, (later Centralia
Centralia, Washington
Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,336 at the 2010 census.-History:In pioneer days, Centralia was the halfway stopover point for stagecoaches operating between the Columbia River and Seattle. In 1850, J. G. Cochran came from Missouri with his...
), where Butterworth set up a small furniture business. He served as a member of the first city council of Centralia and later as the city's mayor; he also served two terms was in the state legislature
Washington State Legislature
The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bipartisan, bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, with 49 Senators.The State Legislature...
. When an epidemic of "black diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
" hit the region, Butterworth was called upon to make coffins, which is he point at which he effectively entered the undertaking business.
Initially continuing in the furniture business, he also went into the business of selling coffins; he stocked a line of ready made coffins manufactured in Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
. In 1892, by now a successful businessman, he relocated to Seattle, where he went into the undertaking business in a bigger way. He purchased a controlling interest in the Cross & Co. Undertakers located in the Masonic Temple that then stood on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Pike street.
E. R. Butterworth & Sons
The business was soon renamed E. R. Butterworth & Sons. Five of his sons joined him in the business: the aforementioned Gilbert Butterworth and his half-brothers Charles Norwood Butterworth, Frederick Ray Butterworth, Harry Edgar Butterworth, and Benjamin Kent Butterworth. Gilbert and Frederick would be the longest-lived, and were followed into the business by several of their own sons. By 1929, when Butterworth's son Gilbert was managing the business, it had already remained in the hands of a single family longer than any other Seattle funerary business. It would retain that status nearly until the family sold the business to New Orleans-based Stewart EnterprisesStewart Enterprises
Stewart Enterprises, Inc. is the second largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in the United States. The company is headquartered in Jefferson, Louisiana and employs nearly 5,400 people in 218 funeral homes and 140 cemeteries in 24 states and Puerto Rico. The company is publicly traded...
in 1998, by which time it was one of the city's longest-running family-owned business of any type. The last Butterworth to run the business—which was by then Butterworth-Manning-Ashmore, after a series of mergers—was Edgar's great-great grandson, Bert Butterworth Jr.
From Second and Pike, the business moved to 1425 Second Avenue (later the 1896–1929 location of The Bon Marché
The Bon Marché
The Bon Marché, whose name means "the good deal" or "the good market", was the name chosen for a department store launched in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1890 by Edward Nordhoff. The name comes from Le Bon Marché, a noted Paris retailer and one of the world's first department stores,...
department store); then to 1426-28 Third Avenue; and on October 1, 1903, to the custom built Butterworth Block at 1921 First Avenue. 1921 First Avenue now falls within the Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers,...
Historic District, although the market was not founded until 1907. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since May 14, 1971.
The Butterworth Block or Butterworth Building
Butterworth Building
The Butterworth Building or Butterworth Block at 1921 First Avenue in Seattle, Washington was originally built as the Butterworth & Sons mortuary, which moved into this location in 1903 and moved to larger quarters in 1923. Located on a steep hill, the building has only three stories on the First...
was the city's first custom-built modern mortuary. Jeannie Yandel in 2009 described it as "The city's first place for comprehensive death-related services from corpse retrieval to coffin sales." The building had the first elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
on the West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, used to transport bodies. A 2008 Seattle Times article describes the building, still extant, as "[b]eautifully appointed in stained mahogany, art glass, ornamental plaster and specially designed brass and bronze hardware…" The basement, accessible through Post Alley at the rear, is now (as of 2009) home to Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub.
In 1923, the business moved again, to a building on the northeast corner of Melrose Avenue and Pine Street, also extant as of 2009. Clarence Bagley, writing in 1929, described the building as having a crematory
Crematory
A crematory is a machine in which cremation takes place. Crematories are usually found in funeral homes, cemeteries, or in stand-alone facilities. A facility which houses the actual cremator units is referred to as a crematorium.-History:Prior to the Industrial Revolution, any cremation which took...
and columbarium
Columbarium
A columbarium is a place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns . The term comes from the Latin columba and originally referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons .The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is a particularly fine ancient Roman example, rich in...
, fireproof receiving vaults, a funeral church and chapel, and drawing rooms, and utilizing "Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
motor equipment with special designed bodies" as their hearse
Hearse
A hearse is a funerary vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
s, stocking "funeral furnishings… from the most simple to the magnificent." The former chapel of the Melrose mortuary now houses the bar Chapel. Whereas few traces 1921 First Avenue's original use remain at Kells, Chapel retains "leaded glass windows and enormous mirrors, ornate dark woodwork, vaulted ceiling, antique fixtures" and the white stone material composing the bar was also salvaged from the prior use.
Although the family is no longer in the business, the name lives on in the Butterworth-Arthur Wright Chapel at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill.
Character
Butterworth was a pioneer of the modern approach to the business of undertaking. Clarence Bagley credits him as the likely coiner of the termsmortuary and mortician. He owned the first hearse north of the Columbia RiverColumbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
. During Butterworth's lifetime, his business annually forgave the debts of customers who were not able to pay. Butterworth & Sons were also early adopters of the embalming techniques that now distinguish American funerary traditions from those more common in Western Europe.
He was a member of numerous fraternal organizations. He helped organize the Seattle lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
and the Ancient Order of United Workmen
Ancient Order of United Workmen
The Ancient Order of United Workmen was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the US Civil War. It was the beginning of the American network of fraternal benefit societies.-History:...
, and was also a member of the Knights of Pythias
Knights of Pythias
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...
, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members....
, the Royal Arcanum and the Independent Order of Good Templars, as well as being a charter member of the Alaskan Brotherhood Association, and a life member Seattle's Arctic Club. He was an active member of Temple Baptist Church, but also a practicing spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
.
Inevitably, not all of the corpses handled by Butterworth had died peacefully. During the years of the Yukon Gold Rush (which began in 1897), parts of Seattle were dangerous and violent. Undertakers were paid $50 per body to take dead bodies off the street; Butterworth & Sons partook of that business. Butterworth, the city's leading undertaking business of the period, also handled many victims of the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
pandemic. Later, when health faddist doctor Linda Burfield Hazzard
Linda Burfield Hazzard
Linda Hazzard was a fiery oratorand doctor, who was implicitly killing her patients by exhausting diets....
was convicted over one of the several patients she starved to death, Butterworth & Sons were implicated in the scandal, because they had cremated one of her victims, then produced a different, less emaciated body for the funeral. The mortuary was not convicted of any wrongdoing, but Hazzard went to prison.