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Butler-Paisley Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MC 514

Scope and Content Note

The correspondence pertains primarily to family matters in Tulip and elsewhere, religious concerns, business and other travel, the Civil War, emigration to California and Texas, and business matters. The business records pertain mostly to William Paisley's general stores in Dobyville and Guerdon, Arkansas.

Most of the family correspondence (series 1 and 2) consists of letters written to and from members of the Butler and Paisley families. Other correspondents include Emma's cousins Mattie Phillips and Sallie Kittle ("Cousin S") and her friend J. A. Elliott.

Dates

  • circa 1829-1899

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No further publication from the Butler-Paisley Family Correspondence may be made without the written consent of the donor. At the time of her death, her literary property right to the materials shall pass to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Most of the letters are fragile and should be handled with extreme care. A number of them are in such poor condition that positive photocopies have been provided for research; use of originals requires special permission.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Emma Butler Paisley (1844-1887) was the daughter of Tulip, Arkansas, farmer and merchant Alexander Butler (1807-1881), and wife of William McLean Paisley (1842-1891), also a farmer and merchant.

BUTLER FAMILY

Alexander Butler, 1807-1881 (Theophilis Butler was his brother) married Mary Wyche Reavis. 1813-1890. They had thirteen children:

1. Sarah Frances, born 1833, died of burns in childhood.

2. Martha Wyche ("Mattie," "M. W. Hughes"), 1833-1912, married George Hughes and had three children: Walter (born 1855), West (died in his 80s in California), and George Reavis.

3. Henry Alexander ("H. A. Butler"), 1836-1907, married Mary E. Coulter ("Mollie") and had five children: Coulter, May, Mattie, Nannie, and George. Henry was a merchant, for many years in partnership with his father.

4. Mary Jane, 1838-1891, married the Reverend George Matthews, a Methodist circuit rider who had two sons, George and Herbert, from a previous marriage.

5. Lewis Peter, 1839-1878, married Jennie Bowman and had two children: Jessie and Willard. Lewis, a lawyer, went to California for his health, but died shortly after his arrival there.

6. George Emery, 1840-1891, married Julia Moores and had nine children: Moores, Alice, Lou, George, Anna, Julia, and three more. George was a Methodist circuit rider and emigrated with his family to California in 1870.

7. Charles Albert, 1843-1924, married Kate Colburn and had eight children.

8. Emma Eliza, 1844-1886, married William McLean Paisley ("Billy"), 1842-1891, and had nine children: John Alexander, William Butler, Emma, Henry Lewis (the donor's father), Mary Eliza, Martha Wyche, Lula Grier, Annie Orr, and James Ira. William, a merchant and farmer, married Martha Oliver Bland following Emma's death. They had a son, Edward Bland.

9. John Reavis ("Johnnie"), born 1846, married Melinda Clardy ("Kellie"). John was a merchant.

10. Anna Louise ("Annie"), 1849-1880, married Olin (Groening?) Moores and had three children: Edwin, William, and Annie. Olin Moores, brother of George Butler's wife Julia, was a merchant and drummer, and married his sister-in-law Alice after Anna Louise's death.

11. Ira Wyche, born 1852, married Fannie John Smith. Ira, a merchant, also emigrated to California.

12. Alice Palmer, 1855-1886, married Olin Moores following the death of her sister Anna Louise. They had two children: Alice and Olin.

13. James Oliver, born 1857, married Maria Moores, a sister of Olin and Julia. They had three children: Walter Hughes and two others.

PAISLEY FAMILY

The Reverend John Paisley (died 1845) married Eliza Bradshaw (died 1880) and had two children: William McLean and Mary Ann. Following John Paisley's death, Elize ("E. D. Lipscomb") married Lorenzo Dow Lipscomb ("L. D. Lipscomb," called "Father" by William Paisley). They had five children: Willis, Claude, Emma (later Emma Lipscomb Harding), Eliza, and Ella.

John Paisley's brother James married Minerva ("Aunt Minerva") and had two children: D. Lacy and J. Porter.

For further genealogical information, see Tulip Evermore.

Extent

2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged in three series by topic:

  1. Series 1. Letters, mostly to Emma Paisley, published in Tulip Evermore.
  2. Series 2. Family correspondence not published in Tulip Evermore.
  3. Series 3. Business and other papers.

Acquisition Information

Letters and papers pertaining to the Butler and Paisley families were donated to Special Collections by Elizabeth Paisley Huckaby, Little Rock, Arkansas, June 1984. Most of the material in the collection--family correspondence and business records--was received and saved by Emma Butler Paisley, the donor's grandmother.

Related Materials

Records relating to the Stout Lumber Company Materials include:

Butler-Paisley Photograph Albums MC 632

Jonathan K. L. Smith Map of Tulip Ridge >MC 633

Processing Information

Processed by Ethel Simpson and Nan Lawler; completed in March 1987.

Empty envelopes transferred from accession file to the collection (Box 4, Folder 21) in December 2018 by Katrina Windon.

Creator

Source

Title
Butler-Paisley Family Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Ethel Simpson and Nan Lawler
Date
March 1987
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Department Repository

Contact:
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444