Aubrey Butler

Black male, estimated to have been 62 years old when he died on 17 April 1935 in Pensacola. He died at 528 E. Aragon Street of probable chronic nephritis with chronic myocarditis. He worked as a laborer in a fish house at the time of his death. His father was Dan Butler and his mother was Amanda Washington, born in Alabama. The informant on his death certificate was his wife, Caroline Butler, who lived at 528 E. Aragon St. According to his death certificate, he worked until two days before his death, and there is no history of treatment by a doctor for the conditions that (probably) caused his death. Morris Funeral Home buried him in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

Aubrey – also spelled Arbrey and Arbray – Butler appeared in the 1898 Pensacola City Directory, working as a driver for L.A. Dubuisson (Louis A., who dealt in general merchandise). No residence was listed, though there are two Daniel Butlers – one working as a gardener for W.M Fisher and residing at 413 W. La Rua; and one who worked as a laborer, residing on Manresa near E. Romana. I believe the former to be Aubrey’s father.

Aubrey and his family appeared in the 1900 U.S. Census for Pensacola in the household of his father, Dan. (The family’s name is spelled “Burten” in this census). This census tells us that Dan was born in September of 1847 in Florida, of two parents born in Florida. He was 52 at the time of the census. He worked as a laborer and was not literate. He rented his home. His wife, Mandie, was 29 years old, born in August 1870 in Florida, of two parents born in Florida. She had given birth to 11 children, 8 of whom were still living. The children: Aber [Aubrey], 23; Sadie, 21 (listed as married, having given birth to four children, two of whom survived – none of whom were enumerated in the household, nor was a husband); Gurtey, 17 (also listed as married; no husband enumerated in the household); Lilla, 12; Daniel, 9; Eliza, 6; George, 3; and Rosie, newborn. (Mandy’s given birthdate of 1870 might raise concerns that she is not the mother of many of these children; however, this age appears to be a mistake as she appears in the 1910 census as being 55.)

Aubrey Butler appeared in the 1903 Pensacola City Directory, working as a domestic and boarding at 25 Hyers Alley. Daniel Butler, blacksmith is listed as living at 25 Hyers Alley,  along with Ridda Butler, a domestic, boarding at the same house.

The 1905 City Directory does not list Aubrey; though it lists three Daniel Butlers: one a bartender living 611 W. La Rua; a blacksmith at FJ Stearns living at 25 Hyers Alley (this one surely Aubrey’s father); and a laborer boarding at 422 E. Garden. Neither of the other two Daniels are really old enough to be Aubrey’s brother, who was born about 1891, but it’s not impossible.

Escambia County marriage records show an entry in 1907 for Aubrey Butler and Caroline (Johnson) Maseline, with the notation that it was never solemnized. As the original record is not digitized, no more details are available online, but one wonders if the family didn’t realize there was more to getting married than getting the license!

Aubrey does not appear in the 1907 Pensacola City Directory; though Caroline Masoline does, living at 27 S. Alcaniz St. along with William, who worked as a waiter. I believe this to be her son, perhaps with her husband, Tom, who died in 1904 at the age of 45 from heart failure. (Tom and Caroline were characterized in an 1889 newspaper article as being “chronic fighters between themselves,” and they were each fined $5 after accusing each other of being violent on one of their “periodic sprees.”) Caroline was born in 1870 in Evergreen, Alabama. Her parents were Anthony and Cynthia (or Lucinda) Logan Johnson. Caroline and Tom (their name spelled Massaline) were enumerated in the 1900 Census with a son name Ephraim, born around 1886. I have not found Ephraim outside of this record.

In the 1908 City Directory, Aubrey was listed as a driver, living at 25 South Alcaniz St. The 1909 directory shows the same information, as does the 1910 directory (though his occupation is characterized as “porter”).

Dan Butler’s household appeared in the 1910 Census renting a home at 813 W. La Rua Street in Pensacola. Dan was 59 and Mandy 55. Dan was working as a blacksmith in a machine shop. The census states that Dan and Mandy had been married for 22 years and that it was the first marriage for each of them. (A marriage license was issued in Escambia County in 1876 for Dan Butler and Miss Amanda Washington, but no marriage ceremony was recorded.) Mandy again states she has given birth to eleven children, with eight surviving. The other members of the household are Ritta (“Lilla” in 1900), 22, working as a washerwoman; Eliza, 16, also working as a washerwoman; George, 13, who did odd job; Rosa, 10; and a granddaughter, Elvina Pullman, 6. Elvina’s mother is not identified, but I believe it to be Gertrude, who was not enumerated in the household.

The 1910 U.S. Census shows Aubray Butler living at 27 South Alcaniz Street. He was 35 years old and had been married for three years. It shows he was born in Florida of two parents born in Alabama; he worked as a driver of a delivery wagon; he was literate; and he rented his home. Caroline, his wife, was 33 years old, born in Alabama of a father born in Alabama and a mother born in Virginia. She was literate and worked in the home. The census enumerates a son, Willie, said to be 20 years old, born in Alabama of a mother born in Alabama and a father born in Florida. He was listed as being at school, which seems inconsistent with his previous occupation as a waiter. Also in the household were Aubray’s brother, Daniel, 19, born Florida of two parents born in Alabama and working at the same occupation as Aubray; a brother-in-law, Lyman Johnson, 27 and widowed, working as a railroad laborer; and a boarder name Essie Hamilton, 22, a barkeeper at Morris Saloon.

While the 1910 Pensacola City Directory did not give any new information on Aubrey, it shows Daniel (probably his father as there is an indication he was married, but possibly his brother), working as a driver and boarding at 813 W. La Rua, along with Eliza, who was listed as a domestic. Gertrude and George Butler lived at 913 E. Belmont. A Butler family which included David, Elvira, and William, lived at 528 Aragon – the address where Aubrey would later live. (At this time, I have no evidence of a familial relationship, but it would not surprise me to find there is one.)

In the 1911 City Directory, Aubrey Butler is listed as a laborer living at 27 S. Alcaniz, along with his brother, Daniel, a laborer. The elder Daniel Butler, married and working as a blacksmith, lived at 523 W. Gregory St. There is no one listed as living at 528 Aragon.

The 1913 directory lists Aubrey a a driver living at 27 S. Alcaniz; no other people immediately identifiable as being members of his family are listed. 1913 finds Aubrey in the newspaper, having been fined $10 and costs for “permitting gambling in a place on South Alcaniz street of which he had charge.”

1915 brought another scrape with the law: Dan and Aubrey Butler were arrested and held in the county jail; Dan on the charge of stealing a pair of shoes and Aubrey with “getting away with another man’s dollar.” Aubrey was acquitted after a trial the following week. (A “Dennis Butler” was convicted of his second larceny at trial and spent six months in the county jail. This may be Dan.)

In 1916, Aubrey, still working as a driver, was listed as living at 404 E. Romana St. (Interesting note: 404 E. Romana St. is where Tom Masselene died in 1904, and where he and his son, William, were listed as living in the 1903 Pensacola City Directory.) In 1919, he worked as a driver but lived at 620 Aragon.

In the 1920 U.S. Census for Pensacola, Caroline Butler was living at 620 Aragon St., but was listed as the head of the household. She was 36 years old and took in washing. There were two Roomers in the household: Eddie Johnson, an 18 year old who worked at a shipyard; and Ed Clemons, 60 years old, whose occupation appears to say cement worker. Aubrey’s absence from the household is, at the moment, unexplained.

The 1921 City Directory was compiled, Aubrey Butler, a driver, lived at 620 Aragon. In 1924, he was listed as a laborer and, for the first, time, Caroline is listed as his wife. The 1927 directory identifies her as “Carrie.”

The 1930 Census shows them renting a home at 311 E. Garden Street. Arbray Butler was 58 years old and worked as a laborer at a fish house. He gave the age of his first marriage as 30, which isn’t too far off. His wife, Caroline, was 39 (this is off by a good bit – she was closer to 60) and took in washing. Also living with them was Eddie Johnson, identified as a nephew. He was 27 years old and had been married since the age of 16, though no wife is enumerated in the household. His occupation is laborer, at an outfit that begins with the word “steam” but which is other illegible.

The 1931 City Directory showes Aubry and Caroline Butler living at 530 Aragon; he worked as a laborer. In 1934, Aubrey and Caroline lived at 528 Aragon, the house he would die in.

Caroline Butler appeared in the 1936 Pensacola City Directory under her own name, working as a laundress and living at 528 Aragon St.; the same information appears in the 1938 directory. She was enumerated in the 1940 U.S. Census, living at 625 E. Aragon St. as a lodger in the household of Annie Coffie, a 45-year-old widow working as a maid. Caroline was 70 years old, born in Alabama, and she completed the 2nd grade. No occupation was listed. According to the Florida Death Index, she died in 1943 in Pensacola, but no other details are available.

FAMILY:

Father: Daniel Butler

Mother: Amanda Washington Butler

Siblings: William, Sarah Ann, Gertrude, Varey, Ritta, Daniel, Eliza, George, and Rosa Butler

Wife: Carolina Johnson Massalene Butler

Stepchildren: Ephraim Massalene, Willie Massalene/Butler

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SOURCES:

Florida Certificate of Death for Arbray Butler (No. 6756), Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Marriage Record of Daniel Butler and Amanda Washington, 2 FEB 1876, Escambia County, Florida (license only) Book I, page 197. Transcribed Marriage Records of Escambia County, Florida, 1821-1900. West Florida Genealogical Society, 2009.

Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.