John Lowe Butler (1808 - 1860) and Caroline Farozine Skeen (1812 - 1875)

The Election Battle

It was the wielding of a 3-4 foot long, 3-sided, 7-pound  heart of oak that John Lowe Butler hefted from a woodpile behind a small store in Daviess County, Missouri that initiated the infamous "Mormon War" in Missouri  1838.  

Because of the influx of Mormon pioneer population into Daviess County, MO the locals (threatened by Mormons nearing 1/2 of the county's population)  became uneasy at the possibility of the Mormons swaying the outcome of the election.  Several Missourians vowed to prevent the Mormons from voting.  Tension was high that election day of August 6, 1838, when several of the saints rode up to the small polling place in Gallatin to cast their votes.  Voting was done by voice instead of secret ballot.  Whiskey ran free among the Missourian antagonists who verbally, then physically attacked the few saints wishing to cast their votes.  From his lengthy autobiography we read:  

"Many thoughts ran through my mind.  First I remembered that I never in my life struck a man in anger, had always lived in peace with all men and the stick I had to fight with was so large and heavy that I could sink it into every man's head, that I might  have a chance to strike.  I did not want to kill anyone, but merely to stop the affray, and went in with the determination to rescue my brethren from such miserable curs at all hazards, thinking when hefting my stick that I must temper my licks just so as not to kill. "  (My Best For the Kingdom. p 54)

He swung his club at the drunken attackers, severely injuring several.  Sidney Rigdon said that John "with his own hands whipped some 20 men." (My Best. p 57).

Such is perhaps the most well-known, most written about "claim to fame" of our ancestor, John Lowe Butler.

If ever a picture was taken of him, it has not survived through the years, but we learn tidbits here and there from his autobiography and from his daughters' journals some clues as what he looked like.  He was 6'2" and says that he was "stout".  He apparently had blonde hair and blue eyes, and that is all we have.  But we do have a surviving photo of Caroline.

John was born April 8, 1808 in what was once called Warren County, Kentucky (now Simpson County) to James Butler and Charity Lowe, he being the 4th of 14 children - 4 of whom were stillborn.

John's bride, Caroline  Farozine Skeen, daughter of prominent Jesse Skeen and Keziah Taylor, was born April 15, 1812 in Sumner County, Tennessee.   Being plantation owners, her parents gave the newlyweds 2 slaves as a wedding gift.  John set them free soon after the wedding.  That fact, coupled with John and Caroline's conversion to Mormonism totally alienated her from her father.  In fact, in her father's will, he gave property to his other children but none to Caroline. 

Typical of Mormon pioneers, John and Caroline joined with the Saints in Missouri, then Nauvoo, Council Bluffs,  and eventually made their way West to Salt Lake City, suffering hardship and persecution all the way.  They settled Spanish Fork, Utah where he became the 1st Bishop there.  In addition to being a known frontiersman (the caliber of Porter Rockwell and John D. Lee), he was a farmer, blacksmith, and ran the sawmill.

Cloak Blessed By a Prophet

 "Sickness  sometimes was rampant in Nauvoo, and Joseph Smith went among the people and administered to them.  On occasion he blessed cloth articles that could be used by others in healing and blessing the sick and afflicted.  For the benefit of the Butler family, he blessed John's large broadcloth cape or cloak.  During the rest of their lives, John and Caroline wrapped this cloak around family members when they became ill.  In time the coat passed to the next generation.  In 1945 Bertha M. Butler wrote that the family of John Lowe Butler, Jr., inherited the cloak:  The cape became old and somewhat shabby and was finally cut into ten pieces, one piece each for the ten  (nine surviving) children of John L.  Butler II."

(My Best. p 114)

Temple / Buffalo Story

Soon after the Relief Society was organized in Nauvoo in 1843, the sisters were expected to assist in building the temple anyway they could.  Caroline was trouble because she had nothing to give.  One day ..." as she and her children were in a wagon near the outskirts of Nauvoo when she spotted two dead buffalo.  She thought of a way to make a temple contribution, and she and the children pulled the long hair from the manes of the buffalo.  At home they washed, carded, and spun the hair into coarse yarn from which Caroline knitted eight pairs of heavy mittens, which she donated to the rock cutters working in the dead of winter at the temple site."  (My Best. p113)

Caroline's Sewing Skills

Caroline learned the art of carding, dyeing, spinning, weaving wool.  "One day when a man nearly severed his thumb with wool shears...she successfully sewed it back on."  (My Best. p 350)

Martyrdom of a Joseph Smith

From his autobiography we read:  "...the mob issued a writ for Brother Joseph and Hyrum and they were taken to Carthage Jail.  I and some more of his life guards went with him.  We were all willing to live or die with them.  He, Brother Joseph, spoke to us all and told us that he was like a lamb led to the slaughter.  He also spoke to Hyrum and wished him to return home with us.   We begged of him to let us stay with him and die with him, if necessary, but he said no, we were to return to our home.  And Brother Hryum said that he would stay with Brother Joseph...For my part I felt that something great was going to transpire.  He blessed us and told us to go.  We bade farewell, and started.  We had 20 miles to ride, and we went the whole distance without uttering one word.  All were dumb and still and all felt spirit as I did myself.  I cannot express my feelings at that time for they overpowered me." (My Best. p 130)

Health Concerns 

John was plagued with health issues since the young age of 7 when he contracted rheumatic fever.  Leg, then eye infections, severe arthritis, being thrown from horses several times, frequent rheumatic attacks, and even polio had an effect on him his entire life.  All of this likely led to his early death at the age of 52.  John died  April 10, 1860, 2 days after his birthday, after serving as Bishop for only 3 years.

Caroline was 48 at the time of his passing and she lived another 27 years before her death in Spanish Fork, Utah,  August 4. 1875.  

Sources: family records and My Best For the Kingdom: History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler A Mormon Frontiersman by William G. Hartley. Specific pages noted in text.  Note: This is a near 500 page book on John Lowe Butler - pretty awesome reading!