|
Florence / Flora Taylor survived for a day
before dying at St. Luke's
Hospital.* She was described as Lucretia's
adopted daughter, cared for since birth.
She was the daughter of Lucretia's brother,
William Henry Taylor. Her mother and
namesake, Flora McClar Taylor (1856-1888) had
died when Flora and her brother William Jr. were
young children. Aunt Lou stepped in to
take care of the children.
Lucretia's husband, Frank S. Butler (1843-1915), and daughter,
Lucretia "Lulu"
(b.1884), did not attend the matinee. The
Butlers lived at 649 Michigan St. in Evanston,
IL, including Lucretia's mother, Scottish
immigrant Elizabeth Taylor (b.1815), and two
nephews, William J. Taylor (b.1882) and Ralph C.
Taylor (b.1884)..
Lucretia and Frank Butler were originally from
New York. In 1892 Frank, Lucretia and her
brother, William H. Taylor, formed a
provisioning company, the William H. Taylor
Company.
In the years after the fire
The newspaper reported that fourteen women
fainted at the triple funeral at the Butler home
the morning of January 3, 1904. It was
conducted by Rev. Stuart M. Campbell of the
Second Presbyterian Church. Three white
hearses carried the bodies to Rosehill.
Lucretia had been Frank's second wife and after
her death he married a third time. By 1910
he was widowed once again and lived with his
daughter Lulu Butler Clark (1884-1950) and her
family in Saint Clair, IL. She had two
young children.
|
 |
The Inter Ocean newspaper, January 2, 1904
"BOY'S BODY IS IDENTIFIED BY LETTER FROM TEACHER
By means of a letter written by his Sunday school
teacher, friends identified the body of Bennett
Butler at Horan's undertaking establishment
yesterday. Bennett was the 14-year-old son of
Mrs. Frank S. Butler who, with her niece, Miss Clara
Taylor*, lost her life In the Iroquois theater fire.
Mr. Butler, exhausted by the terrible search which
resulted in finding the bodies of his wife and
niece, was kept at home by his physicians. The
Sunday school companions of the dead youth took up
the search when the father's strength failed. At
Horan's they found the body scorched beyond
recognition. A letter signed by Arthur Morgan, a
teacher In the South Presbyterian Sunday school,
Evanston, was the only clue to his identity. Mr.
Horan had embalmed the body, as be had the rest of
the unidentified remains, to preserve them for
identification as long as possible. The funeral
of Mrs. Butler, her son and her niece will
be held at the Butler home. 619 Michigan avenue, at
2 o'clock this afternoon. The burial will be at Rose
Hill."
|
