DRURY DE WOLF BUTLER

Sacramento County

Biographies

DRURY DE WOLF BUTLER. – Distinguished among the efficient public officials of Sacramento County may well be mentioned Drury De Wolf Butler, the popular and proficient county surveyor, a native son proud of the Golden State in which he was born and wherein he has demonstrated his public-spiritedness in many ways, including his enthusiastic advocacy of better roads and bridges. He first saw the light near Folsom, in Sacramento County, on November 22, 1877, the son of John E. Butler, who crossed the plains to California, arriving in February, 1850. Afterwards, he went into the mines, and then settled on Cache Creek, Yolo County, where he remained until 1864. He then bought the Half-Way House in Sacramento County, on the Sacramento-Placerville road, and conducted it as a hotel. Afterwards he embarked in the sheep business, in which he continued until 1904; and then having sold out, he died seven years later. He served in the California Assembly in 1894, and made there a very creditable record for intelligent and fearless advocacy of the best interests of the people he served. In 1875, at San Jose, he married Miss Electa De Wolf, a member of a pioneer family from Ohio; and she is still living, making her home in Sacramento, with many happy memories of days in California dating back to 1874.

Drury De Wolf Butler enjoyed the advantages of public education in California and in 1890 was graduated from the old White Rock grammar school near Folsom. For six years, he studied by himself and then in 1897 he was graduated from the Sacramento high school. In 1899 he entered the University of California, and in 1903 he was graduated in mining, with his degree of B.S. He was a mining chemist for the Boulder Reduction Works in Jamestown, Colo., and next he was field engineer for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Butte County; he was also assistant engineer for the Sacramento Southern Railroad. He went to Chile to engage in mining work, but returned in 1908.

Mr. Butler was appointed deputy county surveyor upon his return to California, but 1911 found him again in the more inviting field, from certain standpoints, of private practice. In 1914 he was elected county surveyor, and on September 1, 1920, he was appointed by the board of supervisors to be county engineer. In 1921, when the office of county engineer was abolished, Mr. Butler again took up the work of county surveyor. At the general election in November, 1922, he was reelected to his present office. He has carried through some very difficult work, acquitting himself very creditably; and among other meritorious undertakings, he designed and constructed the Folsom bridge, which has a span of 209 feet and is made of concrete.

In 1917, at Sacramento, Mr. Butler was married to Miss Lalita Jodon, born in Portland, Ore., although a resident of Sacramento since her childhood. They have one child, Jacklyn Lauretta. Mr. Butler is a Republican and is a live wire in the Sutter and Rotary Clubs; he belongs to the Masons, and is a past master of Union Lodge No. 58, F & A.M.; is past wise master of Sacramento Chapter No. 6, Knights Rose Croix; is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and belongs to the Consistory, in which he is knight commander of the Court of Honor; is a member of Sacramento Commandery, K.T., and belongs to Ben Ali Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. He is past patron of Columbus Chapter No. 117, O.E.S. He also belongs to Granite Parlor No. 83, N.S.G.W. and to the Odd Fellows, and he is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He shows his public spirit in many ways, always for the betterment of local conditions and for the development of the resources of the county.

Transcribed by Vicky Walker, 2/6/07.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 499-500. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.