South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Historical society sharing city’s past
It was a romance for the ages. One that helped build Deerfield Beach. The story is about a couple who fell in love in the American South and decided to visit relatives in Florida. After spending a bit of time there, they fell in love with the place and decided to stay.
It’s an inspiring century-old romance that would not likely be told if it weren’t for the Deerfield Beach Historical Society.
Historian and storyteller Amie Kay Tanner is the daughter of the late Odas Tanner, a community leader who is credited with building City Hall in Deerfield Beach. She is passionate about telling the tale of the love that helped build the city in which she grew up.
And the Deerfield Beach Historical Society wants to share its treasure trove of information and stories about the local culture and history of business in the region.
T.J. Eagen, the nonprofit organization’s new president, is putting emphasis on getting the word out about their offerings to educate the community about their past. They also are putting on more activities to engage the public and help build community at the former mid-century modern home of Robert and Martha Butler, which is across the street from the historic Butler House. It has been transformed into a center for art, culture and community gatherings.
Eagen said he is enthusiastic about promoting their storyteller and historian, Tanner. He said that she is a great asset to the telling of the city’s illustrious past, particularly her knowledge of the lives of the town’s pioneers J.D. Butler and his wife, Alice.
The storyteller’s late father was also active in the historical society and was part of making history. Odas Tanner moved to Deerfield Beach as a young boy in the 1920s during the time when the locally famous Butler couple were settling in their new household.
The love that helped build Deerfield
Tanner loves to tell the tale of the romance of the special couple who helped to shape the tiny town of Deerfield, referring to them as “Uncle Jimmy” and “Aunt Alice.”
“Alice was from up north in Ohio,” she
said. “She was college-educated and went to finishing school. Alice was well versed in literature, art, history and music. She played the piano at the local Baptist church for 35 years. Alice was not your run-of-the-mill lady, so I’m sure that had a lot to do with James being so entranced with her.”
At one point before they met, Alice and J.D. Butler separately migrated to Texas.
J.D. moved from Georgia to Texas to work with a relative. Alice moved from Ohio to the Lone Star State for her own reasons. They met at a church, as many did 100 years ago.
“Alice and James were both Baptists,” Tanner said. “They met because the pianist at the church where they both attended
introduced them. Uncle Jimmy was smitten from his first meeting with her. He basically asked her to marry him on the second date. She’s the one that held him off for a while. But he was very persistent, and they ended up getting married on a train.”
Tanner said that, after they got married, Alice asked Jimmy if he would take her down to “that Deerfield place” in Florida where a relative lived. He agreed, and the newlyweds went to Deerfield in 1910 from Texas.
The town of Deerfield only had about 250 people at the time.
The Butlers came to visit the relatives who were farming in the small town, which was a newer livelihood for northerners in the arena. Farming was only practiced since a railroad was constructed in the late 1890s. James was a Georgia farmer, so that occupation was interesting to him.
According to Tanner, the couple stayed a while in Deerfield and got to know some people while they were there. The couple took a liking to the place while they were visiting, and James asked his new wife what she wanted to do.
“On that last day in Deerfield when he was giving her the option of whether they should stay or go. She ended up telling her husband that they should stay,” Tanner recalled. “She said that the people in Deerfield were their kind of people, that it felt comfortable and that it was beautiful. The gorgeous weather didn’t hurt their decision either.”
Finding footing in Florida
Tanner said that during the first few years in Deerfield, the couple bought a little wooden house near the spot where they built their own place. James started a dry goods store, but he really didn’t enjoy shopkeeping. He was a farmer by trade, and that’s what he wanted to do.
“Interestingly, James wanted to farm and his friend Mr. Thomas, who he originally came to visit, wasn’t really happy as a farmer,” she said. “The two of them decided to change jobs, so James became a farmer and Mr. Thomas became the shopkeeper.”
Tanner can’t say enough about the pioneers who brought energy and effort to the Deerfield community.
“Alice and James were such a wonderful
couple,” she said. “They helped build the First Baptist Church with their bare hands. And Alice was one of the founding members of the Women’s Club of Deerfield Beach.”
But the couple had its share of personal tragedies.
“Alice wanted a big family,” Tanner said. “Alice actually birthed three children, but unfortunately they all died in infancy or early childhood from respiratory problems. They lost their children, so to replace the parenting experience, they ended up getting involved to do what they could for all the kids in Deerfield at the time.”
Tanner said the couple supported local youth-oriented efforts.
“They supported sports activities as well as the schools. They supported basically everything surrounding the kids in the town. They loved children, and they demonstrated it through their actions,” she said.
Today, their home is the anchor attraction for the Deerfield Beach Historical Society and is known as the James D. and Alice Butler House. It was built for $10,000 in 1923, which is the equivalent of about $165,000 today.
“The couple lived there as a happy couple until their dying days,” Tanner said.
Deerfield Beach Historical Society today
Facilities: The Butler House, 380 E. Hillsboro Blvd.; The Museum and Cultural Center, 84 SE Fourth Ave.; The Old School
House and Old Red Caboose, 323 NE Eller St.; and The Pioneer House, 380 E. Hillsboro Blvd.
Activities at the new Museum and Cultural Center:
Driveway Fridays: A monthly concert Saturday Lecture Series: A monthly lecture on the history of the area
International Film Night: A monthly showing and discussion of a foreign film
South Florida Chamber Ensemble: A classical music concert every other month
Art Gallery: A public space featuring local artists
Art Classes: Art classes for both children and adults
Meeting space: The facility is available for meetings for nonprofits, including Deerfield Beach Kiwanis and the Rotary Club.
For an extensive 52 image social mediastyle visual history of Deerfield Beach, visit deerfieldbeachhistoricalsociety.com/ 52moments.