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.

Amie Kay Tanner, inside the original Butler House, is Deerfield Beach’s historian and storyteller. Her father was a prominent leader in the city.

The J.D. Butler and Alice Butler Scholarship Foundation was created in 1978. It was Alice Butler’s wish to assist graduates of Deerfield Beach High School who did not have the financial resources to continue their education.