Sutter-Yuba County Biographies

PETER J. BUTZ

Transcribed by: Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



            A well-known and substantial citizen of Celestial Valley is Peter J. 
Butz, who is engaged in general farming, and stock-raising on his ranch of 160 
acres.  Born at Celestial Valley, Yuba County, June 16, 1865, he is the youngest 
and the only survivor of three children born to his parents, Peter and Mary 
(Mahon) Butz.  His father, Peter Butz, was born in Germany, on September 15, 
1828, and was three years old when he was brought to America by his parents, who 
settled in Ohio.  He was twenty-five years old when, in 1853, he came via Panama 
to California.  Arriving in San Francisco, he went by foot to Sacramento, and 
from there to Hangtown, and in the fall of 1853 arrived in Celestial Valley.  
For a time he followed placer mining on Oregon Creek.  Soon after his arrival, 
he was married at Marysville to Miss Mary Mahon, and together they became the 
very earliest settlers in the valley.  During the fifties and sixties, Mr. Butz 
served as recorder of mines in Celestial Valley.  He was a prominent member of 
the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Masonic Lodge, both of Camptonville.  He passed 
away on November 1, 1893; and his wife, on December 20, 1895.
            Peter J. Butz walked four miles to attend the Camptonville school.  
While in his teens he became interested in mining in Celestial Valley, Yuba 
County.  Then he drove a bull-team, logging in the mountains, and for 
twenty-five years followed that occupation in Yuba, Sierra and Nevada Counties, 
becoming an expert in loading and unloading logs on the trucks, as well as in 
driving the big bull-teams.  As before stated, he is now engaged in ranching in 
Celestial Valley on his 160-acre ranch, devoted to raising stock and hay.
            On April 16, 1895, Mr. Butz was married to Miss Jenny Baden, born at 
Camptonville, Cal., the eldest of four children of William and Lucy (McNeil) 
Baden, natives of New Orleans, La., and Sierra County, Cal., respectively.  
William Baden was a miner and pioneer blacksmith of Camptonville.  He passed 
away in 1910, while his widow survives him and resides in San Francisco.  The 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Butz was blessed with the birth of five children, all 
sons.  Walter was in the United States Army during the World War, and was in the 
American Expeditionary Forces, serving over-seas until after the armistice, when 
he returned to the United States and was honorably discharged.  He married 
Frances Lutz; and they have one child, Walter, Jr.  He now resides in Trinity 
County.  Chester married Mamie Curry, and they reside at Downieville.  Fred, of 
Camptonville, married Phyllis Nelson, whose parents were pioneers of Garden 
Valley; and they have one child, Thelma Charlotte.  George and Merle are at home 
with their parents.  Mr. and Mrs. Butz have reason to be proud of their family 
of manly sons, who are a credit to their various communities.  Mr. Butz has held 
the position of foreman of a section of the State Highway, looking after its 
maintenance from Freeman�s Crossing, in Yuba County, to Indian Creek, Sierra 
County.  He has also served as a member and clerk of the board of trustees of 
the Celestial Valley school district.  Mr. and Mrs. Butz are very liberal and 
kind-hearted, and in their modest way dispense the good old-time Californian 
hospitality; and it is indeed a pleasure to have the good fortune to visit at 
their home.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p  491