Max Ralph Butter
World War I Veteran
By Camille Arbogast
Max Ralph Butter was born on August 2, 1898, at 33 Oneida Street in Boston’s South End (today the location of the Ink Block development). His parents, Harry and Annie (Iascovich or Covich) Butter were born in Russia. They each immigrated to the United States in the 1890s and married in Boston in 1897. Max had five younger siblings: Edith born in 1900, Charly in 1903, Melvin in 1905, Minnie in 1908, and Joseph in 1909. Charly died in 1904 of tuberculous peritonitis (or tuberculosis of the abdomen).
Harry was a metal dealer. In 1901, he formed his own company, Harry Butter and Co., Inc., smelters and refiners. By 1913, the company was located at its long-time location, 151 Mount Vernon Street in Dorchester (today part of the land belonging to JFK/UMASS station). The metal distribution arm was known as the Butter Sales Corp.
By September 1898, the Butters had moved about two blocks from Max’s birthplace, to 8 Genesee Street. They remained in the neighborhood for the next couple years, living at 49 Oswego Street in 1900 and 13 Oswego in 1901. They relocated to Dorchester in 1902, residing at 10 Howell Street. Six years later they were living at 71 Fayston Street in Roxbury. They moved to 19 Wolcott Street in Dorchester in 1909. The following year, they purchased 57 McLellan Street in Dorchester, the family home for almost twenty years. The 1910 census recorded that they employed a maid, nineteen-year-old Lena Hazelton, a recent Russian immigrant.
Max graduated from the English High School of Boston. He attended Northeastern College his freshman year, studying Chemical Engineering. By June 1917, he was a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On October 2, 1918, he entered the United States Naval Reserve Force, enrolling at the Navy Recruiting Station in Boston. He served in the Naval Unit at MIT until November 11, 1918. He was placed on inactive duty on December 18, 1918, then honorably discharged due to “lack of funds.” In recognition of his service, Max’s name was included on a memorial tablet at Congregation Beth-El on Fowler Avenue, Dorchester, which aimed to “perpetuate the names of her sons who were ready to pay the supreme sacrifice in the World War.” Max graduated from MIT with the class of 1921. After graduation, Max continued living at 57 McLellan Street. He worked in sales for wholesale shoe companies, his profession through the mid-1930s.
On June 9, 1927, Max married Helen O. Miller in Providence, Rhode Island. Helen was a native Rhode Islander, and they settled in the state. They had two children, Audrey and Charles. By 1935, they lived at 129 Adelaide Avenue in Providence. In 1940, the census recorded they rented their home for $45 a month and employed a live-in maid, Mable Mitton of New Hampshire. They moved to 126 Warrington Street, Providence in 1942. Three years later, the Butters relocated to the Boston area, to 221 Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton. By 1950, they were living in Newton, Massachusetts, at 58 Royce Road. In the late 1960s, they moved to 55 Audubon Drive in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Max had joined the family business around 1940. That year, he earned $2,000. Initially he was a salesman and metallurgist. By the mid-1960s, he was president of the company. He continued to be listed in Boston directories as the president of the company into the 1980s, though Newton directories listed him as retired by the mid-1970s.
Max died in Boston on September 11, 1992. He was buried in Linwood Memorial Park in Randolph, Massachusetts. Memorial observance was held at his late residence. When Helen died in 1997 she, too, was buried in Linwood Memorial Park.
Sources
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
Marstall, Chris. “A Neighborhood Named for … New York?,” Boston Globe. 19 April 2012: K12; ProQuest.com
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA.; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
“Harry Butter, 89,” Boston Globe, 21 November 1963: 21; Newspapers.com
“Notice of A Remedial Action Plan,” Boston Globe, 6 December 2003: 92; Newspapers.com
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1920, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
The Cauldron, 1917: The Annual of the Co-operative School of Engineering of North Eastern College, Volume One. Boston, MA; Archive.org
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“To Pay Tribute to Sons in the War,” Boston Globe, 28 November 1919: 14; Newspapers.com
“Deceased,” Technology Review, Volume 97, Number 3, April 1994. Cambridge, MA. Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994; Archive.org
Richardson, Dennett L. Alphabetical Index of the Births, Marriages and Deaths Recorded in Providence, Vol XXII, Part II K-Z Marriages from 1921 to 1930 Inclusive. Providence, RI: The Oxford Press, 1932; Archive.org
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
City of Newton, Assessed Polls. Various years; Archive.org
Newton directories, various years; Archive.org
State of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003. Boston, MA, USA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health Services, 2005; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 13 Sept 1992: 52; Newspapers.com