Eugene Willard Butler was born 26 July 1865, in Oswego County, New York, a son of James and Catherine Butler. The Butler family had formerly resided in Oneida County and were living in Molino, Town or Orwell, Oswego County, by the time of the 1860 census. Eugene was the younger of at least three children: a brother Willis H. Butler, was born about 1850 at McConnellsville, Oneida County, worked as a conductor on the New York Central Railroad, and had a son Melvin C. Butler and daughter Mrs. J. C. Stuart, both of Rochester, New York; a sister, Elizabeth Butler, born June 1860, married W. D. Wheeler and resided in Sandy Creek.
        Eugene was probably the Eugene "Buttler" enumerated in the 1880 census of Sandy Creek as a 14-year-old servant in the household of Harrison Cooper of Sandy Creek.

        On 12 February 1889, Eugene married Mary A. O'Connor, born on 20 August 1865 in New York State to Mr. & Mrs. Daniel O'Connor, both from Ireland. William C. Austin of Manassas, Virginia, and John O'Connor (probably of Watertown), were among Eugene's brothers-in-law. The Butlers usual home was in the City of Watertown.

        Eugene first entered the U.S. Lifesaving Service about 1887 at Buffalo, New York, where he served as a surfman for two seasons under Capt. Thomas Williams, receiving an honorable discharge. Years later he passed the Civil Service exam making him eligible for appointment. Eugene Butler was first appointed on 22 April 1897 to fill a vacancy in the Lifesaving Station at Cleveland, Ohio, under Capt. Charles Motley, where he served with high commendation until 15 December 1899 when he received an appointment from Cmdr. Franklin Handford, as Second Assistant Keeper at the Cleveland Light Station under Capt. Fredric T. Hatch where was he was promoted to First Assistant Keeper while on probation.
 

Eugene Butler with other members of the Cleveland Lifesaving Service, ca. 1897-1899.

        Eugene was erving at Cleveland when on 12 September 1901 he received his appointment as Keeper at Rock Island Station to fill the vacancy left by Emma (Row) Diepolder, who had been tending the station alone with her young son since the sudden death in July of her husband, former Keeper Michael Diepolder. Eugene's service at Rock Island officially started on October 1st. Mrs. Diepolder and her son were frequent visitors to the station in subsequent years—often staying over for days at a time—and Eugene noted their trips in his station logs.

Eugene Butler's letter of appointment to Rock Island Station.
 

Emma Diepolder's final entry in the logs of Rock Island Lighthouse, dutifully memorializing her husband, and indicating "Mr. Butler...is a Jeff. Co. man."

 
        Shortly after taking charge of Rock Island the Butlers became a happy family of three, when on 5 January 1902 Eugene Daniel Butler was born, given the names of his father and his maternal grandfather. "Little Eugene" as he is affectionately called in his father's logs grew up on Rock Island and was a source of great pleasure to his parents: birthdays, first day of school, and the usual scrapes and bruises were all recorded.

        The early years of Eugene's tenure at Rock Island saw many important changes to the station, not the least of which was the moving of the lantern tower from its old location in the center of the island to the pier extending into the main shipping channel—the position it remains in today. The work was started on 11 March 1903 by Linus Seeley and his crew: F. P. Barker, George Fields, Edward Gamble, and also George Shoemaker. On March 31st, the lantern was lit for the first time of the season, and by May 1st the crew had gone home.
        On June 20th, Butler acquired a new St. Lawrence skiff made of cedar for use at the station, paid for by the U.S. Government. It was constructed by J. I. Gardner, a well-reputed boatbuilder from Thousand Island Park. Gardner had known the previous keepers, and he was also friends with Butler's successors, the Beldens. Some of Gardner's photos of earlier construction at the island survive.
        The next summer, on 20 August 1904, materials for the oil generator house were delivered by the U.S.S. Warrington. They were assembled in October by E. B. Foster and his crew, supplying a means for electrifying the house and light tower.
        In 1909, Butler assisted Ezra Hollenbeck in hanging new wall paper throughout the dwelling house.

 

Rock Island Station as it appeared in 1903 after the tower was moved.

 

        Butler's logs testify to an intellect concerned with education and excited by the fine arts. He was a trustee of schools at both Grindstone Island and Fisher's Landing. For many years he attended meetings of the Literary Society at members' homes on the main shore, and he took his family out for evenings of "entertainment" in Fineview and Omar to see "drama."
        Church was important to Eugene and he took his whole family to Sunday services at Clayton and Thousand Island Park regularly.
        Eugene was also evidently a very patriotic man. He held special family dinners to celebrate Washington's birthday and Independence Day, and even recorded the details of President Roosevelt's daughter's wedding in the station logs!

        Weddings were favorite events for the Butlers because they were occasions when family would gather together from far away. On 20 August 1904, Eugene wrote in his logs: "Today at 12m occurred the marriage of Miss B. L. Weaver to John M. O’Connor, brother in law of the present keeper, E. W. Butler—this is the only marriage ever performed on this island."
        For the next family wedding in 1907, Eugene carefully recorded the dates and times that his guests arrived, as follows:

June 12 - Miss Nella O’Connor arrived this noon. keeper sister in law.
June 15 - Mr. John E. Hadley prospect groom arrived this pm
June 18 - Mr. & Mrs. D. O’Connor, Mr Fraiser, Miss Martin, Mr & Mrs Butler arrived this pm
June 19 - Mr. John E. Hadley and Miss Ellen Loretta O’Connor married here at 2pm
June 22 - The wedding party left us today at noon.
 

The Butler Family on the steps of the keeper's dwelling at Rock Island, including Eugene next to wife Mary, their son Eugene Jr., and the family dog. The woman at left is unidentified. Notice the rhododendron peeking through the railing, the trendy wicker furniture on the porch, and the fabric hung up to provide relief from the hot summertime western exposure. The architectural details of the porch are unchanged today.

 
         Eugene socialized with other lighthouse keepers in the area, frequently visiting nearby stations. He was apparently acquainted well enough with Jack Belden, who would become the next keeper at Rock Island, that the two families visited each other back and forth at Rock Island and at the Belden home in Alex Bay during the summer of 1908.

        On 15 April 1912, at age 46, after almost eleven years as keeper at Rock Island, Eugene submitted his resignation; he received notice of its acceptance on May 5th. Eugene's last recorded act as keeper of Rock Island was to mow the lawn on June 6th, in preparation for the arrival of his friend, Jack Belden, who took over the station the next day.

        After retiring from service at Rock Island, Eugene and Mary spent the remainder of the summer at their home "Camp WeGoTo" on neighboring Plymouth Rock Isle (also known as Little Rock Island), then subsequently returned to their home in Watertown, which by that time they had paid for and owned outright. In 1920, Eugene was working out of home as a painter for hire, while Mary tended house. Eugene Jr., who was by then 17 years old, lived with them and worked as a pressman at a local paper mill.

A view of Camp WeGoTo from the Butler Family photo collection.

        On Wednesday, 23 August 1922, Eugene W. Butler, died in Watertown at the young age of 57 years. The funeral was conducted Friday the 25th from the Butler home at 430 Grove St., at 9:30 a.m. and from the Sacred Heart Church at 10 a.m. Eugene was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Watertown. His widow, Mary survived him for several years and was mentioned as still residing at 430 Grove St. in the obituary of the Butlers' predecessor at Rock Island, Emma Diepolder, who died the following year.

        By 1930, "Little Eugene" Jr. had married Dorothy M. Heintzelman, and they had a daughter, Carol J. Butler, age 2 years 3 months. The young family lived on Cooper St. in Watertown, with her parents, Joseph Heintzelman from Germany and his wife Carrie from Ireland. Eugene was working as a machine operator at the Air Brake Shop. Mary Butler did not appear in the census that year.

        A visit to Rock Island by Mary Butler and her mother was the subject of an article in the June 9, 1938 issue of On the St. Lawrence newspaper, indicating they were both still living in that year.