Ruth was born on April 30, 1842 near Porter, Rock County, Wisconsin. She was the eldest daughter of Nehemiah and Elmena (Freeman) St John and was raised on her parent's farm which is located in what is now the city of Jamesville. The family moved to Clayton County, Iowa when she was ten years of age. Ruth met and married Riley William Butler near Volga, Iowa in 1859 when she was seventeen years of age. Riley and Ruth farmed in and around Volga City and raised their six children there: Alzina, Oscar, Clara "Dell", Orrin, Elmer and Emma. In 1870 the family started out with oxen teams a distance of 200 miles, making the trip in two weeks to central Iowa to develop a new farm. They chose to establish a homestead six miles from Redfield in Dallas County, about forty miles west from the present city of Des Moines. With the exception of two years spent in Des Moines and Adel, they spent the rest of their lives on this farm. Ruth's older brother Freem was to take up farming near them in Dallas County around 1890. He had recently married for the second time and took up a homestead near Redfield, a small hamlet not far from Ruth's farm. Ruth died on June 2, 1924 near Redfield and Riley died at the home of their daughter Alzina Butler Freeman, north of Redfield on December 22, 1927 at the age of ninety.
Ruth was born on April 30, 1842 near Porter, Rock County, Wisconsin. She was the eldest daughter of Nehemiah and Elmena (Freeman) St John and was raised on her parent's farm which is located in what is now the city of Jamesville. The family moved to Clayton County, Iowa when she was ten years of age. Ruth met and married Riley William Butler near Volga, Iowa in 1859 when she was seventeen years of age. Riley and Ruth farmed in and around Volga City and raised their six children there: Alzina, Oscar, Clara "Dell", Orrin, Elmer and Emma. In 1870 the family started out with oxen teams a distance of 200 miles, making the trip in two weeks to central Iowa to develop a new farm. They chose to establish a homestead six miles from Redfield in Dallas County, about forty miles west from the present city of Des Moines. With the exception of two years spent in Des Moines and Adel, they spent the rest of their lives on this farm. Ruth's older brother Freem was to take up farming near them in Dallas County around 1890. He had recently married for the second time and took up a homestead near Redfield, a small hamlet not far from Ruth's farm. Ruth died on June 2, 1924 near Redfield and Riley died at the home of their daughter Alzina Butler Freeman, north of Redfield on December 22, 1927 at the age of ninety.
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