Butcher Family Tot Lot

Butcher Family Tot Lot. . Born enslaved near Winchester, Virginia, c. 1832, John J. Butcher migrated north through the Cumberland Valley and settled in Carlisle following the Civil War. Butcher worked as a laborer for local businessman George Hench. He also made and sold large quantities of neatsfoot oil, an extract made from cattle shinbones used in softening and preserving leather. , Butcher owned several properties in the Third Ward, including this lot which he purchased in 1877. , Like most former enslaved persons, John and his wife Charlotte received no formal education, but all their four daughters and seven sons attended school. , One of their sons, John G. Butcher, along with other African Americans, petitioned the Carlisle School Board in 1896 for the right of family members to attend the all-white high school. Their request was denied. , John and Charlotte's daughter, Alice Butcher, graduated from Dickinson Preparatory School in 1904 and taught in Carlisle for 43 years. The Civic Club hired Alice in 1919 to supervise the Lincoln Playground on Franklin Street, the first organized, recreational space for African American children in Carlisle. , Another son, George Hench Butcher, graduated from the Pharmaceutic College of Howard University in 1909 and became a successful druggist and store owner in Washington, D.C. , When Alice Butcher's heirs sold this site to Carlisle Borough in 1965, it was developed into the Butcher Tot Lot. As a result of efforts by community volunteers and Carlisle Borough, the upgraded Butcher Family Tot Lot was re-opened December 14, 2013. , [Captions (clockwise from top left)] , . Charlotte Roy Butcher was born in 1843 at Prospect Hill, a large plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo by Charles Moss Studio, Carlisle, PA , . John J. Butcher, known for his thrift and industry, was described in The Evening Sentinel as a kind and devoted husband and father, a good neighbor, and one of Carlisle's leading citizens. Photo from the Negro Business Directory – 1910 , . Alice B. Butcher and Charles H. Johnson (left) and Clara M. Johnson and James G. Young taught in the Carlisle schools in 1910. Photo from the Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory – 1910 , Photos are courtesy of the Cumberland County Historical Society.