In this country inherited fortunes, or ancestral honors, have little
effect on a man's reputation; but inherited disposition and early
surroundings have much effect on his character.

My father's ancestors were from New England. His father, Phineas Butler,
came from Saybrook, Connecticut, where the Congregational Churches
framed the Saybrook platform. His mother's people, the Pardees, came
from Norfork, Connecticut. The Pardees were said to have been
descendants of the French Huguenots. Ebenezer Pardee emigrated to
Marcellus, now known as Skaneateles, Onondaga Co., New York. There he
died in 1811, leaving his wife Ann Pardee, (known for many years as
grandmother Pardee) a widow, with nine sons and two daughters. The
eldest daughter, Sarah Pardee, was there married in 1813, to Phineas
Butler; and there my father, who was the second of seven children, was
born, March 9, 1816.

In the autumn of 1818, Phineas Butler, of whom I shall hereafter speak
as grandfather Butler, went to Wadsworth, Medina Co., Ohio. There a
settlement had been begun three years before in the heavy timber, and
there were only a few small clearings here and there in the woods.

My grandmother came on with her brother the following spring. She had
three small children, but they made the journey in a sled, in bad
weather, cutting their own roads, and camping in the woods at night.
Grandmother Pardee came on later. She was a woman of great energy, and
brought up her sons so well that they all became leading men in the
communities in which they lived. Grandmother Butler was also a capable,
fearless woman, and so calm and firm that it was said no vexation was
ever known to ruffle her temper.