Nathan Taylor Butler..A little boy gone too soon..

Nathan Taylor Butler was the third son and the fifth child of Tom and Lydia Butler. He was born at home May 10,1918.

When he got sick he wasn't allowed to go outside and play, so he watched what he could out the front window. Papa never let anyone touch his pocket knife, but when Nathan was feeling unusually bad Papa let him hold it and turn it over in his hand and look at it. Uncle Mac told me that he died in Papa Butler's arms Feb.5,1927. He was 8yrs and 9 months old. I found a copy of his death certificate. He died of Endocarditis...infection of the heart valves or lining around the heart. Today this can be treated with antibiotics.

To outlive your children is a special pain that I can not even imagine. Mama Butler always kept a large picture of her little boy Nathan in a concave black oval frame above their bed. I looked at it every time I went to their house and wondered if he would have looked like my daddy if he had grown up.