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By Donna Chasen
LIFE BEGAN plainly enough for Butler Franklin. Born Butler-Brayne Robinson Thornton, she entered this world in a small cabin on the plains of Nebraska on Feb. 28, 1899. As she was being born, a fierce winter blizzard howled and raged outside the walls of her humble new home. This would be the beginning of a life that would encompass three centuries and would be made up of adventures and experiences that are normally found only in novels or epic movies.
Today, Butler Franklin of Fredericksburg would have celebrated her 105th birthday, surrounded by her loving family and friends. The stories that she loved to tell, of the history of her home or of her personal adventures and her life in general, were extraordinary and, if not well-documented, would seem almost beyond belief. She was a true legend.
Sadly, Franklin passed away in December. It was only fitting that those who knew her so well (and some who had met her just once but were forever changed by her influence) and loved her so much, and whose lives were so much the richer for having the good fortune to have met and known her, would gather one last time to honor the woman who had so warmly and effectively touched their lives.
Daughter Bess held this gathering last month at her Spotsylvania County home, whose rooms were overflowing with well-wishers. In this peaceful, elegant setting, memories were shared and stories were told and Franklin's long, prestigious life was celebrated.
Butler Franklin's father was a rancher whose farm floundered with the invention of barbed wire. Like many farmers, his herds had roamed freely across the vast Nebraska prairies. With the introduction of barbed wire, grazing lands were substantially reduced, often with disastrous results.
Butler's grandfather, Capt. Murray Forbes Taylor, was the caretaker of San Simeon, the William Randolph Hearst estate in California. Butler spent her early girlhood days experiencing both the stark simplicity of Nebraska and the elegance of California.
At one point, Capt. Taylor found out that the family's ancestral home in Fredericksburg, Fall Hill, was going to be sold. Seeing this as his chance to regain and keep the wonderful old estate in the family, he told Mrs. Hearst that he wished to go home and purchase Fall Hill. Mrs. Hearst asked him how much it would cost to buy back Fall Hill and he told her it would be $25,000. As his retirement gift, she wrote out a check for that amount and he set off to Fredericksburg to buy back his ancestral seat.
Oddly enough, the first attempt to cash her check met with difficulties. She was eventually (communication methods being much slower than they are today) reached in Europe, where she was given the embarrassing news. Her response was that the problem was nonsense; they should try a different bank, for she was certain that the check would clear without further problems. It did and the rest is history!
At the age of 12, Butler's grandfather died. Fall Hill was willed to her mother with the condition that it pass on to Butler on the occasion of her 30th birthday. The bequest was unique in that this huge estate would go to a young girl rather than directly to her parents or the oldest male heir as was the custom of the times. Mrs. Hearst herself was responsible for this turn of events as she wished that the estate pass eventually to "Little Butler."
Although she would travel far and wide and spend many years abroad, Fall Hill would always be Franklin's center--a place where she would find peace and serenity. In the autumn years of her life, Fall Hill and Butler Franklin became synonymous for decades until her failing health and advancing age forced her to leave her beloved home and move into an assisted-living facility just a few years ago.
Butler spent her adolescent years living on an alfalfa farm in South Africa and in a French convent in Johannesburg. She came to New York City to study journalism and drama. She also ran an international hostel for women.
When she was in her early 20s, her family settled permanently at Fall Hill. In just a few years' time she met and married Lynn Franklin, a young diplomat who had been in the Foreign Service for 12 years. Her next 27 years would again have her circling the globe, living in China, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Italy and Sweden.
Each of Butler's four children entered the world under circumstances just as dramatic as her own entrance into this life. Her firstborn and eldest son, Butler, was born in China. Next came Jenny, born on shipboard as the family traveled from one assignment to another. Younger daughter Bessie Forbes (named for a long line of Bessie Forbes as was her grandmother), was born in Mexico during an uprising. Lastly, younger son Lynn was born in Marseilles, France, while the family was in exile from Spain during its bloody civil war.
Bess, now Bess Turk, remembers how her mother would tell them that it was time for their baths, and that they should be very careful to crawl under the windows to avoid sharpshooters just outside. Life as a child of Butler Franklin was never dull!
Butler and her husband and family finally settled back at Fall Hill after decades of foreign service. Her husband passed away within a few years' time, and Butler began her stay at Fall Hill.
Butler Franklin was a strong spokeswoman for women's rights, and she created quite a name for herself in that field. She strove to see the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. She lobbied strongly with Alice Paul in order to see this important amendment passed. Even in what many would consider their "twilight years," Franklin was alert and vibrant and strongly working for the causes in which she believed. She would remain a force to be reckoned with for many more years.
She was a dedicated proponent of historic preservation She worked to place her beloved Fall Hill under the protection of both the Virginia Historical Landmarks Commission and the National Register of Historic Places. These procedures require a thorough knowledge of the property in question and dedication to see the nominations through to fruition.
Fall Hill was modified at different times throughout its long history, but Franklin did not feel the need to restore her home to its exact original design. Her daughter Bess lovingly recalls that her mother would say, "Never take out the marks of the old days because that's all part of history." Bess goes on to say, "She'd even go to the point of not minding if we made circles on the furniture with glasses because it was all part of history."
Franklin loved to welcome guests to her home, giving each and every one the grand tour with the graciousness of royalty. She basked in the pleasure of sharing her unique surroundings with all who had the chance to visit with her. Her entrance hall featured a long hall table with photocopied maps of her estate, featuring legends and lore associated with Fall Hill and showing the location of earlier structures. There would always be a thick stack of these papers available so guests could take with them a memento of their visit to Fall Hall.
Stories at Franklin's memorial service included how she became concerned about the future of her family's burial ground, now in the back yard of a local office building. She called a friend to share these fears. The friend asked her why she did not contact one of her more well-to-do relatives. In a later conversation she told this same friend that she had indeed contacted her relative, who sent a large check to secure the safe future of the graveyard, and added, "I'm so glad I thought of that."
A close friend who had once lived at Fall Hill, remembered how Franklin was finally convinced that she should sign up for Meals on Wheels to bring hot lunches to her on a daily basis. Franklin, with her severely failing eyesight, would go out before the arrival of her meals and clip flowers or magnolia branches and sit on her front steps, patiently waiting her visitor. She felt that she should greet her visitor with a small token of her appreciation.
Many guests referred to Butler Franklin as "regal" or "elegant" during her memorial service. One photograph was passed around that showed Franklin sitting quietly on her steps with a bouquet of daffodils in her hands, waiting for delivery of her daily meal. Even in such daily occurrences, Franklin was a gracious and great lady who treated all around her with the utmost respect and dignity.
I personally had the great good fortune to meet Franklin when I first came to Fredericksburg some 10 years ago. I wrote her to ask if at some time I might possibly come to visit and see her wonderfully historic home. She answered me by telephone and invited me over that very day. It did not take me very long to arrive at her home. She greeted me and immediately asked where my children were. She said, "Your letter said that you have children. You must go get them and bring them here." I had left them at home, thinking that their youthful enthusiasm would be too much for an older lady and her much older home. But she would have none of that; she insisted that the children be brought for our visit.
So I went and got them and we spent a long pleasant afternoon on the porch of Fall Hill with Franklin relating how, at one point during the Civil War, Gen. Robert E. Lee himself ordered that cannon be aimed at Fall Hill, in order to tear it down to better see the Union troops approaching on the other side of the Rappahannock River. Luckily, the Yankees turned their course and the house was spared.
All the while, as we talked about the history of the site, the children were laughing, running and rolling down the sloping lawns of Franklin's great estate. She reveled in the laughter of children and strove to be around them as often as possible, even inviting us to hold our children's birthday parties at her home.
Butler-Brayne Robinson Thornton Franklin is no longer with us. She is at rest. But her soul and the unique qualities that made her so very special will live on forever in the hearts and memories of her family and friends. She was an extraordinarily special and gracious lady. She was loved and will be missed by all who knew her. Farewell, Butler, and thank you so very much.
