Allan Churchill Butler

Allan Churchill Butler (?-August 18, 2007 and was captain of their ski team as well as a graduate of John Hopkins School of International Affairs and the University of Geneva. He had a varied career as a publisher, banker, land developer and yachtsman.
Early life and education
Born in Louisburg Square in Boston, he was descended from Benjamin Franklin Butler, U.S. Attorney general in the Andrew Jackson administration. His grandfather was the American writer Winston Churchill, best selling author at the turn of the 20th century. His father was Allan Macy Butler, chief of pediatrics at the Massachusetts General Hospital, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an organizer of White Cross, one of the nation's first health maintenance organizations.
He was married to Shirley Oakes the daughter of Sir Harry Oakes, a successful miner who was murdered in the Bahamas in July 1943.
Career
Allan Butler and Jim Farley founded the Valley News in 1951 and Mr Butler was its publisher until he sold it 1957. According to 50 Years of the Valley News, published in 2002, Mr. Butler and Mr. Farley purchased the Landmark, an old White River Junction weekly newspaper, used its subscription list as the foundation for their new daily on Route 10 in West Lebanon and served an initial trial readership of 2700. Allan Butler provided most of the $230,000 start up money.
After selling the Valley News he became the first European representative of the First National Bank of Boston in 1958 and the financial vice president of Fairbanks-Morse in 1960. In 1961 he moved to the Bahamas where he founded Butlers Bank Trust Co. and General Bahamian Companies Ltd. He also served as president of the Nassau Guardian and was Honorary Consul of the Netherlands to the Bahamas.
Allan Butler's land development efforts included a project on Martha's Vineyard breaking the Tashmoo Farm into 21 home sites.
After moving to Pine Plains N.Y. he and his partners formed the Shekomeko Village Inc. bought in Duchess County and developed it while preserving the Shekomeko village at its center as well as retaining the natural landscape.
Yachtsman
As a yachtsman he owned trimarans designed by Richard Newick including Moxie in which Phil Weld sailed to victory in the 1980 OSTAR (Observer Single Handed Transatlantic Yacht Race). He then had Newick design Holsten Ocean Surfer, a forty foot trimaran that was the first American boat to finish in the 1988 OSTAR.
Death and legacy
He died in Portland, Maine aged 81 in 2007.
His wife, Susan Butler , is a successful writer whose books include East to the Dawn which was made into the 2009 film Amelia starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.
 
< Prev   Next >