John Topham and Susan Redd Butler

John Topham Butler, the third child of James and Charlotte Topham Butler, was born in 1879 in Parowan, Utah. He moved to the Mormon colonies in Mexico in 1900 and married Susan Elizabeth Redd in 1902. Butler freighted goods, worked in mines and as a laborer, and helped construct a railroad. The couple and two children moved to Douglas, Arizona, in 1906 where Butler was a leader in the LDS branch. He assisted Mormon colonists who left Mexico in 1912 during the Mexican Revolution. Later, the Butlers moved to Lehi, Arizona, which is near Mesa. John farmed in the area and continued his church service. He died in Mesa, Arizona, in 1940.

Susan Elizabeth Redd Butler was born in 1880 in Harmony, Utah, the daughter of Lemuel Hardison Redd, Sr. and Sariah Louisa Chamberlain Redd, Redd's second wife. In 1889, the family moved to Bluff, Utah. Lemuel Hardison Redd, Jr., a son of the first wife, Keziah, had already settled there. The following year, Redd, Sr. decided to move with his second wife to the Mormon colonies in Mexico to escape the U.S. Marshals. His first wife remained in Harmony and passed away in 1895. Susan helped her mother with new babies and attended school in Colonia Juarez. She met John Topham Butler at a dance in 1899 and they soon married. After her husband's death, Susan worked and supported five unmarried children. She was active in politics and enjoyed traveling to historical sites and to visit family. She died in Mesa, Arizona, in 1977.