Background
Alban Bernard Butler was born in Owensboro, Kentucky on June 17, 1852. He was married to Luvean Jones Butler. In 1887, Butler
purchased a parcel at 420 acres in the Easterby Rancho subdivision in Fresno County, California. The Easterby Rancho area
is currently located in southeast Fresno, California near the Sunnyside neighborhood. Butler expanded his holdings to 600
acres to grow raisin grapes. According to the Fresno Morning Republican, his expertise quickly made his raisin vineyard known
as one of the largest in the world. The newspaper also noted that the success of Butler Vineyard often led to foreign and
domestic governments visiting the vineyard to understand the raisin business. In 1894, Butler and another raisin farmer William
Forsyth created the Raisin Growers Packing Association of Fresno and went to Washington D.C. to advocate for new tariff laws.
By 1905, Butler sold his vineyard to J. S. Herman, a real estate investor, for $54,000. Following the sale of the vineyard,
Butler invested in real estate when he bought the Bank of Central California building and rental properties in Fresno, however
he moved out of the county. After the sale of his vineyard, Butler started investing in oil in Kern County, California and
in Arizona until his death on July 11, 1924 in Washington D.C.
The owners of the vineyard during 1903-1915 were A. B. Butler and J. S. Herman, however the manager of the estate during that
time frame was Julian J. Miley. The sale of Butler Vineyard from A. B. Butler to J.S. Herman became the subject of a civil
court case in January 1910. Butler contended that he did not give his manager, J. J. Miley, authorization to complete the
sale of the vineyard to J. S. Herman.
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