The ghosts of Butler’s past
The ghost stories told by Bill May in downtown Butler every October are not meant to frighten and terrify, but instead to entertain and enlighten people about the city’s intriguing past.
May has facilitated the Butler Ghost Walk for 11 years. He started the Halloween tradition when he realized that he knew an increasing number of historical tales involving "spooky“ elements.
“The stories are full-length, all true stories of past happenings in Butler with a ghostly element connected to that history,” May said. “People think nothing ever happened here, and then they hear these stories and say, ‘Wow we never knew about this and how interesting Butler is.'”
May kicked off the ghost walks last Friday and holds the last walk of the season Oct. 29. Each event starts at dusk in Diamond Park, and ends there 90 minutes later. Thirteen stories unfold over the 10 stops on the downtown walking tour, with each tale related to a Butler locale.
May said he formulates the stories based on information he has gathered, and from stories that have been passed to him over the years, some from his family members.
“One is a Civil War story; it's called the Phantom Regiment. It's about a group of Civil War soldiers who came home Nov. 4, 1864 — including my great-grandfather — and them walking on Main Street,” May said. “The other one is a murder story about a young girl from Muddy Creek and her cousin who shoots her dead. He became the last person to be executed by hanging in Butler County in 1869.”
May, a retired teacher, has used feedback from his audience members to revamp and rework the tour each year, and he said he feels it’s become a science.
His constant work-shopping of the tour means a person can attend it every year and learn something new each time.
“They tell me they come back because every time I might include something a little different,” May said. “I have had people who have been on this tour every year, some have been on it five or six times.”
Although all of the tour dates sold out this year, May said he plans to host them every October until he runs out of an audience. He said more than 4,000 people have taken the tour.
May said the walk is his way of passing down history to others, in a way similar to how it was passed down to him.
“My family to this day tends to sit around and tell stories, so that's kind of how I was brought up and filled up with Butler's past,“ May said. “One of my goals is to pass on Butler's history to current generations.“
