Researched and written by Deborah J. Larsen for the Rochester Avon Historical Society
December 2013
The Butts Surrey was donated to the Rochester Avon Historical Society by Roger Knapp in 2009. Originally owned by the David Wagner Butts family and used by his daughter, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Butts Casey Case, the surrey was purchased by the Knapp family during an estate auction held at the Butts farm prior to the sale of the property in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
The surrey is a four-seat, light-duty carriage manufactured by the Dunlap Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan. It was built in the decade between 1898 and 1908. Rochester Avon Historical Society is the third owner of the surrey in the vehicle’s more
than one hundred year history.
As a Dunlap vehicle, the Butts Surrey represents and important part of Pontiac’s history and has ties to a company that played an important role in the formation of General Motors. Because the Butts Surrey’s manufacturer’s plate identifies both Dunlap and its early distributor, John G. Wilkinson, it is likely one of the earlier examples of a Dunlap surrey, most likely built between 1898 and 1901, since an exact match to this surrey does not appear in the 1902 Dunlap product catalog.
For more about the Surrey, read our report.
The surrey is on loan to the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm for the public to view and enjoy.