According to Daisy Alice Larson Osborn, daughter of Sarah Estella Chute, this family took to spelling their surname as "Shute", so further research into this family group may require researching Shute family records.

"Hello, just wondered if the Robert Knight who married Helen Margaret Chute in your family tree could be any relation to the Robert Knight who immigrated from the Orkney Islands in Scotland in early 1900? We know he immigrated to Canada - Niagra Falls area. Thanks, Pat."

If anyone knows how to contact this branch of the family, please let us know. Thanks.

"My brother James will graduate from Western Illinois University this coming June with a Bachelor of Arts degree."
Vernon Eugene Chute to George M. Chute, Jr., 4 Dec 1960

In 1966, James was employed as an Illinois State Highway engineer, and lived with his family in Rushville, Illinois.

"My sister Darlene is a Registered Nurse. Her husband George will graduate in June from Western Illinois University with a degree in Education." Vernon Eugene Chute to George M. Chute, Jr., 4 Dec 1960

Gerald Howard Chute in 1966 owned his own Automotive Transmission business in Kokomo, Indiana. According to his brother Vernon, the sons in this family have only middle initials, and no middle names.
Vernon Eugene Chute to George M. Chute, Jr., March, 1966

"Gerald "Jerry" Chute, 73, formerly of Peru, died Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, in Port Charlotte, Fla. He was born in Cooperstown, Ill., on May 3, 1935, the son of James Halsted and Lucile Estes Chute. Jerry married Dorothy Smetzer in Elkhart, on Aug. 31, 1958, and she survives.

An entrepreneur, Jerry owned and operated J & L Transmission in Kokomo for more than 30 years and was a Miami County farmer. Upon retiring and moving to Florida, he discovered his dream occupation, that of delivering RVs throughout the United States. Jerry was a member of Erie United Methodist Church, the Rotunda Elks Lodge and was a U.S. Navy veteran.

Survivors include his wife, Dorothy, Port Charlotte, Fla.; his children, Mark Chute, Indianapolis, Scott Chute, Kokomo, and Cathy Hunter, Fort Wayne; his grandchildren, Christina Hunter, Zach Hunter, Josh Hunter, Levi Chute and Bailey Chute; brothers, Vernon Chute and his wife, Norma, Greenville, Ill., and James Chute, Rushville, Ill.; and a sister, Darlene Lahr and her husband, George, Medora, Ill.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Randall Chute; and a granddaughter, Ashley Chute.

The family will receive friends at Eikenberry-Eddy Funeral Home at 1 p.m. Saturday. A memorial service celebrating the life of Jerry Chute will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Eikenberry-Eddy Funeral Home, 84 W. Main St., Peru, with Pastor Warrell Law officiating. Burial will be in Paw Paw Cemetery after the memorial service.

Memorial donations may be made through the funeral home to Tidewell Hospice."

"Gail has been going to write, but has been kept very busy lately. He is Capt. on one of the two boats and is everywhere from Prince Rupert to Tacoma. They tow the large paper, ore and cement barges so are all over the coast. He has one day off for every two he works, but likes to save them for summer, last year he had 52 days off in July and August. We gave your 1st letter to Gail's Dad & they said they would send on the information you are seeking. Gail's family always refer to him as Gail Edward but on all legal papers, citizenship, bapt. & birth certificates it is Edward Gail. We had a phone call from Charlie Chute on Lulu Island saying he had a letter from you. Gail met him while taking his last degree in the Masonic Lodge. Charlie came out of curiosity to see another Chute. I phoned an old school principal I had some twenty odd years ago by the name of Chute. He is not listed in the telephone directory. He said he had not heard from you but would very much like to. He has been retired for 10 years now and has been in quite poor health, but claims he feels fine now. His name and address are: C.C. (?) Chute, Buchan Hotel, 1906 Haro Street, Vancouver, British Columbia."

According to the family data worksheet submitted by George Melvin Chute dated 10 May 1950, Harry K. Ryan was a public school principal in the Vienna, Ontario, Canada public school system. He also wrote the initials "CPR" next to Harry's name. Assuming this does not mean Harry was versed in life saving techniques should someone have a heart attack, if anyone knows what else that might stand for, please let me know.

Addendum, dated Friday, November 22, 2002: Steve Chute (from British Columbia, so he should know!) answered: The Canadian Pacific Railroad! Of course, the next question would be: now that we know what the initials stood for (thanks, Steve!), why were they written next to his name in the first place? Did the high school pricipal retire and join the CPR? Did he switch jobs mid-career? Did he travel to and from the highschool on the CPR? Was he a railfan whose passion was the CPR? He was run over by a locomotive?

Nothing is known about Christina, other than her name. Being married to the "larger than life" George Roger Chute might have overwhelmed even the best of us - and he has yet to mention her in the letters he has produced.

George Roger, known as Roger (he says to distinguish him from George Albert Chute, also a seaman and a radio operator at the time) reads like the Ernest Hemingway of the Chute family. A wonderful story teller, writer, adventurer, seaman, fisherman and explorer - he is one of the Chute Family's more colorful members. Pancho Barnes (heiress, stunt pilot, barnstormer, racer, script writer, saloon owner, cross country hitchhiker and played by Valerie Bertinelli in the TV movie) explored Mexico astride a burro for six months with him - and got her colorful name from none other than George Roger Chute! An unmailed letter written by her to him was opened after her death.

SS Seattle, At Sea, Mid-Gulf of AAA, 24 OCT 1967, Good Sailing But Cold

Haven't heard from, or of, you since my mother died. How about the new genealogy - finished yet? And where may I obtain a copy of the old one?

Have plowed a lot of brine since last contact with you. Was on the run from New Orleans to Buenos Aires, via way ports, for a while - temporary assignments. Was in a bulk-carrier out of Corpus Christi, hauling bauxite & sugar from Jamaica & Puerto Rico, briefly. Was in a converted LST, lumber from Coos Bay to San Pedro. Was in a Greek-operated "Victory", Oakland-Honolulu-Oakland-St. Nazarre France-New York, quit. Have been "permanent" in this big container-carrier several years, after being in it temporarily.

Three years ago signed aboard beautiful 40-foot aux ketch, at Wilmington, supposedly to go to Cocos, Galapagos, Tuamotus, etc. It was my desire to learn the fine points of small-craft sailing. The owner was "captain"; he had his wife aboard; we were weeks and weeks getting to sea; I had to do a lot of seamanship before the vessel could sail; men at the yacht club confidently predicted woe: "She will never sail; she never will get rigged; you won't go in her because she will never leave the wharf; neither you or anyone else will go in her, because nobody will ever be able to endure that evil woman."

Well, we finally did set sail -- & reached San Diego; spent a week there, locating & stopping a gasoline-leak that effectively converted the ship into a lethal bomb. Had a new sail made (cheaply); it did not fit. When we got to sea I discovered that the "Captain" didn't know anything at all about ships, sailing, anchoring or seamanship. Worse yet, he was a coward. The story of the jams into which he got us would make a tragic comedy -- every day something different - every damn day. He could not learn. Experience taught him nothing. He'd get us into a frightful dilemma, then roust me out of my watch-below, all aghast & his face as long as long as that of a terrorized monkey, & chatter wildly: "Oh, Roger! Do you think you can fix it? Do you think you can fix it? Do you think you can fix it?" time after time.

Well, I must not become involved in detail. Sufficient to say that, in one single night he almost drove us onto the reefs in Banderas Bay (he couldn't stay awake at the wheel), & when I had put the ship about, & beaten back to sea, he gave me a course (at 1230 midnight) to steer; it was nearly the end of all of us. At 230AM on that dark night, with a strong northwest wind blowing, I suddenly saw an oblique black line in the sky ahead of us, but afterwards couldn't see it again. I decided that I was just angry & was seeing things. NO! I really had seen something. A lateen-rigged derelict? Hell, no! There hadn't been a derelict on the west coast of Mexico in 90 years & in all history there had only been one lateen-rigged vessel, and that was the ship that I later was in (1950) when she was 100 years old and rigged as a knock-about Gloucesterman. I peered into the darkness ahead. Suddenly I realized that it was blacker than the night - too black. Sweeping my gaze around from abeam toward the bow I suddenly saw it again - a huge island of black rock, shaped like the cathedral in Barcelona, tall spires of black stone, vertical cliffs with breakers all along, no beach, no shore.

"Captain!", I yelled, "Get up here!" He arrived without his breeches. "Look at that great big black rock right on the course you gave me to steer." He went nuts. He was beside himself. "Why, it can't be there!", he expostulated. "It just can't be there!"

"The hell it can't! There it is!"

"But it just can't be there! It has no right to be there! It isn't on the chart!"

"What are you telling me! The very first Spanish navigator that came up this coast in the early 1600's saw that rock, standing out here, 15 miles from shore, right where he wanted to sail & put it on his chart!"

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"You're the Captain, you know?"

"Oh, we'll go around it," quoth he, indicating to the leaward.

"Not on that side, we don't!", I told him hotly.

"Well, why not?"

"Because sure as Tenessee shooting, there is a reef running from that rock toward the land."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to beat it to the windward of it." (By that time we were right up to it, ramming in its very middle, and the wind was on our starboard quarter.) "Do you think you kin do it, do you think you kin doo it, doo you think you kin dooooo it?" he jabbered.

"Goddamn it, I've got to do it!" And I spun the wheel, putting to helm hard-a-lea; under the heavy press of wind & sail the ship came up nobly, & I held her as high as possible while making any headway at all, & in that way crawled past the foot of that towering monster. When we reached Manzillo I quit.

My 21-months younger brother, Harold Gordon Chute, is practicing law, Smith Tower, Seattle.

Warren G. Chute, of a state-o-Maine maritime family that migrated to Seattle many years ago, is somewhere on the coast of Mexico (to the best of my present knowledge) in his single-handed sailing craft.

George S. Chute, of Mobile, Alabama [he meant "George A."], also a transplanted State-o-Mainer, is a radio officer aboard ship. He used to be in this vessel, but when this ship was moved from Mobile to Puget Sound, he returned home. He is a member of the "Radio Officers Union", as also am I. So as to prevent confusion in handling mail, I have dropped the "George" from my name.

Lionel Chute*, a highly educated man who has been connected with the teaching profession many years, now resides in West Seattle, where his business is that of buying old houses, rebuilding and modernizing them, then selling them. He is wonderfully fortunate in having an American wife, who seems to be happily disposed, & not an almimony-hunter, as are most.

Good going."

SS Seattle - in Port, Seattle Washington, 9 NOV 1967 10P RAIN

Dear George:

We just arrived. End of Voyage 145. Most exceptional trip I've ever made at this time of year: better-than-summertime weather all the way. Furious gales blasted the coast to north & south of us, ripping deckloads from off barges, but we scooted along on a sea that looked like the doldrums. In the run from Anchorage to Kodiak we established a new record - in November!

Well, just give a little time and old Alaska will average out the score. That November blow, in 1920, when I was in the 8800-ton SS "West Jester" was enough to balance several entire years of balmy weather; that when the 4-mast" iron barge "Pirrie" was lost, on Cake Rock, with 19 out of 21 aboard. I've not seen anything to equal it since - not even the 111-M storm where in this ship was a victim, on the night of October 15/16, 1965. I call it the "crab-leg hurricane" because the decks were 2 feet deep in giant spider crab legs (which I couldn't endure see go to waste, so went out and loaded up) & 2 refridgerated vans, containing 20 tons each of frozen cooked crab meat, jumped overboard without even touching the ship. Twelve others parted their lashings and slid about, within the confines of the massive legs and struts of our traveling gantry crane, ramming into each other, tearing open great holes from which the crab meat poured down, no two of them doing the same thing at the same time (because they fouled on the bottom & "stuck" here and there). The spectacle, in the dim, midnight spectral light, with the wind knocking one around, was especially weird, because those vans, lurching about & bobbing up and down, suggested the ludicruous sight of a herd of drunken elephants trying to get on their feet. No official estimate ever was released, insofar as I know, of the total damage, but certainly it attained $200 or $300 thousand. I salvaged two huge feasts of $1.50 a pound crab meat - HAW!

Yes, Grandmother Harriet Chute was Samuel Burton's cousin, so she was a Chute before he married her. Isaac Newton told me that Samuel Burton Chute drove the first team of six oxen -- with wagon -- & Harriet drove the second 3-yoke team and the last wagon. Harriet is supposed to have been a peppery gal, just as ready and able to fight indians as to fight Samuel Burton. I never discerned marked characteristics of belligerance in old Melissa, or Isaac Newton, or Lovenia, or my father, and certainly not in Fred Y. A.A. Smith, eldest son of Melissa & old Josiah Smith (of Maine), made several millions in Florida real estate, & when I visited him, at Clearwater, in 1923, he seemed to me to be an exceptionally well balanced gentleman. Very fine man.

I don't know the difference between a 4th cousin & any other one. Like the western injuns, they are all merely "brothers" to me. Only old Caleb Carter, the cultured Nez Perce, takes trouble to make his meaning patent by saying: "The chief of this river valley was my father's brother - what you call '2nd cousin' -- and brothers cannot marry each other's daughters."

No word from Warren Chute in long time, my last two letters to him were returned from Manzanillo. Perhaps Lionel knows where he is.

"Muchas tank yoo," as the Mexican girl says, for the genealogical sheets. Also for the excellent letter, which says much in a few lines.

My mother died 17 JAN 1955. Shortly before this (she died in the night - supposedly in her sleep) she directed the following adjurement to members of the "Eastern Star":**

"When I have gone, know that I was glad to go. Know that, wherever I am, I am better equipped to cope with that life than I am presently able to cope with this. Do not grieve for me."

**The 'Eastern Star' is the women's auxiliary connected with the Masons. This obviously would mean that George Washington Chute was a Mason.

I took her ashes with me -- still sitting there on the seat beside me where she has ridden 20,000 miles -- to a favorite camping-spot on the Snake River, not far from the long-time-ago Indian village of Nah-Hee-Ah-Pum (it is as near as it can be spelled in English letters), many miles from any paleface cemetery. She desired to be forgotten -- we all are, anyway, eventually -- so I placed an unscripted stone, & -- presently -- the level of the waters of the river was raised and the site disappeared beneath the lake forever."

"My father, Elbert Milton Dorsey (known as Bert), was a very close friend of George Roger Chute and Harold Gordon Chute. Both used only their middle names - Roger and Gordon. I loved these 2 men as a child, and my mother hated those 2 men! They would go rattlesnake hunting, and bring me snakeskins and their rattles, and boy did my Mom have a fit! Roger always wrote letters, using his minimal use of words - "t" meant "the", "tt" meant "that". I have a letter written to my mother by Roger, April 30, 1958, after my father died."

" ... Roger was a unique individual - frighteningly brilliant, could build anything, wandered all over the world like a gypsy, and a friend of everyone he met. Roger and Gordon and their Mom travelled a lot together, which included one trip that was given to me to see the building of the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State, where Roger was working. What a treat that was for a first grader. I do not know when Roger died, but I know that he was quite ill sometime after his letter to my Mom. And again, I don't think he made it back to Walla Walla. I do not have any pictures of either Roger or Gordon, as my mom and dad did not have a camera, nor did either of the Chute boys ever had a camera then. However, when Roger was in Alaska during World War 2, he sent me a picture of a deer that he had coaxed with food to become a friend. I know I have that picture somewhere, but after years of stashing things in various places, I haven't found it yet!"

"During one of Pancho�s many parties at her mansion on the cliffs at Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach (which had its own landing strip so her friends could fly in), she jokingly proposed an impromptu adventure to her friends. �Why don�t we go up to San Pedro and catch the next boat out for South America. Let's visit the Lost City and those pyramids we've all been hearing about. We're going to Machu Picchu!� On a dare, she went up to San Pedro with a group of friends to do exactly that. However, Pancho was the only one who didn�t chicken out at the last minute. Noticing that there were only crewmen on the schooner, she quickly borrowed some clothes from one of her friends who 'chickened out,' and dressed as a man in the hopes of 'blending in.' She then joined the crew of the banana boat. However, once the boat was safely out to sea, a Panamanian flag was hoisted and she then learned that the boat was actually running guns to Mexican revolutionaries. Naturally, she was delighted. Another adventure!

On board she met helmsman, Roger Chute, a Stanford educated fisheries expert, who had also come aboard for some adventure. Roger quickly figured out that the new crew member was definitely female. The ruse exposed, with some slight embarrassment she introduced herself: "I'm Florence Barnes and I just left a bunch of pudknockers back on the dock." When she told him about her desire to see the Lost City of Machu Picchu and the pyramids in South America, he offered a compromise. "How about we jump ship, and I'll take you to see the pyramids in the Yucatan?" So they decided to jump ship when the boat anchored at San Blas, Mexico and they spent the next four months roaming through the revolution-torn interior. At one point on their cross-country journey, Roger Chute was riding a white horse, and Pancho was astride a donkey. She looked up at him and said, �Hey, you look like Don Quixote!� And he looked down and noted, �And you look like Pancho!� She quickly replied, �No you idiot, it�s Sancho, not Pancho. But I like that name, Pancho, and I think I�ll keep it!� And she did. And her days as Florence Lowe Barnes were left behind forever. She was now Pancho Barnes!"

"Warren G. Chute, of a state-o-Maine maritime family that migrated to Seattle many years ago, is somewhere on the coast of Mexico (to the best of my present knowledge) in his single-handed sailing craft."

"The only truly fierce Chute I have known was Ernest, elder son of Isaac Newton. There was a man's man for you. He was born 100 years too late -- or 300. A century ago, he would have been the all time top cavalry commander, because battle was his instinct, & he was a ferocious antagonist, whether with sabre, revolver, rifle or fists. Harsh and unpopular, he never could be elected to public office (although he was top Mason & also captain of local militia), but when the sheriff was confronted with an insane farmer, fortified in his barn with an aresenal of weapons, & when this mad individual already had killed half a dozen people, it was then that the sheriff had recourse to Ernest Chute, whom he deputized, & Ernest went out there, addressed the man in loud and positive tones, walked right up to the barn & into it, & emerged with the quailing maniac not having fired a shot. His power over enraged bulls & other animals was just as great. But not over his little wife -- she had a special advantage over him, & feared him not at all!"

GMC had this individual recorded as "Ervin Alfred Chute", official Minnesota State records list him as "Ervin Albert Chute". Official records will be used in the recording of his name, until confirmation is found to the contrary. He is listed under both full names in the Chute index.

Until 1926, Lloyd Elmore Chute created and ran the L.E. Chute Company, a direct mail advertising and letter service company located at 513 West Fourth Street, in Davenport, Iowa. An inquiry to this address in 1951 resulted in the following response from the company (still under the name "L.E. Chute Company"):

"I have met Mr. Lloyd E. Chute a number of times and have written him a few times. He had severed connections with the Company several years ago - in fact, back in 1926. Since that time, the Company has been owned by Mr. R.A. Moritz of Drewrys Limited U.S.A., Inc., South Bend, Indiana.

The last time I wrote Mr. Chute was in January of this year to this address:

1864 Arcadia Avenue
San Gabriel, California

Perhaps Mr. Moritz could fill in as to relatives, etc.

Don't hesitate to write to Mr. Moritz or myself if we can be of further assistance."

When I lived in Chicago there was a Chute in the chocolate business in the office building in which I was located. He came from Boston to Chciago. I think we figured we were sixth cousins. Also, the director of the Shedd Aquarium, in Chicago, Walter Chute, came from New England to Chicago. He is about a fourth cousin. Incidentally, he is an authority on marine life, and quoted extensively in scientific publications. His biography appears in America's Who's Who. If you read the Saturday Evening Post, you will occasionally see stories by B.J. Chute and also M.E. Chute. Both happen to be sisters from Minnesota, living in New York. My father knew all of the Minnesota Chutes.

My father's name was John B., and his father's name was Sidney, and in turn his father's name was Andrew. Our copy of the Chute Genealogy is not available right now as I sent it out to my sister in Southern California. I will be going out there the latter part of December and expect to bring it back with me. I go out west every winter to visit my mother, who lives with my sister and brother-in-law. Mother will be 82 December 19th, so I spend her birthday and holidays each year with her. My father passed away in 1930.

There are three of us children - myself, sister Fern, in California, and a brother Delbert I., in Chicago. I am the oldest, will be 59 in February. Sis is two years younger, Delbert six years younger. He is a professional musician and voice teacher and located in the Kimball Building, Chicago. Sis has four children, all married, two boys and two girls. My brother got married for the first time last Easter Sunday. I was married for a number of years and then divorced. May still get married again some day.

For many years I lived in Davenpot, Iowa, where I was in the advertising business. Then I sold my business there and moved to Chicago, where I operated an advertising agency specializing in financial and real estate advertising. Because of serious eye trouble I had to get out of the advertising business, so came down here to Hamilton, where I have a small summer resort. During the summer it is pretty strenuous but interesting and healthy as I am outside a good part of the time. After the season closes, which is around September 1st, I start getting ready for the next year. I have a very nice home here, eleven summer cottages, a beach, pavilion building, sandwich shop and refreshment stand and a filling station. I do not operate the station but have it under long term lease to Sinclair Refining Co. So, you can readily see I have plenty to do to keep things up and direct the help.

Going back to relatives, it is very interesting to discover you have uncles you knew nothing about. I have quite a number of uncles on my father's side, or rather did have, that I never met. I think all of Father's sisters and brothers have died. On my mother's side, though, I still have an aunt, no beg pardon, two aunts, in Ontario and one uncle in Idaho. At the same time I have countless first cousins scattered from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada.

I have always been rather interested in the Chute genealogy. It is very interesting. When I was a small boy, I can well remember having met the William Chute who compiled the present only available Chute Genealogy. He used to come and stay months at a time with my folks. Whole living persons are available for the information, someone should compile a new and up-to-date book on the family. My great uncle William Chute did a very good job and his book is complete to about 1890. I believe he died in this state, Quincy, Illinois, at the Soldier's and Sailor's Home, sometime around 1905.

I enjoyed your letter and hope to hear from you again. I will be here in Hamilton until the latter part of November. I usually return here in the spring about the tenth of March. If at any time you should happen to be in this vicinity, please be assured that the latch string is always out.

"Sometime within the next ten days or so I will send you the information you have requested concerning our branch of the Chute Family. I am interested in your effort to bring the family genealogy up to date, as it was only through the existance of this genealogy that I, within the past year along with my sister and brother, was able to secure a birth certificate. So, I have our great uncle William to thank for this. Incidentally, when I was a small boy, Uncle William used to visit us. I remember him quite well. It seems to me he came out to South Dakota on one occasion and stayed quite a number of months.

Now about the genealogy. Of the Sidney Chute branch, have you succeeded in contacting any of the Herb Chute boys living around Daughin [sic], Man? I think it is spelled that way, but I may be wrong. Did you contact Freeman Chute when in Chicago. If not, I have the address of his son. He is the oldest son of Arthur Chute, my uncle. in Southern Illinois there is a Baptist preacher who is, I believe, the son of one of my father's half brothers. Also, in Chicago there are two Chutes from the Boston group - one Walter Chute is director of the famous Shedd Aquarium. The other used to have an office on N. Wells Street and lived in Evanston.

I wonder if you know that you have two fine libraries available in Detroit that would be of immense help in tracing the family. The Bell telephone company have directory libraries located in most large cities with telephone directories from almost every city and town in the U.S. Also, at R.L. Polk Co., in Detroit, you will find a very complete set of directories. In both cases these libraries are open to the public for reference purposes. In this way, you can secure a sizeable mailing list of Chutes living in all parts of the country. There are several listed in telephone books here in L.A. county that I have never heard of.

When you have all of your your data assembled I assume you intend to add it to the 1894 genealogy and have the whole thing printed. When you get to this point, let me suggest that you investigate the economical photo-offset method of printing. If you can find one located in a small town, you can effect farther economies.

Please be assured I will be very happy to assist you in any way possible in this effort. I don't believe the younger generation appreciate right now the value of this sort of thing, but we know that it is highly desirable to keep up a valid documentary record of the family."

Died in World War II, exact date unknown.

"WORLD WAR II BROTHERS"

This would have been an address in the 1940's.

Yours of February 17 is at hand, and I certainly wish to cooperate with you in securing additional information in regard to "them Chutes".

As it is, I am leaving for Florida for a few weeks and ask your indulgence to the extent that I be permitted to give you some information which will be available upon my return.

FRED B. CHUTE. The young son of the late Dr. Samuel and Helen E. A. (Day) Chute, Fred B. Chute, has for nearly twenty years been associated with his brother Louis P. Chute in the practice of law and in the management of the extensive interests acquired by his father, whose achievements as a Minneapolis pioneer, and activity in real estate development and city upbuilding, have been recited in preceding paragraphs.

Fred B. Chute was born at Minneapolis December 21, 1872. His early education was received under a private tutor and in the local schools, and at the age of twelve years he was sent to the sub-prepartory department of the Notre Dame University in Indiana and continued there as a student until graduating from the academic department with the degree Bachelor of Letters in 1892, and afterwards for one year in the law department. In September, 1893, Mr. Chute enteted the law department of the University of Minnesota, and was graduated LL. B. in June, 1895. The following June he received the degree Master of Laws, and in the fall of 1896 re-entered the university with the intention of continuing his studies with the degree Doctor of Civil Laws as his object. However, owing to the accumulation of responsibilities due to his father's increasing age, it became necessary for him to discontinue his studies and devote himself entirely to business and his profession. Both brothers are officers and directors in the companies conducting the interests of the original Chute Brothers, which was established nearly fifty years ago, and of the Chute Brothers Company and the Chute Realty Company. In recent years they have conducted a number of building operations in the business center of East Minneapolis, and large blocks of valuable and prominent real estate are controlled and managed through the offices of the Chute Realty Company.

Mr. Fred B. Chute has been active in public affairs, and from 1904 to February 1910, served as a member of the board of education of Minneapolis, until the pressure of private business obliged him to resign. He is a member of the Catholic Church, and belongs to the Minneapolis Club, the Minneapolis Athletic Club, the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association, the University Club, the Minnikahda Club, the St. Anthony Commercial Club, the Minnetonka Yacht Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Minneapolis Automobile Club, the Society of Fine Arts, and the State Bar Association.

Mr. Chute was married May 26, 1909, to Miss Elizabeth McKennan Hawley, daughter of Dr. Augustin B. and Harriet (Blackstock) Hawley.

Source: Minnesota History and Biography, 1915. Castle, Henry A. Minnesota: Its Story and Biography. Vols. I-III. Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing, 1915.

FREDERICK BUTTERFIELD CHUTE. Frederick Butterfield Chute, vice president of the Chute Realty Company and a native son of Minneapolis, was born December 21, 1872, a son of Dr. Samuel Hewes and Helen E. A. (Day) Chute, who are mentioned at length on another page of this work.

Under private tutorship and in private schools Frederick B. Chute pursued his early education and afterward attended the Notre Dame University of Indiana, from which he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He later spent a year in study in the law department of the Notre Dame University and then returned to Minneapolis, where he became a law student in the University of Minnesota, completing his postgraduate work in 1896 and receiving the LL. M. degree.

He had already begun to practice prior to that date but more and more his attention was absorbed by the real estate business of the Chute Realty Company, of which he and his brother, Louis P. Chute, were incorporators. The business had been established many years before by his father and uncle, being carried on originally under the firm style of Chute Brothers. Since the incorporation Frederick B. Chute has given his attention mainly to his activity in the real estate field and this firm has promoted some of the largest transactions in realty in the city.

On the 26th of May, 1909, F. B. Chute was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth McKennan Hawley, who was born in Red Wing, Minnesota, a daughter of Dr. Augustine B. Hawley of that city, and they have two children: Margaret M. and Frederick H. Mr. Chute is a Catholic in religious faith and has membership with the Knights of Columbus. He was at one time a member of the Minnesota National Guard and served with the rank of first lieutenant in one of the Minneapolis com�panies for two years. He was also a member of the school board for five years and was active in promoting some of the most desirable and highly commendable im�provements in the school system. He was likewise helpful in promoting war activities during the period of world-wide conflict. His patriotism has always been an outstanding feature in his career and in this he follows in the footsteps of his ancestors who fought for American independence, so that Mr. Chute is now a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He also belongs to the St. Anthony Commercial Club and is a member of the Minneapolis, Minikahda and Athletic clubs. He represents one of the oldest, best known and most prominent families in Minneapolis and throughout his life has here resided, being closely asso�ciated with the development and upbuilding of the city and in hearty sympathy with all organized efforts for promoting her growth and progress.

Source: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; Chicago-Minneapolis, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical Vol III, pg 224-225.

FREDERICK BUTTERFIELD CHUTE. Among those who have dignified and adorned the real estate business and kept it active and fruitful, Fred B. Chute, who operates principally on the East Side, is entitled to a high rank. His career in his dual activity as a practicing lawyer and dealer in real property is all the more gratifying to the city in which he operates from the fact that he is a product of it and has passed his life to the present time (1914) almost continuously within its limits.

Mr. Chute was born in Minneapolis on December 21, 1872. He iis a son of Dr. Samuel H. and Helen E. A. (Day) Chute, the former a native of Columbus, Ohio, and the latter of the province of Ontario, Canada. A complete record of the life of Dr. Samuel A. Chute will be found in this volume. Fred B. Chute grew to manhood in Minneapolis, and here he obtained his preparatory education from tutors and in private schools. In 1885 he entered the preparatory department of Notre Dame University, Indiana, and from that institution he was graduated in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Letters. He then p passed one year in the law department of the same university, but deciding to continue his law studies at home, he returned to Minneapolis and entered the law department of the University of Minnesota. At the completion of his post-graduate work in 1896 he received the degree of LL. M. He had already begun practicing, however, and was making progress in his professional career. But a little later he was obliged to give more attention to the business of the Chute Realty Company, of which he was one of the incorporators, his brother, Louis P. Chute, being another. Since that time, although he has practiced law independently to some extent, his energies have been occupied mainly in the real estate business, the several firms with which he is connected having been agents in the consummation of some of the largest transactions in realty which have taken place in the city within his experience in the business.

Both sides of the house are of English descent, the Chute family having been founded in this country by Lionel Chute, who emigrated from his native land to the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1636. The mother's family was related to Aaron Burr, and several members of it were prominent on the American side in the Revolutionary war.

Mr. Chute was married on May 26, 1909, to Miss Elizabeth McKennan Hawley, a native of Red Wing, this state, and a daughter of Dr. A. D. Hawley of that city. Two children have blessed and brightened the family circle, a daughter named Margaret M. and a son named Frederick H. He and his brother Louis are leaders in promoting the progress of the city on the eastern side of the river, but take a warm interest in all parts of it.

Source: Little Sketches of Big Folks, R.L. Polk & Co., St. Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth. Edition: Minnesota, 1907, page 77

Just a line in answer to your most interesting letter I received from you and I am more than glad to be able to give my help in tracing the Chute generation back, so I hope this is what you have been looking for. Well, I was away over to my old home town for the weekend. It snowed awful hard coming back, hard driving. I have a 1940 Ford, not much, but it takes us there and brings back. Well, I remain,

"Emigrated at age four to Los Angeles. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps upon graduation from Cal State Fullerton in 1980. Served for the past seventeen and a half years as a Marine attack helicopter pilot. Made five oversees shipboard carrier deployments - three to the Western Pacific and two to the Persian Gulf, each six months or more in duration. When not assigned overseas, based out of Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California. Designated as the Attack Helicopter Division Head at the prestigious Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron in Arizona. Flew several combat missions during the 87-88 Operation Earnest Will and 91 Operation Desert Storm. Graduated from the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College in 95. Recently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and currently functioning as the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center Special Operations Team Chief operating from San Antonio, Texas. Intend to return to the cockpit next summer as a squadron commander.

Married to the former Karen Lee Chute of Orange, California -- having just celebrated our twentieth anniversary. We have two beautiful children -- Kyle, age eleven and Tara, age ten. Kyle is an impressive midfielder and has taken after his grandfather Paddy (Lefter) Gough of Waterford soccer fame. Tara is a level four gymnast and destined for Olympic Gold (I'm a very proud father). Both children are exceptional students, routinely receiveing straight A's on their report cards. My lovely wife Karen is a nurse working for Health Texas and a former U.S. National Champion Figure Skater. I have lived in Southern California, Arizona, Virginia, Florida, Alabama, and Texas. I've sailed completely around the world once and been to such interesting places as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Spain, England, Panama, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Canada, Mexico and a few other less glamorous places not worth mentioning. I enjoy reading, soccer, just took up golf, coaching youth soccer, and weight lifting - which I do on a daily basis. I played American football in high school 233 ranked high school football team in the U.S. in 1974 and college. I competed in track and field in high school and wrestled in college. I have over 3100 flight hours in both fixed wing and attack helicopters, with almost 900 carrier landings and close to 100 combat flight hours. My military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, three Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and the Combat Action Ribbon in addition to numerous unit and Service related decorations and awards."

"I am sorry that I have been so long in sending the names in. I have not got them all yet but will send what I have and will send the rest later.

Frank just died very sudden after Xmas with heart trouble, he has had good health. So that kind of upset everything, they did not have any children.

It will be nice to have them all down, will know just where all the Chutes are. We don't know much about the Chute that is down in Ontario, I have not been down there. The rest will be coming soon."

Emma R. Baumberger Chute is definitely one of the more feisty, opinionated - some might say 'prickly' - correspondents I've transcribed, and it's fairly easy to see where George Roger Chute came by his larger than life personality; one would almost have to be, to have been raised by a woman like Emma. George Washington Chute as well seemed somewhat strong-willed and a bit eccentric, even without knowing much about him - this is a man who took a liking to the strong personality of the nation's first president and repudiated his birth name without a backward glance. Emma Chute, a teacher, became something of an activist, organizing the Retired Teachers Association in Walla Walla, lunched with politicians and lawyers, sitting on boards of directors, holding passionate political opinions she was unafraid to share. Knowing my grandfather, he most likely did not get drawn into any political discussions with her; he was one of those men who was raised to believe that one's political persuasions - like religious ones - ought to remain personal, so as to avoid being drawn into unpleasant arguments. Still, his replies to her were not part of her file.

According to her son Roger, her last wish was to be forgotten - a last wish which, I'll admit, I have rudely ignored by transcribing a few of her entertaining letters to my grandfather and launching her colorful personality into permanency on the internet. Sorry, Emma. She seems the sort of woman who would have no qualms about returning to complain about her last wishes being ignored; if you next hear I'm on the run from a poltergeist, you'll know who it is.

In the "Chute Genealogies", you will find my husband's name recorded as William Edward, which was the name his mother gave him. But when he began going to school and learned about George Washington, he served notice on all and sundry that he wished to be known by that name, and never again would he respond to any person who called him by the old name.

You will find his father in the book -- Samuel Burton Chute and his mother Harriet. I have a copy of the book to which you refer -- my name is in the index only, I believe.

My husband took his family to Yakima, Washington in 1900. Washington has been our home ever since.

He bought a large tract of land in the Yakima Valley and improved it. It remained in our family until '47 and then my sons sold it. They are not farmers. Gordon studied law and practiced the same for a number of years in Seattle, but has now abandoned the profession. Roger is a writer. He travels considerably, collecting material. He has made numerous expeditions into very remote sections of Mexico. He speaks Spanish fluently and understands the Mexicans.

Last year, late in August, he and I left Walla Walla, going through California, New Mexico, Arizona, eastward to Florida, on the Havanna via Key West back through the deep south and into Mexico. Went where "tourists" do not go and stayed five months before returning to Walla Walla.

We have planned, tentatively, to make another trip through Canada eastward to Nova Scotia and thence south through New England and onto the place where I was born in Pennsylvania. This may not materialize -- no one can plan with certainty about anything now.

I might add for your information that I am a Republican politically, and consider the present administration a disgrace morally and a loss economically. I think F. D. R. was one of the most evil of men who ever came into public life and that his share of the present debacle is great indeed. Maybe YOU are a Democrat?*

I am a little surprised to find, as per your letter, that there is an Emma Chute in Spokane. I have never heard of her. There was a William Chute in Pasco at one time. Both he and his wife have died. There are also some Chutes in the Bend, Oregon area. I do not know them, but met one of them some years ago while attending the Summer Session at Oregon State College.

I wish you success in your present activity and trust that you will derive much pleasure from it.

This, tho rather late, is an acknowledgement of yours of April 8.

In the beginning I wish to call your attention to the fact that there is no William connected with my husband�s; as I wrote you before he named himself and utterly repudiated the William he had been given. He named himself GEORGE WASHINGTON. His sister Lovenia, whom you mention, was a teacher, having taught in the rural schools of Faribault County, Minnesota. The brother, Isaac Newton, whom you also mention, lived in Fairmount, Minnesota. He had two sons, the older Ernest, and the younger, VERY MUCH younger, was Fred. If there is a numerous progeny it must come from Fred, as Ernest, I believe, had only two children, Isaac Newton¹ the second, and a daughter, whose name I do not know; but believe it to have been Florence. Of Fred�s children, if he had any, I know nothing.

Lovenia married Julian McLean from Glendive, Mont., at the time of the marriage, but later from Hollywood, where she died. I do not know the date. They went to Hollywood before it became the famous movie colony�s abode.

I WAS a teacher. I was graduated from a Pennsylvania Institution, The �Keystone�. I came to Minnesota to teach in Blue Earth, where my brother was Superintendent. Later I came to Vancouver, Washington and taught in the Central Building in that city. I finished teaching here, in Walla Walla, Wash. I was on the Board of Directors of the State Educational Assoc for a number of years. Also served on the STATE executive board of the Class room teachers. I was one of the organizers of the RTA Association and until this year have attended the annual convention as a delegate.

I enjoyed my professional work, which was varied in kind and grade. I taught the first two years after graduation in Penn. Once in a community where everyone was employed by tobacco manufacturing companies. Once in the anthracite coal regions � Schuylkill and Carbon counties. One year, before my graduation, I was in an iron manufacturing community. All this before UNIONS were the order of the day. I think I know a good deal about the laboring man miner, iron worker, etc.

I am following your letter � my son Roger was married to Christina Burt. I do not know the date, strange as that may seem. Gordon has never been married. I am mailing to you several papers containing items regarding Roger. They are the only copies I have, and as I intend them for another use I will appreciate it if you will return them to me.

You speak of my age � I�ll be 83 in August. I am not �on the shelf�. I drive my own car EVERY DAY and engage in various public activities. I am especially interested in politics but NOW have no choice between the Republican candidates. I think the Democratic Party in general and Roosevelt and Truman in particular have so nearly wrecked this country that it requires a man of courage to want to assume the responsibility of the Presidency.

Not long ago I was attending a luncheon forum meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. Seated at the same table were one of the State Senators and an attorney from Walla Walla. The latter with BEAMING countenance said to me, �I suppose you are for TAFT.� �I am for no one,� I replied. With that he exploded into a harangue about civic duty, the Constitution, non-voters, etc. That was the FIRST time I had ever been accused of not enough politics; but I have several times been reprimanded for too much. After the meeting had adjourned � met another of the attorneys here � he handed me an IKE button. I put it on and then said � �If someone forces me off the road and into a ditch, thereby ruining my car I don�t care WHO the chauffeur is who drives the wrecker which comes to take away the debris.� He said, �I think you have something there.�

I do intend to hear MacArthur make his keynote speech.

I have followed your letter down the page and think I have covered it.

"My mother died 17 JAN 1955. Shortly before this (she died in the night - supposedly in her sleep) she directed the following adjurement to members of the "Eastern Star":**

"When I have gone, know that I was glad to go. Know that, wherever I am, I am better equipped to cope with that life than I am presently able to cope with this. Do not grieve for me."

**The 'Eastern Star' is the women's auxiliary connected with the Masons. This obviously would mean that George Washington Chute was a Mason.

I took her ashes with me -- still sitting there on the seat beside me where she has ridden 20,000 miles -- to a favorite camping-spot on the Snake River, not far from the long-time-ago Indian village of Nah-Hee-Ah-Pum (it is as near as it can be spelled in English letters), many miles from any paleface cemetery. She desired to be forgotten -- we all are, anyway, eventually -- so I placed an unscripted stone, & -- presently -- the level of the waters of the river was raised and the site disappeared beneath the lake forever."

Christopher Chute is a full-time F-15 fighter jet crew chief with the Massachusetts Air Guard at Otis ANGB. He has been active on assignments in the Middle East, and his unit was also activated after the attack on September 11th. His fighter jet - the one whose airworthiness is his responsibility - is the "War Pig". He is attached to the 102nd Figher Wing - their return to Otis Air Force base following a tour of duty in Saudi Arabia is described below.

OTIS AIR BASE - While he has been a pilot with the 102nd Fighter Wing for more than a decade, Doug Ray never before had to take flight knowing he could be the target of enemy aircraft. But as the Sandwich resident embarked on his first flight as part of a local Air National Guard deployment to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, that fear was very much on his mind. In fact, Ray, a 42-year-old father of two, was flying an F-15 during a support flight when another American pilot was fired upon by enemy fliers a scant 40 miles away.

Across the Middle East, tensions are indeed high.

For members of the U.S. military, that was made tragically clear last month in Yemen when a bomb ripped through the USS Cole, killing 17 American sailors. Security measures were tight as members of the Cape's 102nd Fighter Wing spent two weeks, including the Thanksgiving holiday, in Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Southern Watch. During the deployment, there were no chances to leave Prince Sultan Air Base, a desert base in a desolate part of Saudi Arabia, some 400 miles from the Iraqi border. Local pilots performed their missions knowing the stakes could not be much higher - any miscue in the tense "no-fly" zone could create an international incident.

It was with a collective sigh of relief that more than 230 pilots and mechanics from the 102nd returned to the calm of the Cape yesterday. From a hangar at the edge of the Otis Air National Guard Base airfield, dozens of spouses, children and parents waved American flags and colorful signs, and hollered as their loved ones stepped off the plane.

Ray was greeted by his wife, Laurie, 17-year-old daughter Kelly and 11-year-old son Austin. Sure, he missed the feasting and football of Thanksgiving, but he was glad he went, he said.

"A lot of guys never get a chance to go and perform their mission," said Ray, who works full time as a pilot for Delta Air Lines. "I got a chance to do it, and it's a good thing to do." Over the last several weeks, more than 380 members of the 102nd were deployed overseas - to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, France, Italy and Germany - in support of ongoing efforts to monitor and control airspace in the "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq.

The United Nations first imposed two "no-fly" zones over Iraq in 1991 after the Gulf War to prevent Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from using his air force against Kurdish rebels in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south. The "no-fly" zones are now imposed by the United States and Great Britain. For the 102nd Fighter Wing, Thanksgiving dinner arrived in the form of a traditional American cookout on an Saudi airfield lawn. The only white meat was chicken sandwiches, the only dark meat was hamburgers. But every member was allowed to contact their family, said Lt. Col. Donald Quenneville, the commander of the 102nd who spent the last six days with his unit.

While mechanic Christopher Chute was not able to spend Thanksgiving with his wife and three children, a hot turkey was waiting for him in the oven at his Osterville home yesterday. After two weeks of rice dishes, work shifts and boredom, Chute said he was longing for the comforts of home. While the Saudi Arabian base wasn't terribly hot, it wasn't terribly interesting, either.

"We may as well have been in a desert in New Mexico," he said as he waited for his luggage yesterday. Things weren't much better at home, his wife said. Without her husband, said Valerie Chute, life became a juggling act. It was especially difficult since the couple typically works opposite hours so they can take care of the children.

And the children noticed. For 3-year-old Macayla, being without her father was difficult. "He called once and left a message on the answering machine, and she's been playing it back for two weeks," her mother said yesterday. For two tense weeks, Valerie Chute was just as concerned. "It's not exactly where we wanted him to be," she said. "But he had to do his thing."

Verne Chute was a writer of stories and books with a western theme, a list of which is bring compiled. As evidenced by the letter below, he also used the name Dustin C. Scott.

Sorry for the delay in answering your fine letter. But now I'm able to fill out the questionnaire. I've heard from my mother, who lives in San Diego.

No, I've never seen the "Chute Family in America", but I imagine it is interesting.

With the help of my mother I've filled in what I could. But we haven't seen any other Chutes for years. I'm sorry that I can't help you more than that.

By the way, if it'll help, I also write under the name of Dustin C. Scott and have two juvenile books with Alfred Knopf: "Mojave Joe" and "The Return of Mojave Joe". Coyote stories.

No, we can't use any of your 5-degree weather. It's been getting down to 35 or 40 here, and that's cold enough for us. But the sun always shines and that helps.

The best of luck to you and your book, and give the other Chutes my regards.

Well, we are back home (15th) already from a fast trip to Nova Scotia. We visited Max, a cousin and his nice wife in the house where my father Harris Oberlin Chute, was born. Max was born there, too.

The farm is very nice - apples, berries and other fruit. Also went to several historical museums. We saw a lot of Chutes. The people and the country are very nice, the land a sea of different greens. Hundreds of two-story white houses.

[Note: "Max" may have been the son of James Perry Chute, but at this point, it is unclear who he was.]

Just received your July 10 letter, so I'll try to complete the cycle by hoping this will reach you at Max's home.

We also received your July 15 letter, and we're so glad that the information we sent you last October has helped you get in touch with Max, and that you now will be able to to visit the old family farm. Hope you have a fine visit in the Berwick area. Wish we could join you there, but I guess our travel days are past. We are in good health, but impaired vision, so we stay in familiar regions. We recall with pleasure our two visits to Nova Scotia 10 to 15 years ago.

Thanks for the info, about the baronet George Chute listed in the heraldry book. Yes, he is listed at the center of page 10 of the 1894 book, "Chute Family in America", by Wm E. Chute, where it states: "Sir George Chute, son of George, b. 1663, created a Baronet in 1684; d. s.p. Feb 4, 1721, and devised his estate to Edward Austen, Esq., the Chute title being extinct." So there are no Chutes who descended from this Baronet.

Very sorry to hear of the passing of your mother Wilmoth. She lived a full life, at 104! My mother went at 94.

Surely hope Max is feeling much better now, and you have a good visit together. Please give Max our best wishes, and thanks for his help to us in his letters seven years ago. Thanks for your letters which are very interesting.

Hope you have pleasant holidays, and will drop us a line along the way.