Born at Adair County, Kentucky, and was a grandson of John Butler one of the most noted of Kentucky’s Indian scouts. In company with some relatives of his he came to Iowa from Illinois in 1836, but too late to raise any corn for subsistence and in consequence was compelled at the coming on of winter to return to his father’s home in Illinois. A man of Mr. Butler’s character could not but be well known in a pioneer community and this was perhaps his only recommendation to his fellow citizens in selecting him as a delegate to the 1844 Constitutional Convention. He was not a public speaker even to the extent of being a debater in the debating societies that were so common in the early history of the county. Mr. Butler married Miss Violet Kirkpatrick in Missouri in 1857. He died December 16, 1894 in Atlanta, Macon County, Missouri