Samuel Butler (politician)

Butler was born in Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, to farmer-parents James and Mary Butler.{{Cite news |date=1891-02-02 |title=Death of Ex-Treasurer Butler |pages=1 |work=Harrisburg Daily Independent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113030210/death-of-ex-treasurer-butler/ |access-date=2022-11-14}} He attended the local public school and went on to attend Unionville Academy in neighboring East Marlborough Township, where he studied under Jonathan Grause, a well-known teacher who had instructed Bayard Taylor and other local luminaries. After graduation, he spent eight years teaching school in Chester as well as Berks and Butler counties. In 1849, he returned home to Upper Uwchlan, married, and settled down on the family farm, where he remained for the rest of his life save for his service in Harrisburg. He served as a member of the local school board until 1876 and Chester County's director of the poor from 1865 to 1871.{{Cite news |date=1882-02-14 |title=Hon. Samuel Butler: A Good Subject for Governance |pages=1 |work=The Times Leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113033419/hon-samuel-butler-a-good-subject-for/ |access-date=2022-11-14}} He served as a member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Downingtown, vice president of the Chester County Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and president of the Farmers' National Bank of West Chester.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/philadelphiatime00phil |title=West Chester, Pennsylvania: The Most Important Suburb of Philadelphia |publisher=Pennsylvania Board of Trade |year=1888 |location=West Chester, PA |pages=74, 78 |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=1891-02-02 |title=Samuel Butler Dead - The Ex-State Treasurer Passes Away After Much Suffering |pages=1 |work=Pittsburgh Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113029705/samuel-butler-dead-the-ex-state/ |access-date=2022-11-14}}

Butler was elected to three consecutive terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving from 1877 to 1880.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/philadelphiatime00phil |title=The Times Almanac |publisher=The Times |year=1880 |location=Philadelphia |pages=18 |language=en-US |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chestercountyits00thoms/page/440/mode/2up |title=Chester County and Its People |editor-last=Thomson |editor-first=W. W. |year=1898 |publisher=The Union History Company |page=441 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2023-12-26}}{{Open access}} In lieu of seeking a fourth legislative term, Butler ran for Pennsylvania Treasurer. Nominated by acclamation at the Republican state convention, Butler won his statewide election in November 1879, defeating Democratic nominee Daniel O. Barr by a margin of 58,600 votes. He served from May 1880 through 1882. He ran for his party's nomination for governor in 1882 but lost out to James A. Beaver, who went on to lose the general election. At the Republican state convention in May 1882, Butler sought the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania's at-large congressional district but lost to Thomas M. Marshall.{{Cite news |date=1882-05-19 |title=Republican Nominations |pages=2 |work=The Shippensburg Chronicle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113033882/republican-nominations/ |access-date=2022-11-14}}

In October 1850, Butler married Margaret Paschall Woodward of West Chester. The couple had three children who all survived their father: Anna (born November 3, 1851), Thomas S. (born November 4, 1854), and Henry J. (born August 25, 1859).{{Cite book |last=Woodward |first=Lewis |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89062360920 |title=Genealogy of the Woodward Family of Chester County, Pennsylvania |publisher=Ferris Bros. |year=1879 |location=Wilmington, Del. |pages=53, 68 |language=en-US |via=HathiTrust}} Both of his sons became lawyers.{{Cite news |date=1891-02-07 |title=Ex-Treasurer Butler Dead: Chester County Loses One of Its Most Valued Citizens |pages=4 |work=The Semi-Weekly New Era |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113030914/ex-treasurer-butler-dead-chester/ |access-date=2022-11-14}} Thomas S. Butler went on to serve as a judge and then as a member of the United States House of Representatives for thirty years. Thomas's son (Samuel's grandson) was United States Marine Corps Major General and two-time Medal of Honor recipient Smedley Butler.{{Cite book |last=Nolan |first=J. Bennett |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433097922672 |title=Southeastern Pennsylvania: A History of the Counties of Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Schuylkill |publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company |year=1943 |volume=3 |location=Philadelphia |pages=425 |language=en-US}} Samuel Butler's elder brother was William Butler, judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Butler died of stomach or kidney disease at his home in West Chester. He was interred at Oaklands Cemetery.{{Cite news |date=1891-02-06 |title=Samuel Butler's Funeral: A Number of Prominent Men Attend the Services |pages=3 |work=The Philadelphia Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113030150/samuel-butlers-funeral-a-number-of/ |access-date=2022-11-14}}

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Category:1825 births

Category:1891 deaths

Category:People from East Marlborough Township, Pennsylvania

Category:Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Category:State treasurers of Pennsylvania

Category:Burials at Oaklands Cemetery

Category:Politicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania

Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly