Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818 - 1893)

Born 5 Nov 1818 in Deerfield, New Hampshire, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Jones (Hildreth) Butler — married 16 May 1844 in Lowell, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1893 at age 74 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Preceded by 32nd Governor John Davis Long

Benjamin Butler 33rd Governor of Massachusetts 1883—1884

Succeeded by 34th Governor George D. Robinson

Biography

Benjamin Butler is Notable.

Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in 05 Nov 1818, the sixth and youngest child of John Butler and Charlotte Ellison Butler. His father served under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and later became a privateer, dying of yellow fever in the West Indies not long after Benjamin was born. He was named after Benjamin Franklin

After an extended courtship, Butler married Sarah Hildreth, a stage actress and daughter of Dr. Israel Hildreth of Lowell, on May 16, 1844. They had four children: Paul (1845–1850), Blanche (1847–1939), Paul (1852–1918) and Ben-Israel (1855–1881).

He was a major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best known as a political major general of the Union Army during the American Civil War, and for his leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson.

During the Civil War, Butler made substantial contributions to the Union war effort, including a policy that allowed the United States government to skirt the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law by claiming that escaped slaves were "contraband of war." In this way, he was able to put African American refugees to work on fortifications and helped to pave the way for emancipation and keeping them from being returned to the South. Butler wrote the initial version of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act). The act was passed by the 42nd United States Congress and signed into law by the 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant on April 20, 1871.

Following the war he remained in politics variously as a Republican, Democrat, and third-party candidate, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1867 until 1879 and as governor of Massachusetts from 1883 until 1884. In his later years Butler reduced his activity level, working on his memoir, "Butler's Book", and serving from 1866 to 1879 as president of the "National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers".

Benjamin Butler died on January 11, 1893 of complications from a bronchial infection a day after arguing a case before the Supreme Court. He is buried in his wife's family cemetery, behind the main Hildreth Cemetery in Lowell, Mass. His daughter Blanche married Adelbert Ames, a Mississippi governor and senator who had served as a general in the Union Army during the war. Butler's descendants include the famous scientist Adelbert Ames, Jr., suffragist and artist Blanche Ames Ames, Butler Ames, Hope Butler, and George Plimpton.

Since 2004, the Benjamin F. Butler Society has met at the Hildreth family cemetery in early November to celebrate the birthday of General Butler, and to replace the American flag that flies over the cemetery with a new one. This is the only time of year the family plots, behind two locked gates and fenced off from the public cemetery, are open to the public. The inscription on Butler's monument reads, "the true touchstone of civil liberty is not that all men are equal but that every man has the right to be the equal of every other man—if he can."

You can read about Benjamin's ancestry in Blanche Butler Ames. The Butler ancestry of Gen. Benjamin Franklin Butler in America. Lowell, Mass: 1895. [ ] at Open Library.

Census

1860 US Federal Census Ward No 6 In Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts

In 1860, Benjamin F Butler, a 42 year old lawyer b. New Hampshire, lived with his wife Sarah, 40 b. Massachusetts, and three children b. Massachusetts: Paul, 7; Blanche, 13; and Ben Israel, 4. Two servants lived with the family.^[1]

"Massachusetts State Census, 1865", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQCV-9T2 : 22 February 2021), Benjamin F Butler, 1865.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD3N-RDJ : 29 May 2021), Benjamin F Butler, 1870.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHX7-322 : 19 February 2021), Benjamin F Butler, Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district ED 471, sheet 597D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,545.

Burial

Benjamin Franklin Butler died on January 11, 1893, and is buried at the Hildreth Family Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: Plot: It^[2]

"Benjamin Franklin Butler Jurist Soldier Statesman Patriot His Talents Were devoted to The Service of His Country And the Advancement of His Fellow Men Born November 5 1818 Deerfield, Massachusetts Married May 16 1844 Sarah Daughter of Israel Hildreth Lowell Massachusetts Died January 11 1893 Washington, District of Columbia The True Touchstone of Civil Liberty Is Not That All Are Equal But That Every man Has the Right to be The Equal of Every Other man of He can."^[3]

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Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1860," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZCH-64J : accessed 14 Nov 2014), Benjamin F Butler, Ward No 6 In Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," Fold3.com; p. 15, household ID 113, NARA microfilm publication M653; NARA microfilm publication M653. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 803507.
2. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #13120
3. ↑ Cemetery Transcriptions from the NEHGS Manuscript Collections. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002.)

"Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZ9J-1WY : 15 January 2020), Benjamin Franklin Butler, 1818.

"Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4CH-ZJF : 10 March 2021), Benjamin F. Butler and Sarah J. Hildreth, 16 May 1844; citing Lowell, Lowell, Penobscot, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,428,255.

"Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZSM-J81 : 15 January 2020), Benjamin F. Butler in entry for Paul Butler, 1845.

"Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXW5-D3L : 27 October 2020), Benjn. F. Butler in entry for Paul Butler, 1845.

"Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXC4-86J : 27 October 2020), Benjn. F. in entry for Paul Bulter, 1852.

Butler, Benjamin F. Butler's Book: The Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benj. F. Butler. Boston, MA: A. M. Thayer & Company, 1892.

Nash, Howard P., Jr. Stormy Petrel: The Life and Times of Benjamin F. Butler, 1818-1893. Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975.

West, Richard Sedgewick. Lincoln's Scapegoat General: A Life of Benjamin F. Butler, 1818–1893. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965.

Hearn, Chester. When the Devil Came Down to Dixie: Ben Butler in New Orleans. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, [1997] 2000.

Longacre, Edward G. Army of amateurs : General Benjamin F. Butler and the Army of the James, 1863-1865. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books 1997.

Nolan, Dick. Benjamin Franklin Butler: The Damnedest Yankee. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1991.

BUTLER, Benjamin Franklin (1818-1893). Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, 1774- Present. https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=b001174

• Coburn, Frederick W. History of Lowell and Its People. (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co, 1920); p.3

• Smith, M. T. Benjamin F. Butler (1818–1893). (2014, June 28). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from (http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Butler_Benjamin_F_1818-1893)

• Joe Normandy and Benjamin Butler, "Historic Letter,” America's Civil War, Vol. 36, no. 2, (Summer 2023): 6.