b. December 15, 1797, in Adair County, Kentucky; d. January 11, 1876, in Springfield, Illinois. During the war of 1812, Butler served as a messenger, delivering communications from the governor of Kentucky to General William Henry Harrison in the field. After working as a deputy clerk of the circuit court of Adair County and later as a clerk on a steamboat, Butler purchased a farm and settled in Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1828. On December 18, 1832, he married Elizabeth Rickard, and the couple had three children. On March 19, 1836, Stephen T. Logan, judge of the First Judicial Circuit, appointed Butler as clerk of the Sangamon County Circuit Court, a position he held until March 22, 1841. Butler was an active Whig and later joined the Republican party.