Butler Surname in the U.S. Congress (1774-2022)

Since the First Continental Congress in 1774, 26 people with the Butler surname have served in the United States Congress. Collectively, they have represented 18 states and served 113 terms. Six Butlers have represented the state of South Carolina.

Members of Congress with the Butler Surname by Political Position

Members of Congress with the Butler Surname by Political Party

Members of Congress with the Butler Surname (Alphabetical Order)

Fun Facts About These Butlers:

1. Andrew Pickens Butler co-authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Stephen Douglas, a senator from Illinois. The Act was designed to allow the country to expand west and created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
2. Benjamin Franklin Butler was the highest-ranking Union Butler in the Civil War. He was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1882 and ran for president in 1884.
3. Chester Pierce Butler was a friend of Abraham Lincoln.
4. Ezra Butler was the 11th governor of Vermont and had 11 children. He was a pastor in Waterbury, VT for more than 30 years.
5. Hugh Alfred Butler opposed international activities by the government, including entry into World War II, the Cold War, and the Korean War.
6. James Joseph Butler was a blacksmith prior to becoming a lawyer and politician.
   
   

Fun Facts About These Butlers:

1. John Cornelius Butler was an electrician and active in the longshoremen’s, grain elevator employees’, and electrical workers’ unions before entering congress.
2. John Marshall Butler sponsored the Communist Control Act of 1954 that outlawed the Communist Party and authorized the prosecution of Communist-infiltrated organizations.
3. Josiah Butler taught school in Virginia for three years before becoming a lawyer and politician. He served as chairman of the Committee on Agriculture during the 17th Congress.
4. Julia Butler Hansen (born Butler) was the author of Singing Paddles, which won the Julia Ellsworth Ford Foundation Award for Juvenile Literature.
5. Manley Caldwell Butler was a descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall. He was generally considered to be “free of politics” and acted more like a judge.
6. Marion Butler was a farmer and elected president of the National Farmers’ Alliance before entering congress.
   
   

Fun Facts About These Butlers:

1. Matthew Calbraith Butler was the highest-ranking Confederate Butler in the Civil War. He oversaw the evacuation of Spanish troops from Cuba as a major general during the Spanish-American War.
2. Mounce Gore Butler was the son of Tennessee’s 15th Secretary of State, Thomas H. Butler.
3. Pierce Butler, born in County Carlow, Ireland, was a founding father of the United States of America. He was one of only 39 men that signed the Constitution.
4. Robert Reyburn Butler was born in Butler, Tennessee. He was the grandson of congressman Roderick Randum Butler.
5. Roderick Randum Butler was a tailor’s apprentice for six years. He was one of fifteen legislators to vote against Tennessee’s alignment with the Confederate States of America.
6. Sampson Hale Butler was once the sheriff of Barnwell County, South Carolina. His uncle was Congressman William Butler (1759-1821).
   
   

Fun Facts About These Butlers:

1. Thomas Belden Butler was the author of The Philosophy of the Weather (1856) and The Atmospheric System Developed: a Weather Book for Practical Men (1870).
2. Thomas Stalker Butler was elected to the House of Representatives 16 times. He was the father of famous Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most decorated soldiers in American history.
3. Thomas Butler III was the grandson of Thomas Butler, the patriarch of The Fighting Butlers from Carlisle, PA. His uncle was congressman William Orlando Butler.
4. Walter Halben Butler is credited as the first man to ever run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat while a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He never missed a day’s session in the House of Representatives.
5. William Morgan Butler was appointed to the United States Senate after the death of Henry Cabot Lodge. He served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1924 to 1928.
6. William Orlando Butler was the son of Percival Butler, one of The Fighting Butlers. His nephew was congressman Thomas Butler III. He was the Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1848. Butler County, Iowa, and Butler County, Missouri are named after him.
   
   

Fun Facts About These Butlers:

1. William Butler was the father of South Carolina congressmen William Butler (1790–1850) and Andrew Pickens Butler (1796-1857), and South Carolina Governor Pierce Mason Butler (1798-1847). He was the grandfather of Matthew Calbraith Butler (1836-1909). During the War of 1812, he was a major general that commanded troops for the defense of South Carolina.
2. William Butler, Jr. was a United States Navy surgeon during the War of 1812. While stationed in Rhode Island, he married Jane Tweedy Perry, a sister of American naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry and Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry. He was the father of congressman Matthew Calbraith Butler (1836-1909).
   
   

Congressional Butler Aboo!