Benjamin F. Butler.

Born Nov. 5, 1818.

In mental attainments Benjamin Franklin Butler stands pre-eminent among the great men of America. A most generous, large-hearted man, the willing friend of the needy--a fact apt to be lost sight of in the cognizance of his persistency of will, defiant self-assertion and uncommon courage in the expression of his opinions. Indeed, he has always been very popular with the working classes and undertakes without charge, the cause of the poor and oppressed; in fact, it is said that a fee was never accepted for any of the many hundreds of claims that have been adjusted by him.

Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire. His father, John Butler, commanded a cavalry company in the war of 1812, afterwards commanding a merchant vessel, on board of which he died in 1819, when Benjamin, the subject of this sketch, was but a few months old. As a child he was very frail, and much given to the perusal of books. His mother, wishing him to become a baptist-minister, sent him to Waterville (Maine) college.

During the course at college one of the professors delivered a lecture which set forth that only one in one hundred so-called christians would be saved. Butler thereupon remarked that at that rate but six persons in the college could obtain salvation, and as there were nine doctors of divinity in the institution, it would be folly for outsiders to attempt to obtain salvation. The faculty, appreciating the humor of his remarks, saved him from expulsion. Graduating from this college in 1838, he at once took up the study of law, teaching school in the meantime to eke out his income. He was admitted to the bar in 1840, and from that time his career has been marked and very brilliant, not only as a most successful lawyer but also as a soldier and statesman.

In 1853 he was elected as a member of the house of representatives of Massachusetts, and six years later became a state senator.

Entering the federal army with the rank of brigadier-general when the civil war broke out, he was promoted to major-general in May, 1861. He effected quietly the occupation of Baltimore, whence he marched to Fortress Monroe, and, having completed his duties there, assisted Admiral Farragut in the capture of New Orleans. Butler subsequently administered the government of that city with a firmness that, as was natural, increased the confidence already felt in him by Union people everywhere, but evoked the undisguised hatred of the more rabid secessionists. His services in the cause of the Union will go down in history.

In 1863 he held command in the states of Virginia and North Carolina. Ben Butler was returned to congress as a republican in 1866, and re-elected consecutively to the three following congresses. Being an eminent lawyer, learned and fertile in resources, his career in congress was distinguished by his extraordinary ability in debate.

He was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1882, which position was won after two failures to achieve it. He is now a member of the democratic party, but has the confidence of a large number of voters who do not attach themselves to either of the great political organizations.

Source:  Prominent Men and Women of the Day

Copyright  1888 A. B. Gehman &  Co.

Author/Editor Thos. W. Herringshaw