Edward Mann Butler (July 13, 1784 – November 1, 1855) was one of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

's most prominent early educators. He is best remembered as being the first president of what would become the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

and heading the first

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

in Kentucky. Butler was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. After graduating from St Mary's College, Butler practiced law and served as a school teacher in various locations, including Maysville, Lexington,

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. He was the president of the Jefferson Seminary (which later became the University of Louisville) from 1813 to 1816. In 1822 he became the head of the grammar department at Lexington's

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

, and then returned to head the Jefferson Seminary in 1829. He is also considered Kentucky's first reliable

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, with his first complete work being released in 1834. At the time of his death, he was working on a detailed history of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

Valley. He was killed on November 1, 1855 in a

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

train wreck.

References

External links

Washington University in St. Louis TrusteeGuide to the Reuben T. Durrett Collection of Man Butler Papers 1816-1874
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Edward Mann 1784 births 1855 deaths St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni History of Louisville, Kentucky People from Louisville, Kentucky University of Louisville people Railway accident deaths in the United States People from Baltimore Presidents of the University of Louisville Historians from Maryland