Josiah Butler (December 4, 1779 – October 27, 1854) was an American politician and a

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Early life

Born in Pelham,

, Butler attended the Londonderry and

Atkinson Atkinson may refer to: Places *Atkinson, Nova Scotia, Canada * Atkinson, Dominica, a village in Dominica *Atkinson, Illinois, U.S. *Atkinson, Indiana, U.S. *Atkinson, Maine, U.S. *Atkinson Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S. *Atkinson, Nebraska, U.S ...

academies and was instructed by private tutors. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1803, and taught school in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

for three years. He then studied law with Clifton Claggett of Amherst and Governor Cabot of Virginia and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

of Virginia in 1807.

Career

Upon his return to Pelham, Butler commenced practice in 1807, then moved to Deerfield, Rockingham County,

in 1809. He served as the sheriff of Rockingham County,

from (1810–1813) and then the clerk of the court of common pleas. An unsuccessful candidate for election in 1812 to the Thirteenth Congress, he was a member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

in 1814 - 1816. Elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

Fifteenth Congress The 15th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, ...

and reelected to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congresses, Butler served as

for the state of

from (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1823). In Congress, he served as chairman, Committee on Agriculture (

Seventeenth Congress The 17th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. While its term was officially March 4, 1821, t ...

). After leaving Congressional service, he served as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Court of Common Pleas 1825–1835.

Death

Butler died in Deerfield on October 27, 1854 (age 74 years, 327 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

in Granite Cemetery, South Deerfield, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA.

Family life

Son of Nehemiah and Lyndia Wood, Butler married Hannah Jenness and they had ten children, DeWitt Clinton, Horace, Josiah W., Elizabeth H., Lydia J., Franklin I., Franklin Jenness, Wentworth S., Caroline L., and Mary J.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Josiah 1779 births 1854 deaths People from Pelham, New Hampshire Harvard University alumni Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire New Hampshire sheriffs Pinkerton Academy alumni