Lucy Wood Butler (also known as, Mrs. Allen Butler; February 18, 1820 – March 17, 1895) was a 19th-century American pioneer temperance leader. She was the first president of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

(W.C.T.U.) of New York. Butler's financial means enabled her to give her time to charitable works.

Biography

Lucy Wood was born in

Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York The Town of Greenbush is a former town in the state of New York. At first it was part of Albany County, then Rensselaer County, after the latter was created in 1791. The current towns of East Greenbush and North Greenbush were parts of the forme ...

, February 18, 1820. She was educated in the public schools, and studied music at

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. In 1841, Miss Wood married Allen Butler, and soon afterward removed, with her husband, to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

where she lived for more than 50 years, and was prominently identified with many charitable and benevolent institutions. She was a member of the Park Presbyterian Church in that city. Butler was always devoted to temperance work; and after organizing a local union for this purpose, which led to the first State convention of temperance women, she was elected president of the newly formed W.C.T.U., a position which she retained for five years. She was present at

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and assisted in forming the National W.C.T.U. After serving some years as president of the State W.C.T.U., Butler was compelled by ill-health to withdraw from active work, but always remained a member of the local union and assisted in its operations. In addition to serving as State President of the Temperance Work in her State, and Chair of the Juvenile Work for the National W.C.T.U. (1877), she was president of the Presbyterian Woman's Society of Syracuse, of the Old Ladies' Home Association, and of the Foreign Missionary Society. She led a large infant class in Sunday-school for 20 years. Lucy Wood Butler died March 17, 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Lucy Wood 1872 births 1895 deaths People from Rensselaer County, New York American temperance activists Woman's Christian Temperance Union people People from Syracuse, New York Presbyterians from New York (state)