Thomas Harvey Butler Sr. (October 13, 1819 – May 20, 1889) was an American politician, soldier, attorney, and engineer. Listed as T.H. Butler in the official ''

Tennessee Blue Book The ''Tennessee Blue Book'' is an official government manual for the U.S. state of Tennessee, published by the Secretary of State of Tennessee. The ''Blue Book'' is typically published on a biennial basis. Its contents include details on the organ ...

'', Thomas Harvey Butler served as the fifteenth Secretary of State for the State of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

from 1870 to 1873 under Governors

Dewitt Clinton Senter Dewitt Clinton Senter (March 26, 1830June 14, 1898) was an American politician who served as the 18th Governor of Tennessee from 1869 to 1871. He had previously served in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1855–1861), where he opposed ...

and John Calvin Brown. From 1875 to 1876 Butler served as the State Senator for the Ninth District in the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

, a member of the 39th

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

or Legislature, representing the Counties of Macon, Clay, Smith, Trousdale, Sumner, and Jackson. T.H. Butler also raised a future statesman, his son

Mounce Gore Butler Mounce Gore Butler (May 11, 1849 – February 13, 1917) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 4th congressional district of Tennessee. Biography Butler was born on May 11, 1849 in Gaine ...

, a United States Congressman who represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1905 to 1907. In 1910 Secretary Butler was posthumously honored by a later Secretary of State, Hallum Goodloe, by hanging Butler's portrait on the walls of Tennessee's State Capitol.

Soldier

T.H. Butler enlisted in the 25th Tennessee Infantry of the Confederate States Army on August 10, 1861 at age 35 in

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

, Tennessee. Butler was appointed by Gov.

Isham Harris Isham Green Harris (February 10, 1818July 8, 1897) was an American politician who served as the 16th governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862, and as a U.S. senator from 1877 until his death. He was the state's first governor from West Tennessee. ...

to the Commissary Office as a Captain of the 25th Tennessee under Colonel Sidney S. Stanton on September 27, 1861 and was honorably discharged by Gen. George G. Dibrell on March 7, 1862. In his post-military career Captain Butler was known as Colonel Butler, a title of respect given to older Southern gentlemen to honor them for exemplary community leadership or government statesmanship.

Attorney

T.H. Butler practiced law as an attorney based in Gainesboro, Tennessee, as did his son Bowen Butler who also practiced law in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee, both of whom are mentioned in Bowen's prestigious biography entry in the book ''Tennessee, the Volunteer State 1769-1923'' which describes T.H. Butler as "an able attorney and one of the foremost men in public affairs of Tennessee. For sixteen years he was retained in the office of Circuit Court Clerk of Jackson County, after which he was made County Clerk, ... later he was appointed United States commissioner." T.H. Butler's impressive service as U.S. Commissioner for the Federal Judiciary spanned approximately a decade from 1877 to 1887. A man of many titles, Commissioner Butler also may have been known as Judge Butler when he served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. Two other sons and a son-in-law of T.H. Butler were prominent lawyers as well, W. Bailey Butler, General Mounce Gore Butler, and General George H. Morgan. Generals Butler and Morgan both served as

Attorneys General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

for Tennessee's 5th Judicial Circuit.

Engineer

T.H. Butler's work in the field of

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

involved road and highway construction, bridge building, and land surveying. In March 1854, "An Act to incorporate the Lafayette, Rome, and Lebanon Turnpike Company" by the Tennessee 30th General Assembly was passed into law in which T.H. Butler was named among "a body politic and corporate to open books and receive stock for the purpose of constructing the Jennings and Line creeks turnpike road [ State Route 56] from Gainsboro' by the nearest and most direct route to the Kentucky State line, in the direction of Tompkinsville, Kentucky" and "to bridge Line and Jennings creeks on the line of said road." Years later in March 1860, "An Act to charter the Granville and Martin's Creek Turnpike Company" by the Tennessee 33rd General Assembly was passed into law which appointed T.H. Butler as a Commissioner for the purpose of locating the route upon which the Gainesboro and Defeated Creek Turnpike ( State Route 53) would best be built, "to survey the two routes from Gainsboro', by the way of Flynn's Lick, to ... Smith county." In 1870 working with fellow surveyor William Gore, T.H. Butler was instrumental in helping establish a new county in Tennessee, namely

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Flor ...

. Butler's engineering skills would eventually aide him in his turnpike and railroad-oversight roles as ex-officio Internal Improvement Commissioner and as a Commissioner of Railroads while serving as Secretary of State.

Family

T.H. Butler's first wife was Mary "Polly" Gore (1822–1851), a distant relative of U.S. Vice-President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

. According to Susan Butler's family

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, Thomas and Mary were married July 2, 1844, and "their issue are Mary Ann, William Bailey, Mounce Gore and Sarah Ellenor." THB-FG-FCL

Butler's second wife was Sarah Ann Holford (1834–1900), and they "were married 14 April 1853 and their issue are Lizzie Loucetta, John Franklin, Bowen Butler, George Grundy, Martha Jane, Dixie, Rosa Lee, Thomas Harvey, and James Wash, Sam Stone." T.H. Butler was born in Clay County (then Jackson County), Tennessee, the son of Colonel Bailey Butler (1779–1842) and Sarah "Sally" Scanland (1789–1828). On July 4, 2003, the

Tennessee Historical Commission The Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) is the State Historic Preservation Office for the U.S. state of Tennessee. Headquartered in Nashville, it is an independent state agency, administratively attached to the Department of Environment and Con ...

dedicated an official historical marker in their hometown of Butler's Landing which the Butlers founded. T.H. Butler's pioneer father and their family are honored on one side of the marker, while Butler's Landing and

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

are honored on the other side of the same marker. Butler died in Gainesboro, Jackson County, Tennessee and is buried there in Gainesboro Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Thomas H. 1819 births 1889 deaths Members of the Tennessee General Assembly Tennessee state senators Secretaries of State of Tennessee People from Gainesboro, Tennessee 19th-century American politicians People from Clay County, Tennessee