Benjamin Franklin Butler (lawyer)

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For the 19th century United States politician and general, see Benjamin Butler.
Benjamin Butler
District Attorney of Albany County
In office
February 19, 1821 – June 14, 1825
Preceded bySamuel Foot
Succeeded byEdward Livingston
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Franklin Butler

(1795-12-17)December 17, 1795
Kinderhook Landing, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 8, 1858(1858-11-08) (aged 62)
Paris, France
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseHarriet Allen (m. 1818-1853, her death)
Children9, including William Allen Butler
RelativesAlfred Booth (Grandson)
Signature

Benjamin Franklin Butler (December 17, 1795 – November 8, 1858) was a prominent lawyer from the state of

Children's Village school in New York City.[1]

Early life

He was the son of Medad Butler and Hannah Butler (née Tylee) of Kinderhook Landing, in Columbia County, New York. He studied at Hudson Academy in Hudson, New York, and read law with Martin Van Buren, whose son John Van Buren later read law with Butler.

Butler was admitted to the bar in 1817, and became Martin Van Buren's partner. In his 1903 book The Art of Cross-Examination, author Francis L. Wellman indicated that Butler was regarded during his life as a highly effective trial lawyer, and one of the most successful cross-examiners of his day.[2]

Political career

Butler was one of the earliest members of the Albany Regency. When fellow Regency member and Van Buren ally Roger Skinner was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York in 1819, he sold his law office to Butler, who took over Skinner's clients and pending cases.[3]

Butler began his political career as district attorney of Albany County, serving from 1821 to 1825. He was appointed one of the three commissioners to revise the State statutes in 1825. Butler was a member from Albany County of the New York State Assembly in 1828. In 1833, he served as commissioner for New York to adjust the New Jersey boundary line.

On November 15, 1833, President Andrew Jackson appointed Butler Attorney General, an office he held until 1838. From that year until 1841, and from 1845 to 1848, he was United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

He was a prominent participant in the

Secretary of War
, but Butler declined, stating that he would only accept State or Treasury.

He was also at the 1848 Free Soil Convention, where he helped write the party platform.[4]

Legacy

Butler was a regent of the University of the State of New York from 1829 to 1832. He was instrumental in founding New York University in 1831 and served in various capacities with the university from its inception. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Rutgers University in 1834. He was appointed principal professor of New York University in 1837.

Personal life

Woodlawn Cemetery

In 1818, he married Harriet Allen; their children included attorney

Sir Alfred Allen Booth, 1st Baronet, a director of Alfred Booth and Company and chairman of Cunard
.

While visiting Europe in 1858, he died in

Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx. Fort Butler, one of the main forts built for the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians on the Trail of Tears, was named for him.[5]

Published works

References

  1. ^ "OUR CITY CHARITIES--NO. II.; The New-York Juvenile Asylum". The New York Times. January 31, 1860. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  2. The Macmillan Company. p. 233). Retrieved October 26, 2012. at Internet Archive
  3. ^ Van Buren, Martin; Mackenzie, William Lyon (1846). The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren: The Correspondence of His Friends, Family and Pupils. Boston, MA: Cooke & Co. p. 197.
  4. ISBN 9783337080709
    .
  5. ISBN 0-8078-5457-3
    .

Further reading

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by U.S. Attorney General
Served under: Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
1833–1838 		Succeeded by
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