William Butler (1759-1821)
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- For similarly named people, see William Butler
William Butler (December 17, 1759 – November 15, 1821) was a United States Representative from South Carolina. Born in Prince William County, Virginia, he attended grammar schools, and moved to South Carolina. He served in the Snow campaign under General Richard Richardson in 1775 and in Gen. Andrew Williamson's expedition against the Cherokee Indians in 1776; he was a lieutenant in Pulaski's Legion, under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, in 1779, and served under Gen. Andrew Pickens at the siege of Augusta in 1780. He also served as captain under General William Henderson in 1781, and as captain of Mounted Rangers under General Pickens in 1782.
Butler was a member of the State convention which adopted the United States Constitution, and was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1787 to 1795. He was sheriff of the Ninety-Six District in 1791, and was elected major general of the upper division of State militia in 1796. Butler was elected as a Republican to the 7th United States Congress and to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1813; he was not a candidate for reelection afterwards. He was major general commanding the troops raised for the defense of South Carolina during the War of 1812, and retired to his plantation on the Saluda River, near Mount Willing, South Carolina and died there in 1821. Interment was in the family burial ground at Butler Methodist Church, near Saluda.
William Butler was the father of William Butler (1790-1850), Andrew Pickens Butler and Pierce Mason Butler, and grandfather of Matthew Calbraith Butler, all of whom. except Pierce, were also members of the U.S. Congress from South Carolina. His first cousin was Sophia Butler {Smith} Bonham, the mother of James Butler Bonham and Milledge Luke Bonham.
