Clement Moore Butler

Clement Moore Butler (1810-1890) was an Episcopal clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate (1849-1853).

Early years

Clement Moore Butler was born on October 16, 1810, in Troy, New York, the son of David Butler and Chloe Jones Butler.[1] He graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in 1833, and the General Theological Seminary, New York, in 1836.[2] Butler was ordained by Bishop Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk in June 1837. The wagon journey the evening before was not without incident, as the Bishop made improper advances toward Mrs. Butler. She was one of a number of women who suffered sexual harassment from him.[3]

Ministry

During the years 1837 through 1854, Butler served congregations in New York City, Palmyra, New York, Georgetown, Boston, Massachusetts, and Trinity Church, Washington, D.C.[4]

He served as chaplain of the United States senate from 1849 till 1853.[5] On April 1, 1850, he delivered the funeral address for Senator John C. Calhoun.[6] On July 1, 1852, he delivered the funeral address for Henry Clay, Senator, Congressman, and Secretary of State.[7]

From 1854 till 1857 he was rector of Christ Church, in Cincinnati, Ohio[8] Then, he returned to Washington, where he served Trinity Church once more, through 1861. Butler was thereafter chaplain to the United States minister at Rome, Italy, and the second rector of Grace Church (now St. Paul’s Within the Walls) in Rome (1861-1864).[9]

When Butler returned to the United States in 1864, he became professor of ecclesiastical history at the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, until 1884 when he retired due to ill health.[10]

Butler died on March 5, 1890, in Germantown, Pennsylvania.[1]

Personal life

On October 24, 1816 in Richmond, Virginia, Butler married Frances Livingston Hart (1816-1895). They had three children: Frances Livingston Butler, Helen Moore Butler and Clement Moore Butler. Frances was a niece of Richard Channing Moore, Bishop of Virginia.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 rootsweb.com
  2. ↑ Calendar of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1847, p. 27
  3. ↑ Affect and Power: Essays on Sex, Slavery, Race, and Religion, by David J. Libby et al, p. 29
  4. ↑ Daughter of Boston: by Caroline Wells Healey Dall, Helen R. Deese, p. 380
  5. ↑ The Diocese of Western New York, History and Recollections, by Charles Wells Hayes
  6. ↑ Obituary Addresses Delivered on the Occasion of the Death of the Hon. John C. Calhoun, by Clement Moore Butler.
  7. ↑ Obituary addresses on the occasion of the death of the Hon. Henry Clay. Washington: printed by Robert Armstrong, 1852.
  8. ↑ The Salmon P. Chase Papers: Journals, 1829-1872, p. 263
  9. ↑ Rectors of St. Paul’s, see: http://www.stpaulsrome.it/english/history/history.html
  10. ↑ Funeral Address on the Death of Abraham Lincoln, delivered in the Church of the Covenant, April 19, 1865.
  11. ↑ "James Livingston, and Some of His Descendants, by J. Wilson Poucher, Duchess County Historical Society Yearbook, Vol. 28, 1943, pp.72-3.