William Butler

Who was William Butler?

William Butler was a United States Representative from South Carolina.

Born in Prince William County, Virginia, he moved to South Carolina as a young man. He served in the Snow Campaign under Colonel Richard Richardson in 1775 and in Gen. Andrew Williamson's expedition against the Cherokee Indians in 1776. In 1779 he was a lieutenant in Pulaski's Legion, under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, and served under Gen. Andrew Pickens at the siege of Augusta in 1780. He served as captain under General William Henderson in 1781, and was a captain of Mounted Rangers under 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 Democratic-Republican to the 7th United States Congress and served in the five succeeding Congresses, from March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1813. He then chose not run for reelection.

Butler was a major general commanding the troops raised for the defense of South Carolina in the War of 1812, and then retired to his plantation on the Saluda River, near Mount Willing, South Carolina.