Thomas BUTLER, Congress, LA (1785-1847)

BUTLER, Thomas, a Representative from Louisiana; born near Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pa., April 14, 1785; attended the common schools and received a college education in Pittsburgh, Pa.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1806 and commenced practice at Pittsburgh, Pa.; moved to Mississippi Territory about 1807; admitted to the bar there in 1808; captain of a Cavalry troop in the Mississippi Territory Militia in 1810; purchased land in the parish of Feliciana, Orleans Territory and settled there in 1811; appointed parish judge December 14, 1812; appointed judge of the third district by Governor Claiborne of Louisiana March 4, 1813; elected as a Republican to the Fifteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas B. Robertson; reelected to the Sixteenth Congress and served from November 16, 1818, to March 3, 1821; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1820; appointed special judge of the third judicial district in 1822 and again in 1840; member of the Whig Party and afterwards affiliated with the American Party; owing to ill health declined to be a candidate for Congress in 1844; owner of sugar and cotton plantations; president of the board of trustees of the Louisiana College, Jackson, La.; died in St. Louis, Mo., August 7, 1847; interment on his plantation, “The Cottage,” near St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish, La.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present