Walter H. Butler

American politician (1852–1931)

Walter Halben Butler
Louisville Courier-Journal, December 31, 1894

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 4th district
In office 1891–1893
Preceded by	Joseph H. Sweney
Succeeded by	Thomas Updegraff

Personal details
Born	(1852-02-13)February 13, 1852 Springboro, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 24, 1931(1931-04-24) (aged 79) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Democratic

Walter Halben Butler (February 13, 1852 – April 24, 1931) was a lawyer, teacher, newspaper publisher, and one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district, then located in northeastern Iowa.

Biography

Born in Springboro, Pennsylvania on February 13, 1852,^[1] Butler moved to Minnesota in 1868 with his parents, who settled in Mankato, in Blue Earth County.^[2] He attended public and private schools, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1875.^[2] He was a wrestler and sprinter there, and is credited as the first to run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds.^[3]

After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1875 and commenced practice in Princeton, Wisconsin.^[2] He moved to Iowa in 1876 and taught school at La Porte City until 1878, and at Manchester until 1880.^[2]

He moved to West Union, Iowa, in 1883 and became owner and publisher of the Fayette County Union.^[2] From 1885 to 1889, he served as superintendent of the Railway Mail Service's tenth division, at St. Paul, Minnesota.^[2] He returned to West Union, and resumed his former newspaper pursuits.^[2]

In 1890, Butler was nominated as a Democrat to run against incumbent Republican U.S. House Representative Joseph Henry Sweney from the 4th congressional district.^[2] After defeating Sweney in the general election as part of a Democratic landslide, he served in the Fifty-second Congress.^[2] In 1892 he was defeated in his first re-election bid, by former Republican Congressman Thomas Updegraff.^[2] Butler served in Congress from March 4, 1891 to March 3, 1893.^[2]

After leaving Congress, he returned to northeastern Iowa for five years.^[2] He moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1897 and to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1907.^[2] He engaged in the real estate and loan business and, later in banking.^[2] He died in Kansas City on April 24, 1931.^[2]^[3] He was interred at Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City.^[2]

References

^ History of Iowa, p. 35.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Iowa Biographical Dictionary, p. 120.
^ ^a ^b "First 10-Second Man and Legislator Dies". Jefferson City Post-Tribune. April 24, 1931. p. 1. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources

Books

Gue, Benjamin F. (1903). History of Iowa. Vol. IV, Iowa Biography. New York, NY: The century History Company.
Onofrio, Jan (2000). Iowa Biographical Dictionary. St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-403-09304-5.