Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-09-20

ERA BUrLEE.-The following extract from
biographical sketch Of the late GOV. But
ler. read before the Historical Society by
Rev. c. c. Parker, gives an Interesting
glimpse of the lite Of The pioneers in the set
Element Of our State
Ira Butler, the ninth Governor Of Vermont,
was the son Of Asaph aIi Jane (McAA.s.er)
| Butler and was born in Lancaster, Wore, ster
county, Mass. sept -, l~u3- His father was
ths grandson OF one Of three brothers Who came,
at an carly day. from England. to the one or the
other Of whom, t Is said, nearly an the Buffers
Ia the country t.lc- ,heir origin. HIS mother
wcs &C Scotch descent. IN lis seventeenth year
/ he enlisted in the army Of the revolution aul
served SIX months.
In the Spring Of l7s5, having spent few
/ previous months in N6athersdcll, Vermont. he
/ came to Waterbury in company with bis brother
| Asaph, next older than himself They came
with an ox-team, as far as Judge Paiuc's in
/ WIlliamst0Wn the remainder Of the way they
walkel on SNOW shoes, the snow being three or
| four feet deep, drawing their effects on a hand
| slel, and reached Waterbury on the 10Th Of
| March They made a pitch in the upper part
Of the present village, cleared patch and plant
| cd it 10 corn, sul returned 10 Weathersheli,
where. in June Of that year, Mr.. Butler was
married 10 Miss Tryphena Diggins. He soon
returned to Waterbury, and finding the title
1 the land upon which he had pitched uncertain,
/ he made another pitch a little below the present
/ village, opened another clearing, built a log
/ house, and in Sept. l1o6 moved into it with his
i wife and child ; and on that place (noW owned
/ by the State for the Reform SCHOOL, he CONT
nued to reside the remainder Of his life. They
/ made their Journey from Weathersfeld on horse
back much Of the way by a birdie path but
little better than an Indian trail, and in this
way brought with them all the effects then
thought necessary in the matter Of house-keep-
ing. His brother settled in Richmond and sub
sCquenty moved TO the West.
When Mr.. Butler moved to Waterbury, there
was but one family in town-that Of Mr.. James
Marsh. This family had already been more
than two years in that wilderness, and had en-
dured hariships such as it is not easy for US in
these DAYS to conceive. 4 solitary log cabin
was the only dwelling then in Montpelier, two
or three in Middlesex, one in Bolton, and with an
occasional settlement thence TO the lakes, North
and South, the wilderness wa uubrokeH.
Mr.. Marsh, the pioneer man Of the town. had
subssted his family mainly by hunting and
trapping. and into this pioneer life, he speedily
initiated Mr.. Butler. All their meat was that
of the moose, the deer and the bear, and nearly
all they could procure that was convertible into
money was the peltry Of the beaver and the OF
ter. Often they hunted the moose IN Stowe AMI
far up under the brow Of Mansfield. Not IN
frequently, when unsuccessful or LED far from
home in the chase, they csmped out in the
dreary winter nights to commence the hunt
anew on the morrow Their work was one Of
desperation. Meat or starvation for themselves
and their families were the alternatives, and
they could not return without IT, Few Of the
stories Of hunters anyEhere-their perils and
sdyentures-are more thrilling than the stories
these men could tell. By these hardships and
exposures. the constitution of Mr.. Butler was
seriously impaired before he was thirty years Of
age.
In 1886, vacancy occurring on the Board Of
Presidential Electors, Gov. Butler was chosen
by the Board to ill the vacancy, and performed
his last official act by casting his vote for Gen.
VIM II. Harrison. He was also one Of the
Trustees of the University of Vermont, and con-
nected with the various benevolent organizations
fthe State, having been Vice President and
Manager Of the Vermont Colonization Society.
and Director Of the Vermont b be Society.
Indeed, there was hardly an Office of honor or
trust in the gift ofthe people or the Legislature
which he did not receive at their hands Ii NAV
be doubted whether any other man in the his
tory Of the State ever received 50 many appoint
men,s, many Of them imposing trusts Of the
highest importance. as did Gov. Butler. From
the time he WAS sent TO the General Assembly
in 1874. and was thus brought before the pub
lie. he seemed to ride on the full tide Of popu-
lar favor until lie was borne into the Guberna-
tsrisl chair. In this respect the career Of Gov.
Butler, from an unlettered pioneer IN the will
derness, a hunter and trapper, up through al
most every grade Of Office to tina, Of Judge on
the bench, Member of Congress, and the Chief
Magistrate Of the State, is a remarkable one,
and may challenge comparison with that Of al
mos. any name in history