a part of the Northern Pacific railroad. He was also retained by the government as counsel to prose- cute the South Carolina election cases in that year. After the retirement of E. M. Marble from the patent-office, 1 Sept., 1883, Mr. Butterworth was appointed commissioner of patents. In 1884 he was again elected to congress.
BUTTERWORTH, Hezekiah, author, b. in
Warren, R. I., 22 Dec, 1839. lie received a com-
mon-school education, and travelled at different
times in Europe, Cuba, Canada, and the United
States. In 1871 he became assistant-editor of the
" Youth's Companion." He has published " Story
of the Hymns" (Boston, 1876); "Zig-Zag Jour-
neys" (187G-'94), consisting of annual volumes de-
scriptive of the Levant, Acadia, northern lands,
the Occident, the orient, and classic lands; "The
Prayers of History " (1880) ; " Poems for Christmas,
Easter, and New Year " (1883) ; " Great Composers,"
written for Chautauqua readings ; " Wonderful
Christmases of Old" (1885); "Ballads and Stories
for Readings " (Cincinnati, 1886) ; " Songs of His-
tory " (Boston, 1887); "The Story of the Times"
(New York, 1890) ; " The Log Schoolhouse on the
Columbia " (1890) ; " The Christmas Book " (Boston,
1891) ; " Little Arthur's History of Rome " (New
York, 1892) ; " In the Boyhood of Lincoln " (1892) ;
" The Boys of Green way Court " (1893) ; " The Pa-
triot Schoolmaster " (1894) ; and " The Parson's
Miracle" (Boston, 1894). He is also the author of
the cantata " Under the Palms," of that entitled
" Faith," and of one called " Faith Triumphant."
BUTTERWORTH, Samuel F., lawyer, d. in
San Francisco, 5 May, 1875. He studied and prac-
tised law in New York city, and during the ad-
ministration of President Buchanan was at the
head of the sub-treasury in New York. Afterward
he went to California as superintendent of a mining
company, engaged largely in gold-mining and land
speculations, and acquired a fortune estimated at
$7,000,000, which was invested in real estate.
BUTTON, Sir Thomas, English navigator, d. at
Plymouth, England, in April, 1634. He command-
ed an expedition sent out two years after Hudson's
last voyage. Pie sailed from England in May, 1612,
with two vessels, the " Resolution " and the " Dis-
covery," provisioned for eighteen months. He
passed through Hudson strait and crossed the bay
to the southern point of Southampton island.,
which place he named Carey's Swan's Nest. He
continued his course westward, expecting to find
a northwest passage, and, when he came to the
western shore of the bay, gave it the significant
name of Hope's Check ; then coasted along the
shore and came to Nelson river, which he named
Port Nelson, after the master of his ship. There he
wintered, and in the summer of 1613, after the
breaking up of the ice, he made an exploration of
the bay as far as lat. 65° N., and of Southampton
island, returning to England in the autumn,
thoroughly convinced that a northwest passage
existed. He was knighted for his services.
BUTTRE, John Chester, engraver, b. in Au-
burn, N. Y., 10 June, 1821 : d. in Ridgewood, N. J.,
2 Dec, 1893. He obtained his education in Auburn
academy. The first drawing-lessons he received
were from one Hulaniski, a Polish exile residing in
Auburn ; and afterward, while assisting his father,
he devoted his leisure to the study of portrait-paint-
ing. In the practice of this art he was assisted by
friends ; but he did not succeed as well with colors
as in drawing, and his attention was directed to
wood-engraving. His first attempt in this line
was a series of small penny toy primers. By de-
grees the work progressed, and in time he did the
business of a general engraver, including card-
plates, wood-cuts for the newspapers, marking sil-
ver-ware, and various kinds of simple work. In
1841 he removed to New York, and thereafter gave
his attention to steel-plate engraving. His pro-
ductions were soon in demand, and appeared in
many of the magazines. About 1858 he executed
a full-length portrait of President Buchanan, which
was then regarded as one of the best specimens of
that kind of work. He also engraved and pub-
lished a successful full-length portrait of Martha
Washington. During the civil war he published
"The Empty Sleeve," "Only a Little Brook,"
" Prayer in Camp," and several similar pictures,
whicH had an extensive sale. His work included
the engraving of nearly 3,000 plates, and it was his
pride that orders came to him on account of his
merit, without solicitation. He published in parts
" The American Portrait Gallery," of which the
letter-press was prepared bv his daughter, Lillian
C. Buttre (3 vols.. New York, 1880-'81).
BUTTRICK, John, soldier, b. in 1715; d. in
Concord, Mass., 16 May, 1791. He was one of the
leaders of the Concord militia on the memorable
19th of April, 1775.
BUTTS, Isaac, journalist, b. in Washington, Dutchess CO., N. Y.. 11 Jan., 1816 ; d. in Rochester, N. Y., 20 Nov., 1874. At the age of twelve he removed with his father's family to the town of Irondecjuoit, adjoining the city of Rochester, where he lived upon a farm and received common-school instruction. Approaching to majority, he sought a more liberal education and received it under the instruction of Prof. Chester Dewey, principal of the Rochester high school. After successfully following various pursuits, he adopted the profession of journalism, and in October, 1845, purchased and assumed editorship of the Rochester " Advertiser," the oldest daily paper in the United States west of Albany, and the leading organ of the Democratic party in western New York. During the following year, 1846, slavery became a prominent issue in the politics of the United States, as a consequence of the war with Mexico, and the pending acquisition of territory by treaty of peace. The question was, whether slavery should be allowed or prohibited by congress in the acquired territory, and discussion of it was forced in August, 1846, by the introduction in the house of representatives of the " Wilmot proviso," to the effect that slavery should be excluded. Mr. Butts took strong ground against both sides in the controversy, and promulgated the doctrine that the people of the territories should settle the question for themselves. Credit for the origin of this principle of " Popular Sovei-eignty," or " Squatter Sovereignty," as its opponents contemptuously stigmatized it, has been erroneously claimed for each of three distinguished senators — Daniel S. Dickinson, Lewis Cass, and Stephen A. Douglas — respectively from New York, Michigan, and Illinois. The records prove that it was first advocated by Mr. Butts in the daily "Advertiser " of 8 Feb.," 1847; by Mr. Dickinson in the senate, 13 Dec. 1847; by Gen. Cass in his Nicholson letter, 24 Dec, 1847 ; and by Judge Douglas in the discussion of the compromise measures in the senate, 17 June, 1850. In the division of the Democratic party that followed in 1848, Mr. Butts took side with the " Barnburners " of New York in support of Van Buren and Adams, against the " Hunkers," who sustained Cass and Butler. After the defeat of the latter he sold the " Advertiser" to a syndicate of " Hunkers," and, retiring from editorial service, engaged in the enterprise of the House printing telegraph and in the construction
