Congregational clergyman, professor, author, lecturer, b. Rutland, Vt. He graduated from Middlebury College,Vt. (1836), and Andover Theological Seminary (1840). Before coming to Wisconsin, he toured Europe (1842-1843), lectured and preached in New England Congregational churches, and taught at Norwich Univ. and Wabash College. In 1858 Butler came to the Univ. of Wisconsin as professor of Greek and the humanities, holding this position until 1867 when the university was reorganized; Butler was not reappointed. He continued to reside in Madison, and became the self-appointed dean of literary activity. A scholar in the old sense of the word, Butler disliked specialization, and his interests ranged widely. He was popular as a lecturer, traveled extensively, and was a member of numerous cultural organizations. He was a prolific writer, and contributed articles on a wide range of subjects to the Nation and other magazines, and wrote literature promoting immigration for the Burlington and Missouri River R.R. Trans. Wis. Acad. S a l 15 (1907), pp. 897-905; M. Curti and V. Carstensen, Univ. of Wis. (2 vols., Madison, 1949); J. D. Butler, Butleriana . . . (Albany, 1888); J. D. Butler Papers; WPA MS.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the James Davie Butler Papers for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]