Pierce Mason Butler Explained

Pierce Mason Butler
Order:56th
Office:Governor of South Carolina
Term Start:December 1, 1836
Term End:December 10, 1838
Lieutenant:William DuBose
Predecessor:George McDuffie
Successor:Patrick Noble
Birth Date:11 April 1798
Birth Place:Edgefield County, South Carolina, US
Death Place:Mexico City, Mexico
Resting Place:Christ Episcopal Church, Greenville, South Carolina
Spouse:Miranda Julia Duval
Party:Democratic
Rank:Colonel
Branch:United States Army
South Carolina militia
Allegiance:United States
Serviceyears:1818–1829, 1838–1847
Commands:Palmetto Regiment
Battles:Mexican–American War

Pierce Mason Butler (April 11, 1798August 20, 1847) was an American soldier and statesman who served as the 56th Governor of South Carolina from 1836 to 1838. He was killed while serving as colonel of the Palmetto Regiment at the Battle of Churubusco, during the Mexican–American War.

Early life and family

Born in Edgefield County, South Carolina, Butler was a son of William Butler and a brother of Andrew Pickens Butler and William Butler, Jr., all of whom served in the United States Congress. He was educated by Moses Waddel at the Willington Academy in Willington, South Carolina. He owned a 154-acre plantation with 27 slaves.[1]

Military service

Butler was appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1818 and rose to the rank of captain before resigning his commission in 1829. Following his term as Governor of South Carolina, he became agent to the Cherokee at Fort Gibson (present day Muskogee County, Oklahoma), a post he held until 1846.

Burial

Following his death in Mexico, Butler's body was returned to South Carolina for burial. He was first entombed at Trinity Episcopal Church, just across from the State House. In December 1853 he was reburied in the Butler Family Cemetery, in the graveyard of what is now the Butler Methodist Church in Saluda County. Others buried in the plot are his father, Major General William Butler, his mother, Behethland Foote Moore Butler, a sister, five of his six brothers, Colonel Zachariah Smith Brooks, grandfather of Preston Brooks, and two children of his brother William, the only sibling not buried there. He is buried at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenville. Collectively they were four Colonels, one General, one Lt. Colonel, three Majors, and one Judge and US Senator. The General was a member of Congress, too.[2]

Descendants

James C. Gardner, who served from 1954 to 1958 as the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, is a descendant of Pierce Mason Butler.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Butler, Pierce Mason . 2023-08-24 . South Carolina Encyclopedia . en-US.
  2. Yarborough, Motte Jean. "Pierce Mason Butler and the Palmetto Regiment" in Saluda County: In Scene and Story. (Columbia, South Carolina Tricentennial Press, 1970) 15.