Butler, Chester P.

Born: 1798-03-21 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Died: 1850-10-05 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Butler attended Wilkes-Barre Academy and graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1817. He served as a trustee of Wilkes-Barre Academy, from 1818 to 1838. He worked as a secretary and studied law at Litchfield Law School. He earned admittance to the Pennsylvania bar in 1820 and started a practice in Wilkes-Barre. Butler served as register and recorder of Luzerne County, from 1821 to 1824. He won election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1832, 1838, 1839, and 1843. In 1847, Butler won election, as a Whig, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving alongside Abraham Lincoln. He served in Congress until his death.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 755; Gravestone, Hollenback Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre, PA.