JOSEPH GREEN BUTLER, JR.—The
state of Ohio has enrolled upon her banner of fame the names of men who
have become noted in the world of politics and business, whose
influence has been felt throughout the nation, and who will go down in
the history of our country as those who have been largely responsible
for its progress and prosperity. The subject of this review, although
not a native of the state, has been a resident in it for nearly half a
century, during which time his influence has been felt far and wide.
Joseph
G. Butler, Jr., was born at Temperance Furnace, Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, December 21, 1840, and is the son of Joseph Green Butler
and Temperance (Orwig) Butler. The traits of character which are
manifest in the Scotch-Irish race, such as industry, perseverance and
honesty, predominate in the mental and physical make-up of Mr. Butler,
and to these only can be attributed his success in life. His father, a
man of limited means, early instilled in him the fundamental principles
of an upright life. He was an original Washingtonian and an
uncompromising temperance advocate. In early life he came to Trumbull
county, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and also served as
sheriff of the county. The educational opportunities of the son were
limited and consisted principally of a few short months in the common
or public school at Niles, Ohio, which he attended at the same time
with Major William McKinley, and between the boys matured a friendship
which time has only strengthened. Mr. Butler was early compelled to
enter business life and when he was thirteen years old we find him
working in the old rolling-mill store belonging to the firm of James
Ward & Company, of which Mr. Butler, Sr., was manager. At sixteen
he was transferred to the shipping department of the rolling-mill,
where he served two years, and at eighteen was made bookkeeper of the
concern, which position he filled until twenty-one, when the entire
supervision of the office of James Ward & Company, which at that
time was looked upon as a very large concern was given in his charge.
In
1863 Mr. Butler entered the employ of Hale & Ayer, of Chicago, with
the expectation of being transferred thither. However, this firm owned
an interest in the Brown-Bonnell Iron Company, of Youngstown, and there
Mr. Butler was sent to represent his new employers. For three years he
continued with Hale & Ayer, and in 1866 formed a partnership with
Governor David Tod, William Ward and William Richards, for the purpose
of building a blast furnace at Girard, under the name of the Girard
Iron Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, divided
into four equal parts. Mr. Butler had charge of the financial part of
the enterprise, and when Governor Tod died in 1868 the estate disposed
of his share, which was acquired by A. M. Byers, of Pittsburg, to whom,
in 1878, Mr. Butler also sold his interest. At this time, at the
invitation of the sons of Governor Tod and John Stambaugh, Mr. Butler
bought an interest in the Brier Hill Iron Company, of which he became
manager. The corporation has been very successful, and to-day is, if
not the most important, certainly one of the principal industries of
Youngstown. In addition to the foregoing Mr. Butler is interested in
the Ohio Steel Company, which has a capital of $1,250,000, and of which
he is vice-president and one of the founders. He is also president of
the Bessemer Limestone Company, which he, with others, organized in
1887. All of these enterprises have been successful and prosperous. Mr.
Butler is a director of the Pittsburg, Youngstown & Ashtabula
Railway Company and of the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railway
Company, and is interested in the Aragon Mining Company, at Norway,
Michigan.
Notwithstanding Mr. Butler’s prosperity and industry,
he is by no means a man of large wealth. His generous nature and
open-handed hospitality has in a measure prevented the accumulation of
great wealth. When any one is in need his assistance is greatly sought
for, and all who are acquainted with him know his weakness in that
respect toward humanity. Socially, he is exceedingly popular and his
geniality has won for him the friendship of all who come in contact
with him. He is a member of the Ohio Society of New York, the American
Geographical Society, also of New York, the Union Club, of Cleveland,
the Duquesne Club, of Pittsburg, and the Rayen Club, of Youngstown.
It
is, however, as a supporter of the Republican party that Mr. Butler
merits the gratitude of the people of the eighteenth congressional
district of Ohio. No man has given more disinterested attention to the
party at all times or has been more willing to spend his time and money
in its behalf, and during all of these years he has never sought office
for himself but proves a steadfast friend to those who have filled
official positions, and has helped, to his utmost, their success. In
1868 he was a member of the first city council at Youngstown and has
served in a similar capacity twice since then, in addition to giving
his services to the board of health.
Mr. Butler’s ancestors on
the paternal side were among those who have been instrumental in
building up the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They aided the
formation of the infant republic and incidentally took part in the
different political complications that have arisen since the war of the
Revolution. Thomas Butler, Sr., Joseph Green and James Miles,
great-grandfathers of the subject of this review, were among the
pioneer iron manufacturers of Pennsylvania, a business that seems to be
an inheritance of the Butlers and Greens, General Nathaniel Greene’s
father being one of the first iron-makers of New Jersey; and most of
the Butlers, from Thomas, Sr., down to the present day, have been
interested in the business. Always loyal, the Butlers have been found
to be affiliated with the political parties which history has shown to
have been the most beneficial to our country’s progress, first as
Federalists, then as Whigs, and afterward as Free-soilers and
Republicans.
In 1791 Colonel Patton and Colonel Samuel Miles, of
Revolutionary fame, the latter a brother-in-law of Joseph Green, Sr.,
built near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, a blast furnace and called it
Center Furnace. The Milesburg Iron Works, in the Bald Eagle Valley, was
already in operation, having been built by Joseph Green, Sr., and John
and Joseph Miles. Among those interested in the early operation of the
above mentioned works was Joseph Butler, a son of Thomas Butler, Sr.,
who married Miss Esther Green, a daughter of Joseph Green, his business
partner. He abandoned the iron business for a time to serve in the war
of 1812, and in 1821 was elected sheriff of Center county on the Whig
ticket. The high tariff times of 1824 to 1828 was very beneficial to
the iron trade, and Center county, especially about Bellefonte and
Milesburg, was quite prosperous. Thomas Butler’s son, Joseph G. Butler,
Sr., while yet a young man, had become associated with his grandfather,
Joseph Green, as manager of the Center Furnace. The tinkering with the
tariff (commenced in 1832 and culminating in the financial crisis of
1837) suspended operations in the iron business until the Whigs got
into power in 1841, when a protective tariff was instituted that
encouraged the industries of the country and brought a reign of
prosperity until 1846. About 1838 Joseph G. Butler, Sr., came to
western Pennsylvania and built a furnace near Mercer, to which he gave
the name of Temperance Furnace, in honor of his wife, Temperance Orwig,
whose grandfather was the founder of Orwigsburg, in Schuylkill county.
Losing his property by fire in 1842, Mr. Butler moved to Niles, Ohio,
and took the management of James Ward & Company’s mills and
furnace. This firm eventually became one of the most prosperous in the
west.
Mr. J. G. Butler, Sr., identified himself with the
Republican party and was elected on that ticket to the office of
sheriff of Trumbull county in 1860, and again in 1862. While a young
man Mr. Butler was a schoolmate of the late Governor Curtin, of
Pennsylvania, who was always one of his stanchest friends.
Mr.
Butler certainly has cause for indulging in family pride, as he has
among his list of ancestors many prominent names. Coming from the
ancient house of Ormond through the Butlers, he is also connected with
Colonel Samuel Miles, of Revolutionary fame and the mayor of
Philadelphia in 1790, and one of his kinsmen, John Miles, being the
founder of the Baptist church in America. The Greens were of Quaker
stock, and on the Griffith side he is a descendant of Llewellyn
Griffith, marquis of Cardigan.
Joseph G. Butler was married
January 10, 1866, to Miss Harriet V. Ingersoll, a daughter of
Lieutenant Jonathan Ingersoll, of the United States navy, and three
children have been born to them: Blanche, now Mrs. E. L. Ford, whose
husband is the manager of the Youngstown Steel Company; they have two
children, John Willard and Josephine; Grace is the wife of Mr. Arthur
McGraw, of Detroit, who is a member of the firm of Parke, Davis &
Company, chemists, and they have one child, Arthur Butler McGraw; and
Henry A., a '97 student in Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Source: History of the Republican Party in Ohio, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1898, pages 568-570
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