John George Butler (January 28, 1826 – August 2, 1909) was a prominent

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

clergyman who served as

Chaplain of the Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

and as

Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives The chaplain of the United States House of Representatives is the officer of the United States House of Representatives responsible for beginning each day's proceedings with a prayer. The House cites the first half of Article 1, Section 2, Claus ...

Early years

John George Butler was born in

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,075. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and comm ...

on January 28, 1826, the son of Jonathan Butler. His paternal grandfather and namesake was a well-known pioneer minister of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He was educated at the Cumberland Academy and graduated from the Pennsylvania College (now

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about ...

), and the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary at

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; ) is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the borough had a population of 7,106 people. Gettysburg was the site of ...

. He worked for a time at his father's store in Berlin, Pennsylvania.

Ministry

Ordained in 1848, he became pastor of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1849, serving there twenty-four years. He was one of the first regimental and hospital chaplains appointed by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

at the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He also served as chaplain to

George Atzerodt George Andrew Atzerodt (June 12, 1835 – July 7, 1865) was a German American repairman, Confederate sympathizer, and conspirator in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was assigned to assassinate Vice President And ...

, one of Lincoln's assassins, assuring him of divine compassion even to the gallows. At the end of the war he returned to Washington and was elected

. He was the organizing pastor of the

Luther Place Memorial Church Luther Place Memorial Church is a congregation belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The neo-Gothic church building in Thomas Circle in Washington, D.C., was designed by architects Judson York, J. C. Harkness, and Henry Davis ...

, in Washington, D.C., founded in 1873. He was also responsible for the heroic statue of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

in Luther Place, erected in 1884 on Luther's 400th anniversary. Butler served as

(1886–1893), and as professor of church history and homiletics at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. He died at the age of 83, on August 2, 1909, in his home, in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

John George and Ann E. Butler were the parents of Ella C. Butler, Dr. William K. Butler, Charles H. Butler (who was also a Lutheran pastor), and Grace E. Butler.1880 U S Census

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, John George 19th-century American Lutheran clergy Chaplains of the United States House of Representatives Chaplains of the United States Senate 1826 births 1909 deaths Religious leaders from Cumberland, Maryland