Samuel Butman (April 30, 1788 – October 9, 1864) was an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. A farmer and

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

veteran, Butman served in the

Maine State House The Maine State House in Augusta, Maine, is the state capitol of the State of Maine. The building was completed in 1832, one year after Augusta became the capital of Maine. Built using Maine granite, the State House was based on the design of th ...

before entering the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, where he represented Maine's seventh congressional district. Late in life he entered the

Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

, where he served as the chamber's president. Butman was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, on April 30, 1788. His family moved to Dixmont in present-day Maine (then a region of Massachusetts) in 1805. There his father, an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

veteran, worked as a farmer. During the War of 1812, Butman served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of a militia company that participated in the ill-fated

Battle of Hampden The Battle of Hampden was an action in the British campaign to conquer present-day Maine and remake it into the colony of New Ireland during the War of 1812. Sir John Sherbrooke led a British force from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to establish New I ...

. In 1820, he attended the state constitutional convention. Two years later, in 1822, he was elected to the Maine state house, and served that year; he served in the state senate from 1826 to 1827. Butman left the state legislature to serve in the 20th and 21st Congresses (March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831) in the U.S. House of Representatives as a representative of Maine's seventh district. In 1846, Butman was county commissioner of Penobscot County. He served one last term in the state senate as a Whig and was elected the body's president in 1853. He died in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Maine, on October 9, 1864.

References

*"Butman, Samuel, 1788-1864." ''

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates fr ...

''

1788 births 1864 deaths Members of the Maine House of Representatives Presidents of the Maine Senate People from Dixmont, Maine Politicians from Worcester, Massachusetts County commissioners in Maine Farmers from Maine National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Maine Legislature Politicians from Penobscot County, Maine {{Maine-MESenate-stub