Mr. Butler was a native of Pelham, New Hampshire, where he was born on September 13, 1776, and a graduate of Dartmouth College, in the class of 1800.  He had been the preceptor of Groton Academy for some years, and was widely known as a critical scholar.  He had previously studied law with the Honorable Luther Lawrence, of Groton, though his subsequent practice was more in drawing up papers and settling estates than in attendance at courts.  His name is now identified with the town as its historian.  During his term of office as postmaster, the revenue rose from fifty dollars to one hundred and ten dollars a quarter.  He held the position nearly thirteen years, to the entire satisfaction of the public; but for political heresy was removed on January 15, 1839, when Henry Woods was commissioned as his successor.

Mr. Woods held the office until his death, which occurred on January 12, 1841; and he was followed by the Honorable George S. Boutwell, since the Governor of the Commonwealth and a member of the United States Senate.  During the administration of Mr. Woods and Mr. Boutwell, the office was kept in the brick store, opposite to the present High School.

Upon the change in the administration of the National Government, Mr. Butler was reinstated in office, and commissioned on April 15, 1841.  He continued to hold the position until December 21, 1846, when he was again removed for political reasons.  Mr. Butler was a most obliging man, and his removal was received by the public with general regret.  During his two terms he filled the office for more than eighteen years, a longer period than has fallen to the lot of any other postmaster of the town.  Near the end of his service a material change was made in the rate of postage on letters; and in his History (page 251) he thus comments on it:—­

The experiment of a cheap rate was put upon trial.  From May 14, 1841, to December 31, 1844, the net revenue averaged one hundred and twenty-four dollars and seventy-one cents per quarter.  Under the new law, for the first year and a half, the revenue has been one hundred and four dollars and seventy-seven cents per quarter.  Had the former rates remained, the natural increase of business should have raised it to one hundred and fifty dollars per quarter.  The department, which for some years before had fallen short of supporting itself, now became a heavy charge upon the treasury.  Whether the present rates will eventually raise a sufficient revenue to meet the expenditures, remains to be seen.  The greatest difficulty to be overcome is evasion of the post-office laws and fraud upon the department.

Like many other persons of that period, Mr. Butler did not appreciate the fact that the best way to prevent evasions of the law is to reduce the rates of postage so low that it will not pay to run the risk of fraud.