Autographs
General Benjamin Butler Typed Letter Signed & Program
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER (1818-1893). Major General in the Civil War Union Army, nicknamed "Beast Butler", elected to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts from 1883 to 1884.


Two (2) Benjamin F. Butler related Documents in lot.

1. March 12, 1886-Dated, 8” x 10” Typed Letter Signed, from Mr. Butler to a William H. Anderson, Esq. Content pertaining to a deposit for an examination in a case under Mr. Butler, as lawyer.

2. 1876-Dated, Imprint Program, not signed, for “Memorial Services by Encampment John A. Andrew, Post 15, Dept. Mass. (Grand Army of Republic)”, measuring 5.25” x 8.5”, 4 pages, Very Fine. “Order of Exercises” on inside of program with an oration by General Butler and a list of “The Honored Dead”. Printed by “Smith & Porter, Spring Lake.”
Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893). Butler served in the Massachusetts legislature and as an officer in the state militia. During the American Civil War, Butler served as a major general in the Union Army, and became a despised figure in the South during the Union occupation of New Orleans. After the war, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts from 1883 to 1884.

In 1868, while serving in Congress, Butler had a prominent role in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. As Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction, Butler authored the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, that gave federal authority to prosecute and destroy the Klan in the South.

Butler authored, along with Sen. Charles Sumner, the Civil Rights Act of 1875, signed into law by President Grant. This law, a final act of Reconstruction, gave African American US citizens the right to public accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, lodging, and public entertainment establishments.