Butler, Ezra

Butler, Ezra a Baptist minister, was born in Lancaster, Mass., in Sept. 1763. In 1790 he was converted and baptized, and in 1800 was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in Waterbury, Vt., where he remained for over thirty years. With that of preacher Mr. Butler united various civil offices; among them judge of the County Court in 1805, member of Congress from 1813 to 1815, governor of the state from 1826 to 1828, and presidential elector in 1836. His administration as governor was chiefly distinguished by a successful effort for the suppression of lotteries, and by some essential improvements in the system of common school education. During a considerable part of his life Mr. Butler was subject to much bodily infirmity, and especially for some years previous to his death, which occurred July 12,1838. — Sprague, Annals, vi, 411.