Butler, William, 1825-1905

Butler was born in Ireland, immigrated to the U.S., and joined the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City in 1850. Butler served three missions to Great Britain for the Mormon Church. When he returned from the first of these in 1856, he accompanied the Ellsworth handcart company to Utah. William was a farmer and lived primarily in Marriott and Kaysville, Utah. He served with Lot Smith and the Utah militia resisting federal forces in 1857-8. Butler had five wives, thirty children, and served time in the Utah territorial prison for bigamy.

From the guide to the William Butler autobiographies and letters, 1850-1905, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)