Zebulon Butler was born September 27, 1803 to a prominent family in the Wyoming valley of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Princeton College and its Seminary, and arrived in Vicksburg, Mississippi, as a missionary in 1827. Soon thereafter he supplied the pulpit at Port Gibson, Mississippi. He became a leading church figure in his area and supported the establishment of Oakland College. He was a member of the Mississippi Colonization Society and was noted for a compassionate attitude to slaves. Shortly before his death, he bequeathed land and $1,000 to erect a church for slaves, writing "surely all of our wealth and luxury come from the labor of those servants and we should give back." He died December 23, 1860.
From the description of Is the old school Presbyterian Church an abolition conspiracy? : Warrantee platform : A home tract, 1861. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 236178655