He was born in
Berwick, Maine and graduated at
Bowdoin College in 1837. Following his graduation, he began teaching, including for several months as an assistant teacher in the
Parsonsfield Seminary. Butler graduated from
Andover Theological Seminary in 1844 and then became a professor of systematic theology in the
Whitestown Seminary at
Whitestown, New York from 1844 to 1854 in the school's graduate department, which later became known as
Cobb Divinity School at
Bates College. In 1854 when the school moved to New Hampshire he continued to hold the professorship of systematic theology in the
seminary at
New Hampton, New Hampshire for 16 years, and starting in 1870 at
Bates College at
Lewiston, Maine for 3 years when the school moved there. In 1860,
Bowdoin College granted him the degree of
Doctor of Divinity. In 1873, Butler was appointed chair of Hebrew Language and Literature at
Hillsdale College where he taught until his death in 1891. ==Writings==