He settled his family at Butlersbury (near Johnstown, N.Y.), the estate his father had left him, and was appointed a justice of the peace. The next year he was second in command of the Indians when Johnson took Fort Niagara (near Youngstown, N.Y.), and in 1760 he held the same post in Amherst’s force advancing on Montreal.Īfter the war Butler continued to work under Johnson in the Indian department, appearing as an interpreter at councils with the Indians during the 1760s. He was with James Abercromby at the attack on Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga, N.Y.) and with John Bradstreet at the capture of Fort Frontenac (Kingston, Ont.) in 1758.
Butler continued to serve in this capacity throughout the Seven Years’ War, reaching the rank of captain. In May 1755 he brought him as an interpreter to the great council at Mount Johnson (near Amsterdam, N.Y.) the same year, when Johnson was given command of the colonial expedition against Fort Saint-Frédéric (near Crown Point, N.Y.), he appointed Butler a lieutenant over the Indians, a loosely defined position which involved some nominal leadership. Certainly Johnson became impressed with Butler’s abilities in Indian languages and diplomacy. Walter Butler was apparently on close terms with William Johnson and it is quite possible that John received some of his early training in dealing with the Indians from him. His father, a captain in the British army, brought his family to the Mohawk valley of New York about 1742, and three years later John was at Oswego (Chouaguen) with him. It seems clear, though, that he began his association with the frontier and the Six Nations at an early age. Virtually nothing is known of John Butler’s youth. BUTLER, JOHN, army officer, office-holder, and Indian agent baptized 28 April 1728 at New London, Connecticut, son of Walter Butler and Deborah Ely, née Dennison m. Catalyntje Bradt (Catharine Bratt) about 1752, and they had four sons and one daughter who survived infancy d. 13 May 1796 at Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.).
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