Chapter 10 cont. BUTLER TOWNSHIP. Butler township was organized in 1865 and was first named Ben Butler in honor of the gentleman of that name who became famous in the Civil war and later as a statesman.  Later the board of supervisors abbreviated the name by dropping the prefix Ben.  Butler is in the north tier of townships bordering on Clinton county.  The northern sections of the township are irregular and cut into by the Wapsipinicon river.  In the northern portion of the township is considerable timber, especially in the northwest part, and the west central section of the township has considerable timber in the locality of Walnut Grove.  The western boundary of Butler township is Winfield, the southern Lincoln and the eastern Princeton townships.  The first election for town officers took place October 8, 1865, and the first entry of land was made in 1836 by Henry Harvey Pease and John G. Grafford, jointly.  This entry consisted of 500 acres in wheat was known as Walnut Grove on section 19.  Alphonso Warren had previously indicated his ownership of this claim by having "blazed" trees thereon.  He relinquished his interests to Pease and Grafford for the sum of $100.  Pease, the pioneer of Butler township, built the first cabin and Alphonso Warren built the second on section 20 in the fall of 1838, as he had preceded both Pease and Grafford as settlers in the county.  Mr. Warren had come to the township from New York and operated a grindstone quarry in the township for several years before he removed to Kansas.  George Daly, a native of Ohio, had spent some time in Moline, Illinois, and in 1839 erected a flour mill on section 17, near a stream of water known at that time as Daly's creek.  Daly afterward settled in Jackson county, then removed to Plymouth county, where he died.  Clinton W. Pease, son of H. H. Pease, was the first white child born in the township.  His birth occurred September 1, 1839.  George Daly and Rebecca Arble were the first couple married in the township.  The wedding took place in 1839.  Miss Alice Alvord in 1846 taught the first school in the township in an old log house at Walnut Grove.  James and Alexander Brownlie, Presbyterian divines, held the first religious services in this section of the county at the residence of H. H. Pease in 1838.  Ciruit rider Brace, a Methodist minister, would often stop at the Pease home and hold services.  The first schoolhouse was a log structure and was erected on section 18 in 1850.  In 1861 the Mount Joy Methodist Episcopal church was built on section 30 and had for its first pastor Rev. S. H. Harmer.  Mount Union church was built in 1868 by members of the Presbyterian organization on section 35, and Rev. McBride was its first pastor.  About 1851 Claus Boltz settled on section 15.  Charles Bennet settled on section 35 in 1850.  George Washington Martin and Lafayette Martin were located in this township long before it was separated from Winfield township.  They came here in 1843.  John C. McCausland located on section 23 in 1855; William Mooney, in 1852; Henry F. Schlotfeldt, in 1853; Claus Mundt in 1855; George Baughman settled in Winfield township in 1847 and removed to Bulter township in 1855; and in 1859 J. Helble, a native of Germany, settled on section 26.  Butler township has nine school districts and three churches.   Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L