Background
Simeon Butler was born on March 25, 1770 probably at Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Simeon Butler was born on March 25, 1770 probably at Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Simeon Butler migrated about 1790 from Hartford to Northampton, Massachussets, where he had been preceded by two cousins, William and Daniel Butler, both of whom were already prominent in that town, the former having established in 1786 the Hampshire Gazette for the purpose of opposing the malcontents of the Shays Rebellion, while the latter for many years (1817 - 49) operated the paper-mill built by his brother, William, in 1795.
Immediately upon his arrival Simeon established himself as a bookbinder and bookseller. For a short time (1793) he was in partnership with William Butler, but after 1794 seems to have conducted the business alone. The bookselling speedily became subordinated to publishing and binding, and the shop of Simeon Butler became famous not only as the first, but for a half century the most important publishing house in western Massachusetts.
In 1800 he was appointed postmaster of Northampton, an office which he held for six years.
Simeon Butler was a man of force of character and distinct individuality, the autocrat of his household and of his business.
Quotes from others about the person
According to William Allen, his fellow townsman and contemporary, "he published the first volume of the Massachusetts Reports and two or three hundred thousand other volumes of valuable books" .
Shortly after his arrival in Northampton he married in 1795 Mary Hunt (1774 - 1829), a member of a prominent local family, by whom he had ten children; after her death he married Charlotte McNeill of New York (1833).