George Ide Butler was a Seventh-day Adventist

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

 minister, administrator, and author. Originally from Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, United States, Butler's parents were closely involved in the beginnings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but George expressed leanings to infidelity. In 1853 his family moved to Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 where he was converted at age 22 and baptized by J. N. Andrews. He then settled on a farm and taught school during the winter months. On March 10, 1859 he married Lentha Lockwood (1826-1901). They afterward settled near Waukon

Waukon, Iowa

Waukon is a city in Makee Township,Allamakee County, Iowa, United States, and the county seat of Allamakee County. The population was 4,131 at the 2000 census. It is home to the annual .-History:...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, where Butler resumed teaching.

In 1865, after the defection of Snook and Brinkerhoff, Butler was elected Iowa Conference president. In June 1867 Butler was given a ministerial license, and in October was ordained. He worked indefatigably as an evangelist, bringing unity to the previously fragmented conference. As a result of his rebuttals to the Marion party, which focused their dissent upon the ministry of Ellen G. White

Ellen G. White

Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...

, Butler became one of the foremost apologists to defend her during the 1860s and 1870s.

In 1872, due to his James White's

James Springer White

James Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...

 failing health, Butler was elected president of the General Conference

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, where it moved in 1989...

. Butler was active in raising funds to start Battle Creek College (now Andrews University

Andrews University

Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College in Battle Creek, Michigan, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists, and is the flagship university of the Seventh-day...

), and to establish the Pacific Press

Pacific Press Publishing Association

The Pacific Press Publishing Association, or Pacific Press for short, is one of two major Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses in North America. It was founded in 1874 by James White in Oakland, California, and is now located in Nampa, Idaho. Its titles include theological works as well as...

 in Oakland

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. In August 1874 Butler resigned as president and James White

James Springer White

James Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...

, now sufficiently recovered, took back the reins of leadership.

Butler returned to Iowa where at the next session of the Iowa-Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 Conference he was elected president (1876-1877). He started a vigorous evangelistic program, but when James White's health began to falter a second time, Butler was once again elected General Conference president. By October 1880 he had returned as General Conference president frequently counseling with Ellen White. In 1882 he also became president of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association. In 1886 he became entangled in a theological tangle with E. J. Waggoner over whether the law in the book of Galatians

Epistle to the Galatians

The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, often shortened to Galatians, is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of Early Christian communities in the Roman province of Galatia in central Anatolia...

 was the ceremonial or moral law. He also confronted the apostasy of D. M. Canright

D. M. Canright

Dudley Marvin Canright was a pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for 22 years, who later left the church and became one of its severest critics...

. By the time of the famous 1888 General Conference Session

1888 Minneapolis General Conference

The 1888 Minneapolis General Conference Session was a meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in October of 1888. It is regarded as a landmark event in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Key participants were Alonzo T. Jones, Ellet J....

 Butler called for those who were sympathetic to him to "stand by the old landmarks" or to not give up traditional theological positions. This called forth a strong rebuke from Ellen G. White

Ellen G. White

Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...

.

Soon after the 1888 session, Butler's health collapsed. The Butlers purchased a rural farm in Florida which they called "Twin Magnolias" and where they could raise citrus fruit and recuperate. However, the following year Lentha suffered a debilitating stroke. Some propose that Butler later repented for the wrong course he had followed at the 1888 General Conference session.

In 1901 Lentha died and George was elected the first president of the Florida Conference. The following year Butler became the first president of the South Union Conference and the Southern Publishing Association. In 1907 Butler married Elizabeth Work Grainger, whose husband had died in the mission field, and the next year they retired a second time.

The standard biography of G. I. Butler is E. K. Vande Vere, Rugged Heart (Southern Publishing Association, 1979).

External links

• Pioneer biography from the Ellen G. White Estate
  Ellen G. White Estate
  The Ellen G. White Estate, Incorporated, or simply the White Estate, is the official organization created by Ellen G. White to act as the custodian of her writings, which are of importance to the Seventh-day Adventist Church...
  
  website
• Research Trip Report to G. I. Butler Sites in Florida