Walter Halben Butler was a lawyer, teacher, newspaper publisher, and one-term Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Iowa's 4th congressional district

Iowa's 4th congressional district

Iowa's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers most of the north-central part of the state....

, then located in northeastern Iowa.

Born in Springboro, Pennsylvania

Springboro, Pennsylvania

Springboro is a borough in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 491 at the 2000 census.-History:Incorporated as a borough in the Spring of 1866, the crossroads officially became Springboro in 1875....

, Butler moved to Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in 1868 with his parents, who settled in Mankato

Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

, in Blue Earth County

Blue Earth County, Minnesota

Blue Earth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 64,013. Its county seat is Mankato.Blue Earth County is part of the Mankato–North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

.
He attended public and private schools, and was graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 in 1875.
After studying law, he was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1875 and commenced practice in Princeton, Wisconsin

Princeton, Wisconsin

Princeton is a city in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,504 at the 2000 census. The city is located within the Town of Princeton, though it is politically independent.-Transportion:...

.
He 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...

 in 1876 and taught school at La Porte City

La Porte City, Iowa

La Porte City is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,275 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:La Porte City is located at ....

 until 1878, and at Manchester

Manchester, Iowa

Manchester is a city in Delaware County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,257 at the 2000 census. As of the 2005 population estimates, Manchester's population was 5,052...

 until 1880.
He moved to West Union, Iowa

West Union, Iowa

West Union is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,549 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County...

, in 1883 and became owner and publisher of the Fayette County Union.
From 1885 to 1889, he served as superintendent of the Railway Mail Service's tenth division, at St. Paul, Minnesota .
He returned to West Union, and resumed his former newspaper pursuits.

In 1890, Butler was nominated as a Democrat to run against incumbent Republican U.S. House Representative Joseph Henry Sweney

Joseph Henry Sweney

Joseph Henry Sweney was a one-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district in northeastern Iowa....

 from the 4th congressional district. After defeating Sweney in the general election as part of a Democratic landslide, he served in the Fifty-second

52nd United States Congress

The Fifty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

 Congress. In 1892 he was defeated in his first re-election bid, by former Republican Congressman Thomas Updegraff

Thomas Updegraff

Thomas Updegraff was an attorney and five-term Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from northeastern Iowa. His two periods of service were separated by ten years out of Congress....

. Butler served in Congress from March 4, 1891 to March 3, 1893.

After leaving Congress, he returned to northeastern Iowa for five years. He moved to Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

, in 1897 and to Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, in 1907. He engaged in the real estate and loan business and, later, in banking. He died in Kansas City on April 24, 1931.
He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery.