Pierce Butler (justice)
| Pierce Butler | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
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In office December 21, 1922 – November 16, 1939 |
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| Nominated by | Warren Harding |
| Preceded by | William Day |
| Succeeded by | Frank Murphy |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 17, 1866 Dakota County, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | November 16, 1939 (aged 73) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Annie Cronin |
| Alma mater | Carleton College |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Pierce Butler (March 17, 1866 – November 16, 1939) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1923 until his death in 1939. He is notable for being the first Justice from Minnesota, and for being a Democrat appointed by a Republican president, Warren G. Harding.
Butler was born to Patrick and Mary Ann Butler, Catholic immigrants from County Wicklow, Ireland. (The pair met in Galena, Illinois, after having left the same part of Ireland because of the Irish Potato Famine.) Soon, the couple settled in Sciota, then Waterford, Dakota County, Minnesota. Their son Pierce Butler was the sixth of nine children born in a log cabin; all but his sister would live to adulthood.
Butler graduated from Carleton College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He read for the law and was admitted to the bar in 1888. He married Annie M. Cronin in 1891.
He was elected as county attorney in Ramsey County in 1892, and re-elected in 1894. Butler joined the law firm of How & Eller in 1896, which became How & Butler after the death of Homer C. Eller the following year. He accepted an offer to practice in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he took care of railroad-related litigation for James J. Hill. He was highly successful in representing railroads.
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