Butler moved to the United States in 1852 at the age of seventeen, working in Rochester, New York for the Rochester Union. In 1854 he returned to Hamilton, where he helped establish a union for printers.
In 1852, Butler moved to the United States at the age of seventeen, working as a printer in Rochester, New York for the Rochester Union. By 1854, he relocated back to Hamilton where he assisted in establishing a union for printers.