At age 16, he enlisted in the Union Army, serving in "Wisconsin's 47th Infantry"—for the last six months of the conflict; the company did not see combat and no event of note took place.
The patent attorneys who assisted Butz in preparing the application were Amasa Paul, Rufus Sanford, and T. Dwight Mervin.
On August 16, 1892, the stockholders of the Electric Thermostat Company BBC agreed to sell an extensive list of patents to W.R. Sweatt for the sum of $1.00.
On October 5, 1892, the directors changed the name to the Electric Heat Regulator Company, recapitalized it, and elected William Sweatt as both Secretary and Treasurer.
The stockholders agreed to accept the assets of the Electric Thermostat Company and to assume the liabilities of Sweatt as a trustee.