He was born on December 16, 1853, in Lewiston, Maine to Manly Orville Butler and Elizabeth Howe.

He had eight siblings: two of them, George H. Bulter and Charles H. Butler formed a partnership with Edward.

[3] For five years he sold goods throughout New England and Canada as a traveling salesman.

Having trained under Frank Charles Peyraud, Butler became a landscape painter.

[3] Butler moved to Pasadena, California after he retired from business.