William Allen Butler (February 20, 1825 – September 9, 1902)[1] was an American lawyer and writer of poetical satires.

[3] His most famous satirical poem, Nothing to Wear, was first published anonymously in Harper's Weekly in 1857 (see 1857 in poetry), though Butler was forced to reveal his name after someone else claimed authorship.

[5] Together, they were the parents of Howard Russell Butler, a painter and founder of the American Fine Arts Society, who was born in 1856.

His other children included Benjamin Franklin Butler, Jr., Mrs. Edmund Dwight, Mrs. Thomas S. Kirkbride, and Mrs. Alfred Booth.

[8] Butler died at his residence, Round Oak, in Palisade Avenue in Yonkers, on September 9, 1902, due to sudden gastritis.