The man who is today best known for his substantial financial contribution to the founding of Butler Hospital, Cyrus Butler, was born on May 9, 1767 in Providence, RI. He was one of five sons of Samuel Butler and Mary Athearn, though only two, Cyrus and his brother Samuel, Jr. lived to adulthood.
Samuel, Sr. had started out his career as a shoemaker on Martha’s Vineyard, but had moved to Providence as a young man in 1750 and eventually became a ship owner and merchant. By the time he died in 1814, both of his sons were comfortably wealthy.
Cyrus amassed a huge fortune in shipping, trading, banking, and real estate; in 1827, he was identified as Providence’s wealthiest man. He owned the Westminster Street land on which the Providence Arcade would be built, and he persuaded Benjamin and Charles Dyer, who owned the Weybosset Street land next to his, to participate in the project. The Arcade was constructed in 1828 as a joint venture between Butler and the Arcade Realty Company, and was the first big commercial enterprise on the west side of the Providence River. Many locals had their doubts, referring to it in its early years as “Butler’s Folly,” but Butler’s foresight and business acumen were proven correct within a few short years.
His ships participated in worldwide trade, including substantial business with Russia, and the import of hides from Buenos Aires.
He was also an early president of the Bank of North America in Providence, a position he held until 1840.
Butler had a reputation for not being particularly charitable, but he was persuaded to support two Providence institutions, and he did so generously.
He was one of the founders of the Providence Athenaeum, having been persuaded by John Russell Bartlett, a cashier at his bank, to invest in the Athenaeum (which was originally housed in Butler’s Arcade). He appealed to Butler’s pragmatic side, telling him that it would bring traffic into the Arcade. Butler would go on to make further financial contributions, including a gift made after his death (described below).
The other major institution he supported was originally known as the Rhode Island Hospital for the Insane. Nicholas Brown, Jr., a contemporary of Butler’s, had died in 1841 and left a $30,000 bequest in his will for an asylum to be built in Providence. The hospital was incorporated in 1844, and a fundraising campaign was undertaken. Cyrus Butler succumbed to the blandishments of activist Dorothea Lynde Dix when she approached him for a major gift. He agreed to give $40,000 if subscriptions totaling that
amount could be sold to the public. This campaign proved successful, and the resulting asylum, whose first building was completed in 1847, was renamed in Butler’s honor. Butler Hospital still operates today, off Blackstone Boulevard on the East Side of Providence.
Cyrus Butler died in 1849 with an estate worth approximately $3$4 million. (In today’s dollars, that would be over $100 million.) He had no wife or children, so his fortune was largely left to his brother Samuel’s daughter Sarah and her husband, Alexander Duncan, who had been in business with Cyrus since 1839. Duncan would go on to support Butler Hospital with further gifts from this inheritance.
Shortly after Butler’s death, Duncan also bequeathed an unexpected windfall to the Athenaeum (which by this time was located in the building on Benefit St. it currently occupies). According to Jane Lancaster, the author of Inquire Within: A Social History of the Providence Athenaeum since 1753:
Butler had two major charitable interests: the “amelioration of the treatment of the Insane,” . . . and the Athenaeum. Butler believed that the Athenaeum, “if well managed,” would have “a most beneficial influence
on the character of the inhabitants of this city,” and accordingly he
donated $10,000, of which $6,000 was to be added to the endowment. . . .
Although Butler’s bequest was never put in writing, Duncan decided to
carry out his partner’s wishes.
Butler was originally buried at the Beneficent Congregational Church burial ground (part of West Burial Ground), but his remains and those of other family members were removed to the North Burial Ground in 1858. At that time, Duncan erected a massive obelisk to mark the site.
That obelisk bears the following inscription:
Cyrus Butler was born in Providence
and early engaged in commerce with his father and brother
whose remains now rest in this enclosure
Distinguished for untiring industry
a resolute will a clear sagacity
and a sound judgment
and governed by an uncompromising honesty
he devoted the active years of a long life to the pursuits of trade
He accumulated a large fortune
by the judicious management of which
he contributed much to the commercial prosperity
of his native town
By a munificent donation during his life
he aided largely in founding in this city
on the banks of the Seekonk River
the Butler Hospital for the Insane
Catherine Beyer Hurst, MBA, Writer and Community Historian
Further Reading
Woodward, William McKenzie and Sanderson, Edward F. Providence: A Citywide Survey of Historic Resources. Providence: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1986.
Lancaster, Jane. Inquire Within: A Social History of the Providence Athenaeum since 1753. Providence, RI: The Providence Athenaeum, 2003.
The form nominating Butler Hospital for the National Register of Historic Places can be found here, and contains history about the site and Butler’s role.