L. M. Butts was born in Delaware County, N. Y., February 21, 1843; removed to McHenry County, Ill., in 1852, where he lived until the beginning of the war, when he enlisted September, 1861, in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, taking an active part in nearly every battle in the Army of the Potomac, and was honorably discharged in October, 1864. In the spring of 1871 he located in Jewell County, Kan., taking a quarter-section of land under the homestead act, and at the general election that fall was elected to the office County Treasurer, which office he held two years from the following July. In the fall of 1874 he started in the mercantile business in Mankato, since which time, by fair dealing, strict integrity and close attention, his business has steadily increased, and he now carries a $15,000 stock, in a building 40×62 feet. He also carries a full line of farm implements and deals in grain. He is Past Master of Mankato Lodge No. 87 A. F. & A. M., and is a member of Concordia Chapter No. 45 R. A. M., and the I. O. O. F. and K. P. lodges.
