Benjamin Franklin Butler was a jurist, soldier, statesman, and patriot whose talents were devoted to the service of his country and the advancement of his fellow men. He was born on November 5, 1818, in Deerfield, New Hampshire, married Sarah, daughter of Israel Hildreth, on May 16, 1844, in Lowell, Massachusetts, and died on January 11, 1893, in Washington, District of Columbia. He held that the true touchstone of civil liberty is not that all men are equal but that every man has the right to be the equal of every other man if he can.