Maple-Dell was the home of John Butler, a Quaker and early Goshen Township teacher who expressed his religious faith through humanitarian work. He opened his home to orphans, the homeless, and runaway slaves, and devoted 20 years of his life to supporting the Freedman's Camps for former slaves. Among those he sheltered was Edwin Coppock, who was hung with abolitionist John Brown after the raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859. In 1862, Butler met with President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to request exemption from military service for Quakers during the Civil War. In 1868, after President Grant petitioned the churches to help organize a peace policy for the Indians, Butler prepared and presented to Congress a proposal for humane treatment that included scientific and industrial education for them.