Butler, George H. ( Harry Zena ) (-1886)

There is no indication as to George H. Butler's means of support; he appears to have roamed from job to job without any permanent place of employment. Butler is identified as one of the "friends of Henry Clapp in the city of New York," but not necessarily as a Pfaffian ("Current Memoranda" 714). He was one of several Pfaffians who organized Clapp's funeral (T. Miller 40).

Butler's eulogy in the Hunterdon Country Democrat claims that he was "the dissipated nephew of General B. F. Butler, who has been one of the characters of the National Capital for years." In Other Days, William Winter confirms this familial connection and provides a detailed example of Butler's dissipation. Winter recalls how George H. Butler, nephew of General B. F. Butler, approached him at Brougham's Theater, informing him that James Fisk, Jr., a theatre manager who Butler represented, would offer Winter $2,500 a year to drop an occasional good word about him into the papers. Winter flatly rejected this attempted bribe (116-17).

After the war, General Butler helped his nephew become Consul General to Egypt: "When the young man, through the influence of his uncle, was appointed consul-general to Egypt, his wife [Rose Eytinge] accompanied him there; and in the land of the Nile planned her portrayal of the Egyptian Queen" (C. Wingate 173).

References & Biographical Resources

"Current Memoranda." Potter's American Monthly. Sep. 1875: 710-715. [more about this work]: Identified as one of "the friends of Henry Clapp in the city of New York," but not necessarily a Pfaffian. [pages: 714]
Haynes, John Edward. Pseudonyms of Authors: Including Anonyms and Initialisms. New York, 1882. [more about this work]: This text identifies the following pseudonyms: Harry Zena (43), Rifle (81). [pages: 43, 81]
Miller, Tice L. Bohemians and Critics: American Theatre Criticism in the Nineteenth Century. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1981. [more about this work]: Butler was one of several Pfaffians who organized Clapp's funeral. [pages: 40]
Wilson, James Grant and John Fiske, eds. Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume II, Crane-Grimshaw. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1888. [more about this work]: Mentions that Rose Eytinge married George H. Butler. [pages: 396]
Wingate, Charles E. L. Shakespeare's Heroines on the Stage. New York: T.Y. Crowell & Company, 1895. [more about this work]: Describes Butler's marriage to Rose Eytinge and his appointment as consul general to Egypt. [pages: 173]
Winter, William. Other Days; Being Chronicles and Memories of the Stage. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1908. 389 p. [more about this work]: Winter describes George H. Butler as the nephew of General B. F. Butler and mentions his attempted bribe on behalf of James Fisk, Jr. Butler offered Winter an annual salary of $2,500 to drop an occasional good word about Fisk into the papers. Winter rejected the offer. [pages: 116-17]
"[Obituary of George H. Butler]." The Hunterdon County Democrat. 18 May 1886. [more about this work]: Identifies George H. Butler as the nephew of General B. F. Butler. Buter worked for his uncle during the war and was once married to Rose Eytinge.