1866: Born Dec. 18 in Mainesville, Ohio, to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Butterworth.
1889: Graduates from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and goes to work for the U.S. Commissioner to the Paris Exposition.
1892: While serving for the U. S. Commission of Patents, Butterworth completes night courses and graduates from the National University Law School. He passes the bar exam and forms a partnership with Burton F. Peek.
1892: Butterworth marries Katherine Deere, daughter of Charles Deere, on June 22, and joins Deere & Company as assistant buyer.
1897-1907: Butterworth serves as Deere & Company treasurer.
1907-28: Following the death of Deere President Charles Deere, Butterworth serves as the company’s third president.
1928-36: Butterworth serves as Deere’s first chairman of the board.
Career accomplishments: As president, Butterworth establishes the company as a full-line manufacturer of farm equipment, overseeing mergers in 1911 and the company’s entry into the tractor business. He also develops employee group insurance, and a factory death, disability and pension plan.
Public contributions: Public-minded William and Katherine Butterworth serve such entities as the Boy Scouts, YMCA, Kings Daughters and the Red Cross, among many others. William also serves on the boards of the Public Library and City Hospital, as alderman of the Moline’s old Second Ward from 1896-98, and he donates a swimming pool to a Moline summer camp. He also serves as a director of the Playground and Recreation Association of America.
1936: Butterworth dies on May 31.

(Adapted from "Inventory to William Butterworth papers")