In 1884, at the age of twenty-two, Alice Maude Butler (1866-1935) found herself in a United States courtroom with her fifty-four-year-old mother, Hannah Cordelia (Friar) Butler. The courageous mother-daughter duo testified against a man who called himself Dr. Richmond. The man was in fact Ira Richmond Butler, who had deserted his lawfully wedded wife, Hannah, and their six children. Hannah testified that in 1874 Ira claimed he was leaving Smiths Falls, Ontario to “seek a better home for us.” She did not see her husband again until ten years later in front of a grand jury in Lockport, New York. He was being charged with bigamy and manslaughter in the first degree.

The 1869 Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory lists Ira B. Butler as a watchmaker. Lovell’s Province of Ontario directory for 1871 confirms that J.R. Butler was a watchmaker on Main Street in Smiths Falls. However, when he arrived in Lockport, Ira falsely declared that he was a physician and a graduate of the New York Medical University. His lack of medical training likely contributed to a botched abortion he performed, which resulted in a death. He was subsequently charged with manslaughter in the first degree. Ira’s career as a womanizer is also well documented in the press. One of his numerous conquests was a wealthy widow by the name of Mrs. Sarah Platts from Lockport, New York, whom he married in 1883. Mrs. Platts later testified against Ira. In 1884, he was sentenced to six years at Auburn State Prison for manslaughter in the first degree and bigamy. The story became national news.

Within one year of his release from prison, Ira was arrested again. In 1891, he was convicted of bigamy for a second time. On this occasion, he had married a Mrs. Catherine Boulivette in Brockton, Massachusetts. The couple were found to be in possession of an impressive array of counterfeiting equipment, including plates and 26 moulds for making $5 and $10 gold pieces, a forge, bellows, and bars of metal. Ira was sentenced to two years in prison, while Catherine was discharged. The press condemned Ira on several occasions, referring to him as a “disreputable character,” “a bad egg” and “the sleekest kind of swindler.”