 He published an illustrated book, "My Ride to the Barbecue" in 1860 about a major civic event he hosted on September 11, 1858 (probably in conjunction with his political campaign described below), which reportedly 5000 people attended.Boteler was fascinated by politics and was a member of several small and short-lived political parties.He was briefly the national secretary of the Know Nothing Party, and at other times a member of the Whigs (a delegate to the Richmond convention and presidential elector in 1852), and in 1860 became the national secretary of the Constitutional Union Party.