Charles Butler signed St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Co. - Autographed Stocks and Bonds

Charles Butler (1802-1897) was an American lawyer and philanthropist. He was born at Kinderhook Landing, Columbia Co., N.Y.; studied law in the office of Martin Van Buren at Albany, N. Y.; and was admitted to the bar in 1824. He became wealthy by accumulating land at the site of Chicago, Illinois and Toledo, Ohio.  He also bought interest in the Michigan Southern, the Rock Island, and the Chicago & Northwestern railroads. It was his accumulation of Illinois land and railway building that helped turn Chicago into a city.

In 1835, he was one of the founders of the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. In 1836, he was appointed to the council of NYU, (where he served as an instructor) and he was a long serving Council President.  He was a relative of (both by blood and as an in-law), as well as a business associate of William Butler Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago.