Charles Butler (February 15, 1802 – December 13, 1897) was an American lawyer and philanthropist.

Biography

Charles Butler was born at Kinderhook Landing, Columbia County, New York. He studied law in the office of

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

at Albany, and was admitted to the bar in 1824. He became wealthy by accumulating land at the site of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and through his investments in railways. It was his accumulation of Illinois land and railway building that helped turn Chicago into a city. He married Eliza A. Ogden in 1825. In 1835, he was one of the founders of the

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

. In 1836, he was appointed to the council of

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

, (where he served as an instructor) and he was a long serving Council President. He was a younger brother of

Benjamin Franklin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a ...

(US Attorney General under Martin Van Buren), and a relative of (both by blood and as an in-law), as well as a business associate of

William Butler Ogden William Butler Ogden (June 15, 1805 – August 3, 1877) was an American politician and railroad executive who served as the first Mayor of Chicago. He was referred to as "the Astor of Chicago." He was, at one time, the city's richest citizen ...

, the first mayor of Chicago. He died at his home in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 13, 1897.

References

External links

Diary thoughts of Chicago in 1833
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Charles 1802 births 1897 deaths Lawyers from Chicago New York University people 19th-century American lawyers