Charles Butler
A Register of His Papers in the Library of
Congress
Prepared by Mary Wolfskill
Revised
and expanded by Emily Zehmer
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
1995
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
Manuscript
Division,
2001
2004-10-28 converted from EAD 1.0 to EAD 2002
Title: Papers of Charles Butler
Span Dates: 1819-1929
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1825-1894)
ID No.: MSS14522
Creator:
Butler, Charles,
1802-1897
Extent:
2,172
items;
5 containers;
3 linear feet;
4
microfilm reels
Language: Collection material in English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Entrepreneur, lawyer,
and philanthropist. Correspondence, travel diaries, legal, financial, and
business papers, and maps, newspaper clippings, and other papers documenting
Butler's involvement in New York politics and his interest in such matters as
anti-Masonry, public debts in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, loans to farmers
by the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, legal cases (particularly the
William Morgan kidnapping), and improvements in transportation, especially in
roads, canals, and railroads.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person
or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein.
Names:
Butler,
Charles, 1802-1897
Bancroft, George,
1800-1891--Correspondence
Bard, William,
1778-1853--Correspondence
Bigelow, John,
1817-1911--Correspondence
Bissell, Edward
C.--Correspondence
Bronson,
Arthur--Correspondence
Bronson, Isaac,
1760-1838--Correspondence
Butler, Benjamin F.
(Benjamin Franklin), 1795-1858--Correspondence
Butler, Eliza A.
Ogden--Correspondence
Croswell, Edwin,
1797-1871--Correspondence
Curtis, George William,
1824-1892--Correspondence
Farnsworth, Elon,
1799-1877--Correspondence
Fiske, John,
1842-1901--Correspondence
Hopkins, Mark,
1813-1878--Correspondence
Lyon, Lucius,
1800-1851--Correspondence
Marcy, William L.
(William Learned), 1786-1857--Correspondence
Morgan, William, 1774-ca.
1826
Ogden, William B.
(William Butler), 1805-1877--Correspondence
Olcott, Thomas W. (Thomas
Worth), 1795-1880--Correspondence
Van Buren, Martin,
1782-1862--Correspondence
Whiting,
Bowen--Correspondence
Antimasonic
Party
New York Life Insurance
and Trust Company
Subjects:
Agricultural credit--19th
century
Canals
Debts,
Public--Illinois
Debts,
Public--Indiana
Debts,
Public--Michigan
Freemasonry
Maps
Railroads
Transportation
Illinois--Description and
travel
Indiana--Description and
travel
Michigan--Description and
travel
New York (State)--Politics
and government--1775-1865
Occupations:
Businessmen
Lawyers
Philanthropists
Provenance:The papers of Charles Butler, lawyer, philanthropist, and
entrepreneur, were given to the Library of Congress by his daughter, Emily O.
Butler, in 1925. A small group of letters was purchased in 1991.
Processing History:The papers of Charles Butler were arranged and described in 1976.
Additional material received in 1991 was incorporated into the collection in
1995.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Charles
Butler is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17,
U.S.C.).
Microfilm:A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on four
reels from the Library's Photoduplication Service for purchase subject to the
Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). The microfilm edition,
which does not include the 1991 purchase, may also be requested on interlibrary
loan through the Library's Loan Division.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container or reel number, Charles Butler Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
| Date |
Event |
| 1802, Jan. 15 |
Born,
Kinderhook Landing, N.Y.
|
| 1819 |
Clerk, law office of
Martin Van Buren,
Albany, N.Y.
|
| 1822 |
Appointed deputy clerk,
New York State Senate
|
| 1824 |
Admitted to
New York bar
|
| 1825 |
Married
Eliza A. Ogden
|
| 1826-1827 |
Prosecuted the kidnappers of
William Morgan, a Freemason
|
| 1829 |
Appointed postmaster,
Geneva, N.Y.
|
| 1830 |
Agent,
New York Life Insurance and Trust Co.
|
| 1833 |
Traveled in
Michigan,
Indiana, and
Illinois
|
| 1834 |
Moved to
New York, N.Y.
|
| 1836 |
One of twenty-four founders of
Union Theological Seminary,
New York, N.Y., and a member of its first
board of directors
Member, Council of the
University of the City of New York,
N.Y.
|
| 1862, ca. |
President,
St. Louis, Alton, and Terre Haute Railroad
Co.
|
| 1870-1897 |
President,
Board of Directors, Union Theological
Seminary,
New York, N.Y.
|
| 1897, Dec. 13 |
Died,
New York, N.Y.
|
The papers of
Charles Butler (1802-1897) span the years
1819-1929 but are most numerous for the period 1825-1894. They include
correspondence, diaries, notes, maps, newspaper clippings, and printed matter
and document both Butler's public and private life.
The collection, consisting chiefly of correspondence dating from 1819
to 1901, includes letters sent as well as letters received, a large number of
typed copies, a letterbook for the years 1836-1844, and legal, financial, and
business papers. This material documents Butler's involvement in
New York politics, his interest in internal
improvements including roads, canals, and railroads, and such matters as
anti-Masonry, public debts in
Indiana and
Michigan, loans to farmers by the
New York Life Insurance and Trust Company and
legal cases, particularly the
William Morgan kidnapping. The papers also include
a large number of family letters, especially between Butler and his wife,
Eliza Ogden Butler, his brother,
Benjamin Franklin Butler, and his brother-in-law,
William B. Ogden. Other correspondents include
William Bard,
Edward Bissell,
Arthur Bronson,
Isaac Bronson,
Edwin Croswell,
Elon Farnsworth,
Lucius Lyon,
William L. Marcy,
Thomas W. Olcott,
Martin Van Buren, and
Bowen Whiting.
Several diaries cover Butler's travels in the
Midwest in 1833 and include accounts of the people
whom he met and descriptions of places visited, especially in
Michigan,
Indiana, and
Illinois. Also of interest are recollections and
notes that highlight Butler's life and a description of a meeting with
Martin Harris, a Mormon who sought financial
support for publishing the
Book of Mormon.
Maps of
Indiana for the period 1846-1847 and 1856-1857
delineate railroads, canals, and county seats. An 1873 map depicts a proposed
canal route from
Toledo to
St. Louis and
Chicago. Newspaper clippings relate principally to
the settlement of the suit of the
St. Louis, Alton, and Terre Haute Railroad Company
against Charles Butler and
Samuel J. Tilden.
Printed matter, 1830-1890, includes such items as pamphlets, reports,
advertisements, and legislative bills. There are also circulars of the
New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, the
St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Company
and the
Wabash and Erie Canal Company and items relating
to internal improvements and public debts in
Illinois,
Michigan, and
Indiana.
Additional items acquired in 1991 include thirty-six letters,
1854-1929, to Charles Butler and other family members, together with
typewritten transcripts of the letters. Correspondents includes
George Bancroft,
John Bigelow,
William Curtis,
John Fiske, and
Mark Hopkins.
| Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1
REEL 1
|
Correspondence |
|
|
Originals |
|
|
1819-1842 |
|
(9
folders)
|
|
BOX 2
REEL 2
|
1843-1846 |
|
(8
folders)
|
|
BOX 3
REEL 2-3
|
1847-1894, n.d. |
|
(13
folders)
|
|
BOX 4
REEL 3
|
Letterbook, 1836-1844 |
|
|
Typescript, 1825-1892,
1901
|
|
(8
folders)
|
|
BOX 5
REEL 4
|
Miscellany |
|
|
Diary, material concerning a trip
through the Midwest, 1833, including a diary, partial typescript of a diary, an
account written in 1881, and a copy of a letter written to the
Chicago Herald, 1893
|
|
|
Recollections and biographical
notes
|
|
|
Maps of Indiana, 1846-1847,
1856-1857, 1873
|
|
|
Newspaper clippings, ca.
1846-1905
|
|
|
Printed matter, ca.
1830-1890
|
|
|
Addition |
|
|
Correspondence, 1854-1929,
n.d.
|
|
|
Transcripts |
|
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