Edward Butler (1834-1911)
"Colonel Ed" or "Boss Butler" of St. Louis, Missouri
He was born in Ireland at Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow. He arrived in New York in 1846 at the age of twelve, becoming a blacksmith. He moved down to St. Louis in 1857. He became associated with those in local politics after the Civil War and in 1872, in return for getting votes for Mayor Brown, he was awarded the contract for shoeing the city's horses. His men who facilitated these votes, "Butler's Indians," worked closely with "Bad Jack" Williams' Bottoms Gang that terrorized St. Louis and whose crimes included voter intimidation, armed robbery, assault, illegal lottery, and murder.
Within a few years, Butler controlled the city's 5th Ward, fixing votes, casting fraudulent votes, and securing elections for the Democratic Party. In 1877, his support of Mayor Overstolz saw his brother-in-law, James Hardy, win the city's garbage-collection contract. It later transpired that Butler was Hardy's silent business partner. In the 1880s, he was indicted for conspiring to obstruct laws against gambling and lotteries; and, he was investigated by the Special Jury for his undue influence over the House of Delegates. He avoided conviction but his political reputation was tarnished. Nonetheless, his businesses prospered and he spent $90,000 opening the Standard Theater which offered live shows and burlesque performances, and expanded his blacksmithing operation to seven shops.
In 1900, he achieved an ambition by securing his son James' election to Congress. He continued to secure city contracts in return for favors, the most famous of which was for street-lighting, immortalized by Lincoln Steffens in his muckraking classic, The Shame of The Cities. He was convicted of bribery in 1904 and served 3-years. He had 8-children, lived at 3501 Pine Street and left $5 million to his 2-surviving children and grandchildren.
Within a few years, Butler controlled the city's 5th Ward, fixing votes, casting fraudulent votes, and securing elections for the Democratic Party. In 1877, his support of Mayor Overstolz saw his brother-in-law, James Hardy, win the city's garbage-collection contract. It later transpired that Butler was Hardy's silent business partner. In the 1880s, he was indicted for conspiring to obstruct laws against gambling and lotteries; and, he was investigated by the Special Jury for his undue influence over the House of Delegates. He avoided conviction but his political reputation was tarnished. Nonetheless, his businesses prospered and he spent $90,000 opening the Standard Theater which offered live shows and burlesque performances, and expanded his blacksmithing operation to seven shops.
In 1900, he achieved an ambition by securing his son James' election to Congress. He continued to secure city contracts in return for favors, the most famous of which was for street-lighting, immortalized by Lincoln Steffens in his muckraking classic, The Shame of The Cities. He was convicted of bribery in 1904 and served 3-years. He had 8-children, lived at 3501 Pine Street and left $5 million to his 2-surviving children and grandchildren.
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Image from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1911, on Newspapers.com; Biography in the
Dictionary of Missouri Biography by Edward C. Rafferty; Boss Butler and the St. Louis Machine, by Ken Zimmerman Jr.