Who was General Butterfield?
He must have been this fellow -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Butterfield.No reference to what Company affiliation or position he was in 1898. He was the son of John Butterfield (who started a stagecoach/ delivery business which later merged with two similar businesses owned by Wells and Fargo to form American Express.) His father was elected mayor of Utica in 1865.
General Butterfield was was born in Utica, and after his time in the army he worked for American Express ... so my guess is, with his father being the former mayor, there was some family real estate connection involved, and perhaps some financing connection to American Express (assuming American Express had evolved to that point by 1898).
