Charles Macalester

Charles Macalester (February 17, 1798 – December 9, 1873) was an American businessman, banker and philanthropist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served as a government director for the Second Bank of the United States and an advisor and friend to several U.S. presidents. His brokerage and financing activities made him one of the wealthiest people in the United States at the time. He bequested a former hotel property to a failing Presbyterian secondary school in Minneapolis, Minnesota that became Macalester College and was named in his honor. His Glengarry estate in the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Early life and education Macalester was born in Philadelphia on February 17, 1798, to immigrant parents from Scotland. His father was a ship-master who sailed often to the East Indies and Europe. Macalester was educated at Grey & Wylie's school and the University of Pennsylvania. While at university, he led a company of forty students to assist in the construction of a fort on the west bank of the Schuylkill River during the War of 1812. Career From 1821 to 1827, he worked as a merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio, before returning to Philadelphia. On August 24, 1832, his father died and Macalester inherited a large estate. Macalester retired as a merchant in 1849, but continued buying and selling securities and real estate. He worked for the stock brokerage firm Gaw, Macalester & Co., was an agent for the American-British financier George Peabody, a director of the Fidelity Insurance, Trust & Safe Deposit Co., a director of the Girard National Bank and a director of the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company. He made real estate investments, especially in Chicago, and was one of the wealthiest people in the United States.