Charles T. Howard

Charles Turner Howard was an American businessman notable for organizing the Louisiana State Lottery Company in 1869. This corporation bribed Louisiana lawmakers to enable it to stay in business, and the firm amassed a considerable fortune over the years while Howard led a controversial life. He died at age 53 after a fall off of a carriage in Dobbs Ferry, New York, but his family continued his efforts at philanthropy and charitable giving.

Howard was born in Baltimore and attended college in this city. He moved south, and worked as a newsdealer and then later as a lottery and policy dealer. When the Civil War broke out, Howards business dealings were described as obscure according to a report in the New York Times. At a later point in his life, he claimed to have been a soldier for the confederate side for Tennessee, but this was subsequently disproven. In 1866, he was hired by the Kentucky lottery firm of C. H. Murray amp Company to apply for a lottery charter in Louisiana from the state legislature. This effort failed, but after two years, a second attempt succeeded, partially as a result of bribery of key lawmakers in Louisiana. Howard was given 50,000 to apply for a charter and when the legislative grant came through, he refused to turn the charter over to his employers. A member of the firm of C. H. Murray amp Co. named Marcus Cicero Stanley filed suit against Howard for being refused his just share of the profits.

Source: Wikipedia