Rutland and Washington Railroad Co $1,000 Bond signed by Erastus Corning - 1852 dated Autograph Bond

Erastus Corning (December 14, 1794 – April 9, 1872) was a significant figure in the advancement of railroad infrastructure in New York State. He assumed the role of the inaugural President of the New York Central Railroad in 1853. Corning served as Mayor of Albany on four occasions and was elected twice as a Democratic Representative in the United States Congress. A notable anecdote recounts that during Abraham Lincoln's visit to New York in 1860, where he delivered a political speech at Cooper Institute, Corning extended an offer for Lincoln to become the general counsel of the New York Central, with an annual salary of $10,000, which Lincoln declined. Corning was an influential businessman and politician hailing from Albany, New York.

As a member of the Democratic Party, he is particularly recognized for his tenure as Albany's mayor from 1834 to 1837, his service in the New York State Senate from 1842 to 1845, and his time in the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1859 and again from 1861 to 1863. In his political career as a Democrat, Corning held the office of mayor in Albany from 1834 to 1837 and was a state senator from 1842 to 1845. He was elected to Congress in 1856, serving a full term from 1857 to 1859, and was re-elected in 1860, completing a partial term from March 1861 to October 1863. Corning participated as a delegate in the 1860 Democratic National Convention and attended the 1861 Peace Conference, which sought to avert the American Civil War. Despite his affiliation with the Democratic Party and the fact that President Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, Corning supported the Union during the war while also voicing his concerns regarding what he perceived as the excesses of the Lincoln administration.