William Barclay Charles (April 3, 1861 – November 25, 1950) was an American politician from New York.

Life

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Charles attended private schools and high schools in Stirling and Glasgow, Scotland. He immigrated to the United States in 1884 and spent two years ranching in Texas and Mexico. He settled in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The City of Amste ...

, in 1886 and engaged in textile manufacturing. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Montgomery Co.) in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia ( Shostakovich's 11th Symphony ...

and

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

. He served as director of the Amsterdam First National Bank. Charles was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

64th United States Congress The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...

, holding office from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1917. Charles continued in the textile business until his retirement. Charles was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

in the 1924 presidential election. He died in

, November 25, 1950, and was interred in Green Hill Cemetery.

References

* 1861 births 1950 deaths Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Amsterdam, New York Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 1924 United States presidential electors {{NewYork-Representative-stub