Charles L. Jeffrey, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Charles L. Jeffrey
CHARLES L. JEFFREY. The life story of Charles L. Jeffrey is in many respects a typical one, for more than a few of the financial powers of this region have shared with him a common experience of heredity and environment. It has come to be almost trite to speak of the prominence of the farm-bred man in commercial and political life of the present day, and almost equally well known is the fact that a large percentage of our successful men in the middle west are of old New England stock. While neither a rural environment nor a Puritan inheritance is an assurance of distinction, yet one is forced to believe that the odds are just a little in favor of the man who can claim either or both of these.
Charles L. Jeffrey is the son of Charles A. Jeffrey, who was born in New Jersey, and Jennie (Davis) Jeffrey, born in Bangor, Maine. These parents were among the New Englanders who carne to the west after the Civil war, and they settled in Jo Daviess county, Illinois. It was here that Charles Jeffrey, Jr., of this review, was born on March 7, 1869. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey, and Charles L. was the fourth born of that number. While the family resided in Iroquois county, Illinois, he attended the district schools for one year, after which the family moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, in the year 1875. In that city Mr. Jeffrey entered the public schools of the city, but ere he had completed the curriculum of the local schools, his parents moved to Los Angeles, California, their migration taking place in the winter of 1886-7. When Mr. Jeffrey returned to Valparaiso he entered the business college in that city and there completed a thorough course in business training, being graduated from the school with the class of 1888. He did not give further attention to farming activities thereafter, but entered at once upon his mercantile career, acting at first as purchasing agent. It was less than two years after he had completed his college course that the Chesterton Bank was organized on April 3, 1890, and he became cashier of that institution upon its inception, a position which he retained for about eight years. At the end of that time Mr. Jeffrey purchased the bank and in company with Mr. E. L. Morgan conducted it for some time as a private concern. Later it was organized as a state bank, with Charles L. Jeffrey as president, J. H. Ameling as vice-president and E. L. Morgan as cashier. In addition to his connection with the bank, Mr. Jeffrey is treasurer of the Home Water Company and holds a similar position with the Chesterton Cooperage and Lumber Company. He is also interested in an insurance business in Gary, Indiana.
On June 20, 1895, Mr. Jeffrey was married to Miss Elizabeth M. Felton. She is a native daughter of Valparaiso and a graduate of the Valparaiso high school.
Mr. Jeffrey is not a man of many fraternal affiliations, the one lodge in which he holds membership being the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 500 of Valparaiso. In politics, he does not acknowledge any party as being entitled to his invariable support, but is rather an independent voter, who studies an issue upon its merits, and not as a party matter.
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey have one daughter, Eloise, born in 1896, who is now a student in the Chesterton high school.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 871-872
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook