Biographies | 1896 Bios
Rev. Charles J. English
Charles J. English was born in Nodaway county, Missouri, January 30. 1855. His father, William K. English, deceased, was a native of Platte county, Missouri, was born January 19, 1830, and was by occupation a farmer. He was married in Platte county to Miss Lydia Elizabeth Fox, a native of Tennessee and a daughter of Jacob Fox, a descendant of an old Pennsylvania-Dutch family. Wilson Fox, an uncle of Mr. English, was a soldier in the Mexican war. In 1857 William K. English and his family removed to Leavenworth county, Kansas. He took an active part in the border ruffian struggles and in advancing the abolition cause. He served 100 days in the Civil war. In 1866 he went to Cloud county, Kansas, where he took up a homestead and was instrumental in the organization of Concordia. He resided in Kansas until the fall of 1875, at that time removed to a place near Prescott, Arizona, and three years later went to Frisco, Utah, where he passed the rest of his life, his death occurring in September, 1884, at the age of fifty-four years. His wife still resides there. They had five children, one daughter and four sons. The daughter, Mary Catherine, born December 8, 1852, died in infancy. The sons are Charles J., whose name heads this article; Robert W., of Chico, California; Henry F., Frisco, Utah; and George A., also of Chico, California. The father was a consistent member of the Disciple Church, as also is the mother.
Charles J. English was reared on his father's farm in Kansas and passed his boyhood in doing such work as was found on a pioneer farm of the Sunflower State. His education was received in the common schools, Concordia high school and the State Normal. He learned the trade of printer and February 2, 1882, became editor of the Concordia Empire, one of the pioneer papers of western Kansas, which he edited for some two years. After selling it he established and edited the Concordia Times, both a daily and weekly paper, its first issue coming out under date of March 28, 1884, and he continued its publication until January 16, 1885, when he became associate editor and business manager of the Kansas Methodist. Through the columns of his paper he ably advocated the prohibition cause and in this way exerted an influence which was widespread and which was a power for good.
In 1886 Mr. English joined the Northwest Kansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His first appointment was at Lenora, Kansas, which he filled acceptably one year. The next two years he was pastor at Glen Elder, Kansas. In 1889 he came to Iowa. For one year he served the church at Desoto, from there came to Panora, and here he has labored efficiently and acceptably for five years.
He was married in Concordia, Kansas, in April, 1876, to Miss Minnie I. Bradford, an accomplished and refined lady who was educated in the State Normal of Kansas. She is a daughter of Arwin A. Bradford, who was born in Franklin county, Vermont, October 5, 1828, son of Joseph Bradford, also a native of the Green Mountain State and a descendant of Governor Bradford, of Mayflower fame, and of Percy, nee Darrow; the latter was a native of New England and·a daughter of Captain Darrow, a Revolutionary officer who was of Scotch-Irish origin. Arwin A. Bradford was one of a family of twelve children,- six sons and six daughters. His parents lived in Vermont and died there, his father at the age of sixty years and his mother at seventy-five. When Mr. Bradford was twenty years old he left the scenes of his childhood and the Green Mountain State and came ,vest to Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, and there the following year he was married to Miss Alma S. Bowen, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Thorp) Bowen, both of whom died In Wisconsin. After his marriage Mr. Bradford settled in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he was engaged in working at the trade of carpenter and wagon-maker up to the time of the Civil war.
In the first year of the war he enlisted as a member of the Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry, Company A, and served until 1865, when he was honorably discharged. At Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing he sustained serious injuries, at the latter place having his knee-cap broken. He participated in numerous engagements, and was honored by promotion to the position of Assistant Quartermaster of a Tennessee colored regiment. At the close of the war he returned to Fond du Lac, in 1866 removed from there to Cloud county, Kansas, and in 1873 located in Concordia, that State, where he has since made his home. His family is composed of seven children, namely: H. J., foreman in the roundhouse at Dodge City, Kansas; Clara, wife of a Mr. Chaplin, a railroad man of Chicago; Minnie, wife of Rev. C. J. English; Fannie G., wife of Dr. Thornton, Glen Elder, Kansas; Kittie, wife of Charles F. Horne, Mankato, Jewell county, Kansas; Mamie E., wife of a Mr. Clark, of Elba, Nebraska; and I. A., who resides at Emporia, Kansas. Mr. Bradford is a member of the G. A. R., and for over forty years both he and his wife have been active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. and Mrs. English are the parents of four children, Myrtle May, George F., Grace A. and Jessie B., deceased.
In politics Mr. English has always acted with the Republican party, and while in Kansas took an active part in furthering the Republican interests of that State. He has traveled extensively, has broad and progressive views, is decidedly an optimist, and is a most worthy representative of the church of his choice.
A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company 1896, pg. 244.