Member

Charles was born on March 29, 1872, in New York City. He attended Columbia University and earned a BA degree in 1893 and an MA degree in 1894. He was an assistant curator in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Division of Botany (1894-95) and then at the U.S. National Museum (1895-1903), collecting plants in the southeastern United States and Cuba. He was editor of Plant World from 1897 to 1913 and was consulting botanist for G. & C. Merriam Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts, (1903-06), contributing botanical and horticultural terms to various dictionaries. He became curator in chief and patron of the Public Museum of Staten Island Association of Arts and Science (1907-13), was an executive in the Boy Scouts of America (1917-20) and became librarian of the Canfield Free Library in Arlington, Vermont, in 1937. Charles died in Arlington, Vermont, on August 16, 1945, a respected botanical scholar. Charles was a founder of the Club in 1900, and, as its first president, was a moving force in establishing the Club, getting it incorporated in 1901. When he left the area he paid his dues ($3) and offered his resignation. It was refused and he was made an honorary member in 1908.