William B. Charles
American politician (1861-1950)

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, in 1886 and engaged in textile manufacturing. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Montgomery Co.) in 1904, 1905 and 1906. He served as director of the Amsterdam First National Bank.
Charles was elected as a Republican to the 64th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1917. Charles continued in the textile business until his retirement.
Charles was a presidential elector in the 1924 presidential election.
He died in Amsterdam, New York, November 25, 1950, and was interred in Green Hill Cemetery.
The public source identifies “William B. Charles” as american politician (1861-1950). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around William, Charles and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8004772. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861, 1950, 1884 and 1886.
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This entry incorporates text from “William B. Charles” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.