BIOGRAPHIES:  Charles B. MELBY, Whitehall, Trempealeau Co., WI

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Submitted by: Nance Sampson, Trempealeau Co. WIGenWeb CC  19 February 2005
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**Posted for informational purposes only. I am not related to the subject 
of this biography, nor do I have any further information on this family.

Charles B. Melby, financier and man of affairs, is one of the
leading citizens of Trempealeau County.  His wide experience has
admirably fitted him for the onerous duties of the position he
occupies in the community, and his influence has ever been used in
behalf of progress of development.  Every movement that has for its
object the betterment of the county finds in him a warm friend, and
busy though he is with his numerous business activities, he is
finding time for considerable public service.  Born in the village
where he now lives, March 1, 1883, only son of John O. and Jennie L.
(Beach) Melby, he was reared with the special end in view of some
time assuming control of the extensive Melby holdings.  He passed
through the graded schools, and was graduated from the Whitehall high
school with the Class of 1899 at the age of sixteen years.  Then he
attended Lawrence University at Appleton, Wis., for three eyars.  In
1905 he became chief page in the House of Representatives at
Washington, D. C., in which capacity he met nearly all of the men
prominent in American public life.  In the meantime he studied law at
the George Washignton University, graduating in 1907 with the degree
of LL.B.  Upon being admitted to the bar he took up the practice of
his profssion at Washington.  April 1, 1909, he was called home to
take the position of assistant cashier in his father's bank.  In
July, 1911, he was promoted to the office of cashier, which he still
retains.  In addition to his work in this connection he is vice-
president of the bank of Eleva, and treasurer of the Central Trading
Association of Whitehall.  His financial holdings include stock in
the new Ettrick & Northern Railroad Company, of which he has beenb an
enthusiastic and loyal supporter.  His public work has included
service as a member of the school board and of the library board. War
activities in the county have given him an unusual opportunity for
effective help.  The sale of the first Liberty Bond issue found in
him an enthusiastic promoter, and the Defense League counts him among
its most useful members.  His decisions as a member of the exemption
board have been marked by a discretion which has realized the full
need of the government, and yet which has taken into due
consideration all angles of local needs and local conditions.  Of a
fraternal disposition, he was a popular member of the Phi Delta Phi
while at college, and in the Masonic order he has passed through the
chairs of the local lodge and has also joined the Chapter.  Mr. Melby
was married April 26, 1909, to Frances Gunby Bethune of Washington,
D. C., born in Warrentown, Va., May 1, 1887, daughter of James A.
Bethune, a Washington pharmacist, and of Narcissa Garrett Bethune.
Mr. and Mrs. Melby have two children:  John Bethune, born April 5,
1912, and Natalie Grayson, born Jan. 16, 1915. 

-Transcribed from the "History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin,
1917," pages 285 - 286. 

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