Charles Smith Wilbur

Charles Smith Wilbur was born on October 19, 1857, in Fairport, Monroe County, New York. He was one of four sons born to Smith Wilbur and Ruth Ann Ralph. The Wilbur Family descends from Englishman Samuel Wilbore, one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. 

Charles began his education at the Fairport schools and then attended the Geneseo Normal School where the 14-year-old became a founding member of the Delphic Society. He graduated from the normal school in 1873 and then entered the University of Rochester where he graduated in 1878. 

Charles S. Wilbur played professional baseball and in December of 1876, he was appointed an umpire for the National Baseball League in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a National League umpire in 1879, working a total of 19 games. 

After his baseball career, Wilbur studied law with a U.S. District Attorney in Troy, New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1881. Charles relocated to Washington, D.C. where he became the private secretary to U.S. Senator Warner Miller and worked for the politician for six years. 

Charles Smith Wilbur married Ada Cora King in 1882 in Ontario, Canada and the couple had one daughter named Ruth Ann. 

In 1899, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison appointed Charles Wilbur as special agent of the Treasury Department in New York City. Wilbur was later the Supervisor of the Federal Census for the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. 

A New York Times article from 1901 notes that Charles S. Wilbur was appointed as Collateral Inheritance Tax Appraiser for the City of New York. He also held the position of tax commissioner for the State of New York. 

Charles died on January 10, 1928, in New York City at the age of 70. He is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetry in the Bronx, N.Y.