Biography

06/06/1860 - 06/14/1907

Charles Wesley Thomas (R4) Philadelphia (Part) County 1891-1898

Early Life: 

Charles Wesley Thomas, born June 6, 1860, city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; son of Benjamin and Martha A. Thomas; accounting clerk, Pennsylvania Railroad Company; engaged, real estate; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1885- resigned 1889; assistant secretary, Republican State Committee, 1887, state secretarial, Republican State Committee, 1888; married, Mattie R. Conard, 1886; private secretary, collector, United States Customs Service, Philadelphia, 1889-1890; elected, delegate, Republican State Conventions, 1888, 1892; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1891-1898; elected, Senate President pro tempore 1893-1896; presidential appointment, collector of customs, United States Customs Service, Philadelphia 1898-1907; died, June 14, 1907 (age 47), suffering a sudden, massive heart attack while vacationing, summer home, Linwood, Atlantic County, New Jersey, interment private.

Early Career:

Actively participated, local Republican Party, member, 24th Ward Republican City Campaign Committee; member, Clover Club; Union League of Philadelphia, Hamilton Republican Club. 

Private Secretary, Thomas V. Cooper, collector, United States Customs Service, Philadelphia, 1889-1890.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1885-1889.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 4th district, Philadelphia (Part) County, 1891-1898; elected, Senate President pro tempore 1893-1896; Chair, Corporations Committee; member, Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary Special, Municipal Affairs and Railroad and Street Passenger Railways Committees. Member of the committee that abolished Philadelphia Public Building Commission. Resignation, March 19, 1898.

Appointed, (succeeding former Pennsylvania State Senator Thomas Valentine Cooper, death), Collector of Customs, Port of Philadelphia, President William McKinley, 1898-1901, reappointed, Collector of Customs, Port of Philadelphia, President Theodore Roosevelt, 1902-1907; established a collection record, achieving an A-1 rating from the federal government for instituting reform programs and cost efficiency systems, 1906.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

Legacy: 

Received acclaim as one of Philadelphia’s most prominent citizens, 1904.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. Senate Members "T" (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1897). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1074, 1081-1084, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1047.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Sunday June 16, 1907, Page 21.

The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Thomas, C to D