Born: August 7, 1858
Where: Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois
Died: May 30, 1929
Where: Tacoma, Washington
Note: Death date on tombstone is incorrect

Charley Dempsey was born in Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois to James Dempsey, II, and Virginia Amos Ferguson. He was the 6^th of 12 children. In 1877 he married Eva Steel in Knox County. They moved to Nebraska and had three children, Martha Adeline, Mary Pearl, and Thomas Vincent. Eva died about 1890. He married Lou Cannon Miller about 1902 and they had four children all born in the Pacific Northwest. They were Roy Lynn, Ray Wilson, Thelma, and Fay Eugene.

Charles had a disease called "itchy foot" and moved often. He worked at many jobs including: stagecoach driver, steamboat owner/operator, teamster, rancher, and farmer and road builder. In 1919-1920 he built 3 miles of the Columbia Gorge Highway between Arlington and Willow Creek. He also helped to build the city of Longview, Washington. He died in Tacoma, Washington, at the age of 70 of complications of a stroke.


Bio submitted by: Diane Dodge, February, 2002