Charles Wilkes (30 August 1764 – 28 August 1833) was a British born American banker.
Early life
Wilkes was the son of Israel Wilkes III (1722–1805) and Elizabeth de Ponthieu (1726–1802).[1] His siblings were John de Ponthieu Wilkes (who married Mary Seton, sister of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton)[2] and Frances Wilkes (who married Lewis Simond in New York in 1809). His father was a member of the firm De Ponthieu and Wilkes, together with Josias, Henry and John de Ponthieu.[3]
He emigrated from England to America in c. 1782, reportedly "in company with John Jacob Astor on his return from a visit to Europe".[5] Two years after arriving in the United States, he was among the organizers, amongst Alexander Hamilton, of the Bank of New York, in 1784, serving as it's first teller. He succeeded William Seton as Cashier of the Bank in 1794. He served as Cashier in the New York branch of the Bank of the United States. Upon the resignation of General Matthew Clarkson, he was elected president of the Bank of New York in 1825, a position he held until 1832.[5][6]
In 1787 Wilkes was married to Janet Shaw (1762–1851), the daughter of David Shaw, Esq., a Scotch gentleman.[9] Wilkes and his wife were friends of James Fenimore Cooper.[10] Together, they were the parents of:
^Francis Jeffrey (1773–1850), who became Lord Advocate in 1830, was the nephew of Scottish merchant Patrick Jeffrey, (c. 1748–1812), who had married Charlotte's wealthy great-aunt, Mary Wilkes Hayley (1728–1808), as her third husband, in Boston in 1786.[12][13]
^Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Maynard, Arthur S.; Mann, Conklin (1880). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
