Lawyer/Librarian, New-York Historical Society
Centurion, 1890–1919
Born 20 July 1853 in New York (Manhattan), New York
Died 9 June 1919 in New York (Manhattan), New York
Buried Woodlawn Cemetery
, Bronx, New York
Proposed by John Bigelow and Philip H. Morgan
Elected 4 October 1890 at age thirty-seven
Archivist’s Note: Brother of Samuel Isham; son-in-law of Robert T. Lincoln
Century Memorial
To Charles Isham, old New York and the older periods of the country’s history possessed an interest quite as vital as the events of the present day. His absorption in the past was in a way suggested early in life by his taking the post-graduate course in Roman Law at Berlin after leaving Harvard. Although graduated in law and admitted to the New York bar, he never practiced; but devoted his life, except for a two-year interval with the United States Embassy at London, to investigation of his own country’s history and to literary work. Of the patriotic organizations such as the New York Historical Society, the Sons of the Revolution, the Society of the War of 1812, and the Society of the Cincinnati, he was an enthusiastic member, and of the St. Nicholas Society he was at different times Secretary, Vice-President and President. Mr. Isham was personally an interesting figure, and his conversation, tinged as it was with his absorbing interest in the older days of the American community, always had a flavor of its own.
Alexander Dana Noyes
1920 Century Association Yearbook
