Charles Bogardus was the son-in-law to W. H. Pells. He was born in New York and would serve in the Union Army during the Civil War and was commissioned a colonel. 

 

In 1872, he would move his family to Paxton and become one of the city’s successful businessmen.  Bogardus would go on to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1885 to 1889 and was a Republican. He then served in the Illinois Senate from 1889 to 1901. 

 

In 1900, Bogardus and his wife settled in Michigan and he with his father-in-law founded a new town and called it Pellston. Here he was involved in the lumbering business and still keeping an office in Paxton.  Unfortunately, the town of Pellston did not take off as planned and Mr. Bogardus filed for bankruptcy in the early 1900s.

 

In 1929, Bogardus died at his home in Pellston, Michigan and his remains were returned to Paxton being buried in Glen Cemetery.