{{short description|American politician and banker (1835 – 1875)}} {{Distinguish|Charles Schäffer|Charles Schaeffer|Charles E. Schaefer}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Charles Scheffer | office = 2nd Minnesota State Treasurer | image = File:Charles Scheffer.jpg | caption = Scheffer c.1870 | predecessor = George W. Armstrong | successor = Emil D. Munch | governor = Alexander Ramsey<br/>Henry Adoniram Swift<br/>Stephen Miller<br/>William Rainey Marshall | term_end1 = January 10, 1868 | term_start1 = January 1, 1860 | birth_date = February 22, 1835 | birth_place = Rheinberg, Rhine Province,<br/>Kingdom of Prussia | death_date = August 7, 1875 | death_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | resting_place = Oakland Cemetery<br/>Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | other_party = Republican | spouse = {{Marriage|Kate Finch|1862}}<br/>{{Marriage|Jennie Goodrich|1874}} | relations = Albert Scheffer (brother) }}
'''Charles''' "'''Carl'''" '''Scheffer''' (February 22, 1835 – August 7, 1875) was an American banker, businessman, and politician who served four consecutive terms as the second Minnesota State Treasurer from January 1, 1860, to January 10, 1868.
== Early life == Scheffer was born on February 22, 1835, in the city of Rheinberg, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=University of Minnesota Libraries |first= |title=Charles Scheffer: Candidate |url=https://mnelectionarchive.datamade.us/candidate/charles-scheffer/ |access-date=April 7, 2026 |website=Minnesota Historical Election Archive}}</ref> According to the Ramsey County Historical Society Scheffer immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1848.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=Moira F. |last2=Harris |first2=Leo J. |date=Spring 2019 |title="Good Grief!" Said Charlie Brown: The Business of Death in Bygone St. Paul |url=https://rchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/RCHS_Spring2010_Harris.pdf |journal=Ramsey County History |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=14–15 |via=Ramsey County Historical Society}}</ref> Scheffer first lived in Milwaukee<ref name=":2">{{cite web |date=August 22, 2018 |title=Albert Scheffer |url=https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entries/albert-scheffer/#_edn46 |access-date=April 8, 2026 |website=Immigrant Entrepreneurship |ref={{sfnref|Immigrant Entrepreneurship|2018}}}}</ref> before moving to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Scheffer later moved to Minnesota Territory in 1856.<ref name=":1" />
== Banking and politics == In 1856 Scheffer settled in Stillwater, Minnesota where he worked as a banking clerk alongside K.A. Darling of Fond du Lac and L.R. Carswell of Hastings, Minnesota and helped to form the ''First Bank of Stillwater''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Warner |first=George E. |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028913121/page/524/mode/2up? |title=History of Washington county and the St. Croix Valley |date=1881 |publisher=North Star Pub. Co. |location=Minneapolis |pages=524–525 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">Warner, ''History of Washington county and the St. Croix Valley'', pp. 507</ref> Scheffer eventually became the bank's president and merged the bank of J. E. Thompson of Stillwater to create the ''First National Bank of Stillwater'' on July 19, 1865.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> At this time Scheffer was also the banking mentor to his younger brother, Albert Scheffer, who would go on to serve in the American Civil War and run for office in the Minnesota Senate.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{cite web |title=Scheffer, Albert |url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=14668 |access-date=April 7, 2026 |website=Minnesota Legislators Past & Present |ref={{sfnref|Minnesota Legislators Past & Present}}}}</ref>
Beginning in 1859 Scheffer ran for the political office of Minnesota State Treasurer as a member of the Republican Party of Minnesota against the Democratic candidate Samuel B. Abbe.<ref name=":6">{{cite web |last=University of Minnesota Libraries |first= |title=1859 Treasurer Election |url=https://mnelectionarchive.datamade.us/election/2318591099925600/ |access-date=April 7, 2026 |website=Minnesota Historical Election Archive}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Minnesota State Legislature |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d031366363&seq=43&q1 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives of the Second Legislature of the State of Minnesota |date=1860 |publisher=Newson, Moore, Foster & Company |location=St. Paul |pages=39 |language=en}}</ref> Scheffer won 55.04% of the vote with a majority margin of 10.99%.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> Scheffer was preceded in office by Minnesota politician George W. Armstrong.<ref name=":8">{{cite web |date=January 6, 2003 |title=Treasurers, 1849-present |url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/treas |access-date=April 7, 2026 |website=Minnesota Legislative Reference Library |ref={{sfnref|Minnesota Legislative Reference Library|2003}}}}</ref> Scheffer would occupy the office of Minnesota State Treasurer for four consecutive terms before being succeeded by Emil D. Munch as state treasurer in January 1868.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" />
== Death == Following a locomotive accident in Washington, D.C. in 1874, Scheffer was seriously wounded in the head.<ref name=":1" /> This injury is purported to have caused severe pain in Scheffer's spinal column and later led to bouts of depression.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite news |date=August 9, 1875 |title=A Sad Event: Death of Hon. Charles Scheffer |url=https://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/lccn/sn85025587/1875-08-09/ed-1/seq-5 |access-date=April 8, 2026 |work=The Anti-Monopolist |pages=5 |agency=Minnesota Historical Society}}</ref> Convinced he would never fully recover Scheffer committed suicide with a pistol in the German Lutheran Cemetery in Saint Paul on August 7, 1875.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9" /> It was reported by the local Saint Paul newspaper ''The Anti-Monopolist'' that Scheffer suffered two gunshot wounds, one in the stomach and one in the heart.<ref name=":9" /> Scheffer's funeral was reported to be one of the largest in Saint Paul at the time, attracting hundreds of mourners, among them were state officials, business partners, and his own employees.<ref name=":1" /> Scheffer was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Saint Paul.<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life == Scheffer was married twice, first to Kate Finch in 1862, and again to Jennie Goodrich in 1874.<ref name=":1" /> Scheffer was the older brother of Minnesota Republican state senator and American Civil War veteran Albert Scheffer.<ref name=":5" />
== References == <references />
== External links ==
* {{Find a Grave|id=58657689|name=Charles Scheffer}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef | before = George W. Armstrong }} {{s-ttl | title = Treasurer of Minnesota | years = 1860–1868 }} {{s-aft | after = Emil D. Munch }} {{s-end}}{{MNTreasurers|state=collapse}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheffer, Charles}} Category:1835 births Category:1875 deaths Category:Minnesota politicians Category:People from Rheinberg Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:Minnesota Republicans Category:People of Minnesota in the American Civil War Category:19th-century people from Minnesota Category:American people of German descent Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:State treasurers of Minnesota Category:Businesspeople from Minnesota Category:Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia to the United States Category:Minnesota