The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 288

CHARLES S. BILGER.

Charles S. Bilger, conducting a growing and substantial business at Wapato under
the name of the Huh Mercantile Company, was horn at Jacksonville, Oregon, on the
13th of November, 1866, a son of John A. and Amanda (Schick) Bilger, both of
whom were of German lineage. The mother came to the United States when thirteen
years of age and the father crossed the Atlantic in young manhood. The former,
with a twin sister and a brother, came to the new world in childhood and crossed
the plains from Burlington, Iowa, with ox teams, making the long journey to the
Pacific coast, after which they settled at Jacksonville, Oregon. Mrs. Bilger and
her twin sister are both living at the age of seventy-eight years. John A.
Bilger also made the trip across the plains and they were married in
Jacksonville. There he conducted business for many years as a hardware merchant
and his life's labors were ended in death on the 3d of April, 1877. Following
the demise of her husband, Mrs. Bilger and her son, W. L., continued the
business for some time, after which they sold out and removed to Portland,
Oregon, in 1885.

Charles S. Bilger acquired a public school education and then, too, turned to
merchandising, securing a clerkship in a general store when a lad of fifteen
years. Finding the business congenial, he resolved to engage in trade on his own
account and established a general store at Roslyn, Washington, in 1888 as junior
partner in the firm of Miller & Bilger. There he continued until 1892, when he
removed to Ellensburg, Washington, where he spent six years in clerical work. In
1898 he went to Portland, Oregon, where for two years he conducted a grocery
store, and in 1901 he removed to Mabton, Washington, where he purchased a store
and also became identified with the business interests of Sunnyside,
Washington, conducting his business under the name of the Hub Mercantile
Company. In 1906, however, he removed to Wapato, where his company, The Hub
Mercantile Company, bought the business of the A. E. McCredy Trading Post. They
built their present building, which is fifty-five by one hundred and twenty-five
feet. It is built in the form of an L and opens on two streets. Since that time
he has erected a one story and basement concrete warehouse fifty by one hundred
and twenty-five feet and is thus well equipped for carrying on the business. His
is a department store containing all lines of goods, including farm machinery
and heavy hardware, as well as dry goods, groceries and other lines usually
found in the modern department store. The stock carried is extensive and the
trade is steadily growing. The Hub Mercantile Company now has as its officers:
George S. Rankin, of Yakima, president; J. F. Douglas. vice-president; 1. H.
Dills, of Yakima, treasurer; and C. S. Bilger as secretary and manager, with W.
L. Bilger as one of the directors. The company was organized by these men on the
Sth of February, 1901, and they have since been associated in the ownership and
conduct of the business.

On the 23d of September, 1891, Charles S. Bilger was married to Miss Lillie B.
Hall, of Ellensburg, a daughter of Newberry and Margaret A. Hall, the former now
deceased, while the latter, at the age of eighty-seven years, is living in
Ellensburg. To Mr. and Mrs. Bilger have been born two children: Raymond, born
August 2, 1892, is manager of the hardware department of the Hub Mercantile
Company; Lavilla, born June 7, 1894, is the wife of A. W. Nussbaumer, a resident
of Wapato.

Mr. Bilger is a member of Wapato Lodge No. 171, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a
past master, and he has taken all of the Scottish Rite degrees up to and
including the thirty-second. He is also a life member of the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks, being identified with the lodge at Yakima, and for
twenty-eight years he has been a member of the Knights of Pythias, of which he
is a past chancellor. His political endorsement is given to the republican party
and for one term he served as mayor of Wapato but has never been a politician in
the sense of office seeking, preferring to concentrate his efforts and
attention upon his business affairs, and step by step he has worked his way
steadily upward, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider
opportunities. These he has been quick to utilize and his laudable ambition and
even-paced energy have carried him forward into important commercial relations.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.