Representative Charles Frederick Joy

Charles Frederick Joy (December 11, 1849 – April 13, 1921) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri who served five terms in Congress between 1893 and 1903. His decade of congressional service coincided with a significant period in American political and economic history, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Missouri constituents.

Joy was born in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois, on December 11, 1849. He attended the public schools of his hometown, receiving a basic education that prepared him for advanced study. Demonstrating academic promise, he enrolled at Yale College and was graduated in 1874, an achievement that placed him among the relatively small number of Midwesterners of his generation to receive an Ivy League education.

After completing his studies at Yale, Joy turned to the law. He pursued legal studies and was admitted to the bar in 1876. That same year he commenced the practice of law in St. Louis, Missouri, which would remain his principal professional base for the rest of his life. Establishing himself in the legal community of a growing industrial and commercial city, he built a career that would eventually lead him into public life and national politics.

In his personal life, Joy married Arabel Ordway in Salem, Connecticut, in 1879. The marriage produced one child, but Arabel died during childbirth, leaving Joy a widower. Some years later he remarried, taking as his second wife Elizabeth Ina Grant, a native of Boston Highlands, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Grant was descended from the Grants and Lennoxes of England and spent much of her girlhood abroad before returning to Boston in 1872. Her family had resided in California since 1889, and it was there, in San Mateo, that she and Charles F. Joy were married on May 11, 1895.

Joy’s national political career began when he was presented credentials as a Republican Member-elect to the Fifty-third Congress. He entered service on March 4, 1893, representing Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives. His initial tenure in that Congress was cut short when his election was successfully contested; he served until April 3, 1894, when he was succeeded by John J. O’Neill, who had challenged the result. Despite this setback, Joy remained an active figure in Republican politics and in the public affairs of his district.

Joy returned to Congress after the contested-election episode. He was elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving continuously from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1903. Over the course of these four consecutive terms, combined with his earlier, interrupted service in the Fifty-third Congress, he served a total of five terms as a Representative from Missouri. During these years he participated in the legislative debates of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, contributing to the work of the House during a time marked by industrial expansion, monetary policy controversies, and the nation’s emergence as a global power. A loyal member of the Republican Party, he took part in the democratic process on behalf of his Missouri constituents. In 1902 he sought to continue his service but was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination, bringing his congressional career to a close at the expiration of his term in March 1903.

After leaving Congress, Joy resumed the practice of law in St. Louis, returning to the profession in which he had first made his reputation. He remained engaged in public service at the local level and was elected recorder of deeds in St. Louis. He held that office from 1907 until March 22, 1921, when he resigned, ending a long career in both elective and professional roles. Charles Frederick Joy died in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 13, 1921. His remains were cremated, and his ashes were placed in Elks Rest at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.