Charles was born January 4, 1821 at his father’s estate “Woodlawn”, near what is now Roland Park in Baltimore, Maryland, and was reared and educated in his native state. He came west to Illinois in about 1838 and worked in a merchant’s store in Edwardsville, located on the western border of Illinois about 30 miles north east of St. Louis, Missouri. During the time he spent in Illinois, Charles accumulated a great deal of enthusiasm and information concerning the land beyond the Rocky Mountains. By 1841, Charles was living in Weston, Missouri which was located about 40 miles north west of Independence next to the border of Kansas. Here he continued to sell goods and contemplated a move to Oregon.
In the Spring of 1843, after much preparation Charles joined the first wagon train for the Oregon Country, sharing the hardships and deprivations of the long and hazardous journey across the dreary plains at a time when the history of the then unknown West was in the making. The train was under the direction of Capt. James Willis Nesmith (1820-1885). He along with his friend Nathan Sitton, set up bachelors’ quarters together on Panther Creek in Yamhill County, near what is now the city of McMinnville. They lived or starved as it was, sharing each others trials and difficulties like brothers for about two years.
In 1845 Charles took up a donation land claim of six hundred and forty acres on the Yamhill River in Polk County, and erected a log cabin. This claim was about one-half mile south of the present town of Willamina.
On February 8, 1848, Charles was married to Amanda Florence Rogers (1832-1924) on her fathers Donation Land Claim in West Chehalem, just west of what is now Newberg, Oregon.
When gold was discovered in California in 1849, both Charles and Nathan went to the mines, and were fairly successful along the American River. Charles was engaged in running a pack train to and from the diggings. He returned to Oregon in about 1851. During this time Amanda spent time with friends in the Dundee Hills above Newberg. While he was away, a great flood occurred in the Willamina Valley and as far as you could see, water spread all over the bottom land.
Charles traded his property south of Willamina for a farm on the Willamina River in Yamhill County, owned by Barnett Haggard. The reason he settled on the Willamina was because he was near the mountains, and there was fishing and hunting in the Valley. This is now known as the Fendall Donation Land Claim, in the Willamina Valley, and many descendants of Charles and Amanda still own the original land. For years there was not a white man within miles of the little cabin, but according to Grandma Fendall, she had nothing to fear from the Indians, for she says she "always felt they, too, were human, and treated them accordingly".
It was here that he built a home reminiscent of the Southern Colonial type homes of his native Maryland. The front porch was typically Southern, almost square and very large, with high pillars at the corners, and a wide bench at each side. It made a grand place to sit and look over the valley of the Willamina. The big house was white, and could be seen from all over the valley. The house burned down in the early 1900's, probably 1902.
In the fall or early winter of 1852 Mr. Fendall went back East via the Isthmus of Panama and while on this trip the vessel on which he had taken passage almost floundered in a heavy gale. For a while the lives of all on board hung in the balance. Upon reaching New York City Charles visited with a sister, Emily Lucelia Fendall (1814-1872) and her husband, Elbridge Gerry Duvall, Sr. (1815-1891). Elbridge was a well to do merchant of that city. From there he went to his native state of Maryland and spent sometime with his aged mother, Frances Thwaites (Cockey) Fendall “Fannie” (1794-1873); his two brothers, William Lux Fendall (1815-1888), Philip Richard Fendall (1823-1891); and several surviving sisters Anne Evelyn (Fendall) Kyle (1820-1874), Araminta (Fendall) “Minty” Duvall (1829-1909), and Alice Fitzhugh Lee Fendall (ca. 1834).
With the exception of his brother Philip Richard Fendall, who came to Oregon in the winter of 1880 this was the last time Charles ever had the pleasure of being with his own people. His brother Philip, met a tragic death in the mountains west of Gopher Valley in the early 1890's. While on a hunting trip Philip slipped on a log and fell into a creek, injuring himself so badly that he was unable to move. The creek kept rising, and before help could arrive he died.
After leaving Maryland, Mr. Fendall went to Kentucky where he invested in a dozen or 15 shorthorn cattle, some saddle horses and equipment for his return to Oregon. This long drive was made through hostile Indian Country, especially the then unsettled plains and Mountain Districts where marauding bands of savages threatened them at every hiding place.
Again Charles went to California from 1869-1870. This was quite common among the early settlers in the surrounding areas. A report would come in that gold or some other precious metal had been discovered in the Yukon or an area in California, and whole communities would be abandoned. Usually the lady of the family would stay at home tending the young ones and crops, while the man or men would go off in search of wealth. Most of these young men were adventurers at heart in the first place, which could be attested to by the fact that they had come out to Oregon in the first place. These excursions provided for, or relieved the monotony felt by being an average agriculturist.
In a column written by his son Elbridge, Charles was described as a man “known for his honesty and integrity in all his dealings with his fellow men. He was kindly and charitable with the Indians and many of them came to him for advice and help in time of trouble and when "Chahly Fendall" as they called him advised them thus and so it was law and gospel to the Indian”.
Charles Edward Fendall departed this life on April 20, 1894, at the age of 73. He was laid to rest in the Upper Willamina Cemetery (now known as Buck Hollow Cemetery) among the hills, and near the old stream he loved. His wife Amanda Fendall lived to the ripe old age of 92 years, departing from this world August 6, 1924, and was laid to rest in the old family burying ground on the Donation Land Claim of her father Lewis Franklin Rogers located in the Chehalem Valley, near Newberg, Oregon