The Dexter-Roundy family has been prominent in the Wisconsin grocery business for over a century, but even prior to that time they were engaged in the trade in Shelbyville, Illinois and Maine. Charles Joshua Dexter, sometimes referred to as “the grand old man of the Wisconsin grocery business,” was born on August 8, 1845 in Shelbyville, Illinois, to Joshua Lufkin Dexter and Sara Jane Smith Dexter. Both parents died of cholera when Charles was a boy, and as a result young Dexter was placed under the guardianship of his uncle, Judson A. Roundy until 1860 when his care was taken over by another uncle, Colonel Dudley Chase Smith. Dexter was educated at Shelbyville Academy, Jubilee College in Peoria, Illinois, and Franklin Family School, Topsham, Maine. When Smith left to serve in the Civil War, Charles briefly became acting head of the Smith household.
At age eighteen, Charles began to clerk in the store which his father had founded during the 1840s and which Judson Roundy had managed following Dexter's death. (As the result of Dexter's financial assistance Roundy had sold his business in Maine and moved to Shelbyville in 1851 to become a full partner.) In 1866 when Charles Dexter turned 21 he became a full partner in the business with Roundy. About a decade later when Judson Roundy moved to Wisconsin, the Shelbyville business became known as C.J. Dexter's Mercantile Co.
Having established himself in Milwaukee, Judson Roundy entered a partnership in a wholesale grocery business known as Smith, Roundy and Co. In 1877 William E. Smith left the company to enter politics, eventually being elected governor of Wisconsin. Upon Smith's resignation, W.S. Peckham was admitted as a partner to the new firm, Roundy, Peckham & Co.
In 1879 Charles closed his Shelbyville store and moved to Milwaukee to join the firm. In 1903 Charles Dexter became president of the wholesale company which was then renamed Roundy, Peckham & Dexter Co.
Charles Dexter remained in an active administrative position with the company, also serving as president of the Wisconsin Wholesale Grocers' Association, until his death in 1939. He was also active outside the business as a Mason, an active member of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and a trustee for the Downer Home. Other activities included membership in the Old Settlers Club, the Athletic Club, and the Town Club.
Charles Dexter married Effie E. McBeth on May 5, 1869. They had three children: Edward McBeth, Lucia Chafee, and Mary Lois. Edward Dexter was a vice-president with the Roundy Co. until his death in 1920; grandson Edward II was with the company until 1955.
