Charles James Faulkner was a United States Senator from West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 and the son of Charles James Faulkner, a U.S. Representative from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 and West Virginia. Born on the family estate, "Boydville," near Martinsburg, Virginia

Martinsburg, West Virginia

Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...

 (now West Virginia), he accompanied his father, who was U.S. Minister to France

Second French Empire

The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...

, to that country in 1859; he attended school in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. He returned to the United States in 1861, and during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 entered the Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

 at Lexington

Lexington, Virginia

Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...

 in 1862. He served with the cadets in the Battle of New Market

Battle of New Market

The Battle of New Market was a battle fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute fought alongside the Confederate Army and forced Union General Franz Sigel and his army out of the Shenandoah...

 and, after the war, graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 at Charlottesville, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall

St. Anthony Hall

St. Anthony Hall, also known as Saint Anthony Hall and The Order of St. Anthony, is a national college literary society also known as the Fraternity of Delta Psi at colleges in the United States of America. St...

, in 1868. He was admitted to the bar

Bar (law)

Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

 in 1868 and commenced practice in Martinsburg.

In 1887, Faulkner was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate; he was reelected in 1893 and served from March 4, 1887, to March 4, 1899. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Territories (Fifty-third Congress). In 1898 he was appointed a member of the International Joint High Commission of the United States and Great Britain. He retired from public life and devoted his time to the practice of law in Martinsburg and Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and to the management of his agricultural interests. In 1922, he served as first president of the Opequon Golf Club

Opequon Golf Club

Opequon Golf Club, also known as the Stonebridge Golf Club and Martinsburg Golf Club, is a historic country club clubhouse located at Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia. The clubhouse was built in 1922, and is a one story, Adirondack Lodge Style stone building with a wraparound porch on...

.

Faulkner died at the Boydville

Boydville

Boydville is a late Georgian style mansion in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The house is near the center of the associated Boydville Historic District in...

family estate in 1929; interment was in the Old Norbourne Cemetery, Martinsburg.