Charles Mandery was born at Ottoville on 7 June 1853. The Miami-Erie Canal had opened just eight years earlier in 1845, passing through Delphos and Ottoville. As a boy, Mandery had a lot of fun, playing on the canal. At the age of 16, he took a job as a hired hand on the canal boats. As time went by he practically lived on the canal until the waterway went out of use. This covered a span of 35 years.