He was the son of Josiah Stanford (1795–1862) and Elizabeth (Phillips) Stanford (1791–1873). He attended the common schools, Prattsburg Academy, and Clinton Liberal Institute. Then he became a contractor, and took part in railroad constructions. He married Jane E. Page, and they had several children.

During the early 1850s, he and his brothers, among them future Governor Leland Stanford (1824–1893), went to California, and opened a trading company there. Charles later returned to New York, being in charge of the East Coast branch of the company. In 1861, he settled on a farm in Niskayuna, Schenectady County, New York.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Schenectady Co.) in 1864 and 1865. He was a delegate to the 1864 National Union National Convention in Baltimore. In 1865, he established the Schenectady Daily Union.

He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1866 to 1869, sitting in the 89th, 90th (14th D.), 91st and 92nd New York State Legislatures (15th D.).

He was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; pg. 444, 501 and 503)
• Life Sketches of the State Officers, Senators, and Members of the Assembly of the State of New York, in 1867 by S. R. Harlow & H. H. Boone (pg. 144ff)
• Stanford genealogy at Family Tree Maker

• Charles Stanford at Find a Grave