Charles Hale
Encyclopedia
Charles Hale of Boston
was a legislator in the Massachusetts state House
and Senate
intermittently between 1855 and 1877. He was house speaker in 1859. In the 1860s he lived in Cairo
, Egypt
, as the American consul-general
. From 1872 to 1873 he worked as Assistant Secretary of State
, under Hamilton Fish
.
and Sarah Preston Everett. Siblings included Sarah Everett Hale, Nathan Hale Jr., Lucretia Peabody Hale
, Edward Everett Hale
, Alexander Hale, and Susan Hale
.
Charles graduated from Harvard College
in 1850; whilst a student he rowed in the Undine Club. He would serve as class secretary, 1850-1882.
In his early career, Hale worked as a journalist. He founded the short-lived journal To-Day: a Boston Literary Journal in 1852, of which only two volumes were published. He also contributed to his father's paper, the Boston Daily Advertiser
, in the 1850s and 1860s. There he started as a reporter after graduation, and was later a junior editor. He also contributed to the North American Review
and to the Nautical Almanac
.
In 1855, Hale was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was chosen speaker in 1859, up to that time the youngest man ever chosen for the position. In 1871, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He was appointed chairman of the committee on railroads, in which capacity he drew up a general railroad act, and was active in securing its enactment. In 1872, he became assistant Secretary of State
. He returned to Boston after two years and was again elected to the state House of Representatives in 1876 and 1877. He was also appointed State Commissioner of Public Lands, responsible for "laying out the Back Bay."
Hale served as consul-general in Cairo, Egypt, 1864-1870. In Cairo he "arrested the conspirator, John Surratt
," suspected of plotting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
.
From 1872 to 1873 he worked as Assistant Secretary of State
, under Hamilton Fish.
On his return to Boston, he was admitted to the bar and practiced law. During the latter part of his life he lived in retirement, occupied in literary work, and much of the time was an invalid.
He died in 1882. A funeral was held at the South Congregational Church on March 4, at 3pm. "Among those present were Mayor Green
, the Hon. Robert R. Bishop, President of the State Senate; the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, and other relatives of the deceased man, and also the Senators and Representatives who served during Mr. Hale's term in the Legislature; the members of the Harvard Class of '50, and the employees of the Boston Daily Advertiser." He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery
.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
was a legislator in the Massachusetts state House
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
and Senate
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...
intermittently between 1855 and 1877. He was house speaker in 1859. In the 1860s he lived in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, as the American consul-general
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
. From 1872 to 1873 he worked as Assistant Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, under Hamilton Fish
Hamilton Fish
Hamilton Fish was an American statesman and politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York, United States Senator and United States Secretary of State. Fish has been considered one of the best Secretary of States in the United States history; known for his judiciousness and reform efforts...
.
Biography
Hale was born to Nathan HaleNathan Hale (journalist)
Nathan Hale was an American journalist and newspaper publisher who introduced regular editorial comment as a newspaper feature.-Life and career:...
and Sarah Preston Everett. Siblings included Sarah Everett Hale, Nathan Hale Jr., Lucretia Peabody Hale
Lucretia Peabody Hale
Lucretia Peabody Hale was a United States journalist and author.-Biography:Hale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and educated at George B. Emerson's school there...
, Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman. He was a child prodigy who exhibited extraordinary literary skills and at age thirteen was enrolled at Harvard University where he graduated second in his class...
, Alexander Hale, and Susan Hale
Susan Hale
Susan Hale was an American author, traveler and artist.-Biography:She was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Nathan Hale and Sarah Preston Everett who had a total of eleven children...
.
Charles graduated from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in 1850; whilst a student he rowed in the Undine Club. He would serve as class secretary, 1850-1882.
In his early career, Hale worked as a journalist. He founded the short-lived journal To-Day: a Boston Literary Journal in 1852, of which only two volumes were published. He also contributed to his father's paper, the Boston Daily Advertiser
Boston Daily Advertiser
The Boston Daily Advertiser was the first daily newspaper in Boston, and for many years the only daily paper in Boston.-History:...
, in the 1850s and 1860s. There he started as a reporter after graduation, and was later a junior editor. He also contributed to the North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
and to the Nautical Almanac
Nautical Almanac
Nautical Almanac can refer to:* Nautical almanac - a publication describing the positions and movements of celestial bodies* American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac - first published in 1852* U.S...
.
In 1855, Hale was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was chosen speaker in 1859, up to that time the youngest man ever chosen for the position. In 1871, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He was appointed chairman of the committee on railroads, in which capacity he drew up a general railroad act, and was active in securing its enactment. In 1872, he became assistant Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
. He returned to Boston after two years and was again elected to the state House of Representatives in 1876 and 1877. He was also appointed State Commissioner of Public Lands, responsible for "laying out the Back Bay."
Hale served as consul-general in Cairo, Egypt, 1864-1870. In Cairo he "arrested the conspirator, John Surratt
John Surratt
John Harrison Surratt, Jr. was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. president Abraham Lincoln and suspected of involvement in the Abraham Lincoln assassination. His mother Mary Surratt was convicted of conspiracy and hanged by the United States Federal Government...
," suspected of plotting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
From 1872 to 1873 he worked as Assistant Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, under Hamilton Fish.
On his return to Boston, he was admitted to the bar and practiced law. During the latter part of his life he lived in retirement, occupied in literary work, and much of the time was an invalid.
He died in 1882. A funeral was held at the South Congregational Church on March 4, at 3pm. "Among those present were Mayor Green
Samuel Abbott Green
Samuel Abbott Green was an American politician from Massachusetts who served as mayor of Boston in 1882.-Biography:...
, the Hon. Robert R. Bishop, President of the State Senate; the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, and other relatives of the deceased man, and also the Senators and Representatives who served during Mr. Hale's term in the Legislature; the members of the Harvard Class of '50, and the employees of the Boston Daily Advertiser." He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...
.
Works by Hale
- To-Day: a Boston Literary Journal. v.1 (January-June, 1852); v.2 (July-December, 1852).
- Nathan Hale, Charles Hale, eds. Journal of debates and proceedings in the Convention of delegates: chosen to revise the constitution of Massachusetts, begun and holden at Boston, November 15, 1820, and continued by adjournment to January 9, 1821. Reported for the Boston Daily Advertiser. Boston: Pub. at the office of the Daily Advertiser, 1853.
- "Our houses are our castles": A review of the proceedings of the Nunnery Committee, of the Massachusetts Legislature; and especially their conduct and that of their associates on the occasion of the visit to the Catholic school in Roxbury, March 26, 1855. Boston: C. Hale, at the office of the Boston Daily Advertiser, 1855.
- Documents in: Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1868.
- "The Khedive and the Court." Atlantic Monthly, May 1876.
- "Municipal Indebtedness" Atlantic Montly, Dec. 1876.
Works about Hale
- Hon. Charles Hale. New York Times, Feb 14, 1872. p. 1.
- Alpha Delta PhiAlpha Delta PhiAlpha Delta Phi is a Greek-letter social college fraternity and the fourth-oldest continuous Greek-letter fraternity in the United States and Canada. Alpha Delta Phi was founded on October 29, 1832 by Samuel Eells at Hamilton College and includes former U.S. Presidents, Chief Justices of the U.S....
: college secret society in convention. ... Oration by Charles Hale of Boston ... Contrasts Between Egyptian and American Civilization. Other American Visitors to Egypt. Contemporary History of Egypt. The Reign of Ismall Pacha. The Pacha's Dignity. Ismall Pacha's Claim to Statesmanship. Railroad Progress in Egypt. Telegraph Extension. Admirable Systems of Statistics. Boston Daily Globe, Jun 4, 1875. p. 1. - Dictionary of American Biography. 1879; p.
- The life and letters of Edward Everett Hale, v.1 and v.2. Boston: Little, Brown, 1917
- Letters of Susan Hale. Boston: Marshall Jones company, 1919.
- Hippopotamus statuette of the Middle Kingdom. Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Dec. 1951.
- Karen Sánchez-Eppler. "Practicing For Print: The Hale Children's Manuscript Libraries." Journal of the History of Childhood and YouthJournal of the History of Childhood and YouthThe Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth is an international peer-reviewed academic journal dealing with the development of childhood and youth cultures and the experience of young people in different times and places....
, Volume 1, Number 2, Spring 2008.