Hale was born in Boston on June 7, 1831, to
Nathan Hale 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 served 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 Alexandria he arrested with the cooperation of Egyptian authorities the conspirator,
John Surratt, suspected of plotting the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. 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. During the latter part of his life he lived in retirement, occupied in literary work, and much of the time was an invalid. He is buried in
Mount Auburn Cemetery. ==Works==