Charles W. Tobey

Who was Charles W. Tobey?

Charles William Tobey was an American politician, who was a Governor of New Hampshire and a United States senator, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of William Tobey, an accountant, and Ellen Hall Parker Tobey. His father had moved to Massachusetts from Maine in the 1860s. Charles Tobey had relatively little formal education. He attended the Roxbury Latin School for four years, but was forced to withdraw before graduation because of family financial difficulties. He had a thorough knowledge of the Bible, however, which he gained from his mother, an ardent Baptist. As a result Tobey's speeches were always marked by a generous sprinkling of biblical quotations and classical allusions.

On June 4, 1902, Tobey married Francelia Lovett. A year later they began to spend summers in Temple, New Hampshire, on an old farm that they had purchased. For several years Tobey commuted during the summers to Boston, where he worked as a clerk for various insurance and banking firms. In 1911, however, he decided to move to Temple and become a full-time farmer. He was a good poultryman and considered himself a farmer for the remainder of his life, although in 1916 he moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, to resume a career as a bond salesman. His four children were born in Temple, which Tobey always maintained as his legal residence.