Charles Augustus Templeton (March 3, 1871 – August 15, 1955) was an American politician and the
68th governor of the state of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
.
Biography
Templeton was born in
Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, in the northwest corner of the state. At the time of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 2,680. The ZIP code for Sharon is 06069. The urban center of the town is ...
on March 3, 1871, the son of
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
veteran Theodore Templeton and Ella Middlebrooks Templeton.
[Connecticut State Library: Governor Charles Augustus Templeton]
The family moved to
Winsted when the future governor was a young boy. He received some education in local schools, but went to work at the age of eight as an errand boy earning 25 cents a day.
[ On June 17, 1897, he married Martha Amelia Castle, the daughter of John and Amelia (Parsons) Castle. They had three daughters: Katherine, Nancy and Lucy.
]
Career
As a young man, Templeton worked at several jobs, including machinist at the Seth Thomas Clock Company in Thomaston, janitor at a high school and a church, grocery store clerk, and assistant postmaster of Plymouth. While on a visit to Waterbury, he answered an advertisement for a bookkeeper in a hardware store. In answer to a question of experience keeping books, he replied that he could do any task that anyone else could. He was hired and eventually bought the business with a partner, but later left to open his own hardware business in the city under the name of Charles A. Templeton, Inc. and later became a partner. Later he opened his own wholesale and retail hardware store.
A Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, Templeton became alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
of Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
and later a member for the 15th District of the Connecticut State Senate
The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sen ...
from 1919 to 1921. He was a delegate to Republican National Convention from Connecticut, 1920. He was the 77th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1921 to 1923.[
Templeton became the ]Governor of Connecticut
The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...
in 1923. During his tenure, he didn't allow the Republican state party chairman, J. Henry Roraback, the right to name the secretary to the governor. This alienated his party, and lost the legislature's support for his choice on a state superior court vacancy. He also refused to nominate Roraback’s choice of John A. MacDonald for the position of State Highway Commissioner. Templeton favored a three-man commission for the position. Legislation passed that limited funding to state institutions in order to balance the budget. A bill was enacted that banned medical school correspondence course
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
graduates from practicing in the state of Connecticut. He left office January 7, 1925.[ He also became a trustee of the St. Marguerite School for Girls. He also was the director of Waterbury's ]YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...
.
Death
Templeton died on August 15, 1955, aged 84. He is interred at Riverside Cemetery, Waterbury, Connecticut.
References
Further reading
* Sobel, Robert and John Raimo. ''Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978''. Greenwood Press, 1988.
External links
Connecticut State Library: Governor Charles Augustus Templeton
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Templeton, Charles A.
1871 births
1955 deaths
Burials at Riverside Cemetery (Waterbury, Connecticut)
Connecticut city council members
Republican Party Connecticut state senators
Republican Party governors of Connecticut
Politicians from Waterbury, Connecticut
American Episcopalians