Charles Matteson (March 21, 1840 – August 14, 1925) was a justice of the

Rhode Island Supreme Court The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial No ...

from 1875 to 1900, serving as chief justice from 1891 to 1900.

Early life and career

Born in

Coventry, Rhode Island Coventry is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 35,688 at the 2020 census and is part of the . Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of . of it is land and of it ...

, Matteson was the son of Asahel and Julia M. (Johnson) Matteson.Rossiter Johnson and John Howard Brown, eds., ''The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans'' (1904), p. 1900. He attended a private school in Providence, and after working as a clerk in his father's store for two years, attended the University Grammar School, and the Providence Conference Seminary in East Greenwich, for a time.''Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island'' (1908), p. 319. In 1857, he entered

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, from which he received an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1861. Having decided to become a lawyer, he then

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

for a year in the office of

Wingate Hayes Wingate Hayes (1823–1877) was Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and U.S. District Attorney for the district of Rhode Island during the American Civil War. In 1823 Wingate Hayes was born in Farmington, New Hampshire to John an ...

, then United States district attorney for the State of Rhode Island.Stephen O. Edwards, "The Supreme Court of Rhode Island", in

Horace Williams Fuller Horace Williams Fuller (June 15, 1844 – October 26, 1901) was an American lawyer and editor who served as the first editor of ''The Green Bag'', a late-19th- and early-20th century legal news and humor magazine. Life and career Born in Aug ...

, et al., eds., '' The Green Bag'', Vol. 2. (1890), p. 542. Matteson studied law at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

from 1862 to 1863, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in January 1864. He then entered the practice of law in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, having a solo practice for a year before entering into a partnership with Wingate Hayes. Their firm was dissolved in July 1871, with Matteson retiring from trial practice in order to focus on corporation practice, a field in which he developed a reputation for expertise. He became the attorney and counsel for various corporations and later served as a director and trustee of a number of corporate concerns. He also served as a member of the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

from 1871 to 1873.

Judicial service

Matteson was elected an associate justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island on February 11, 1875, by the Republican votes in the state legislature, to fill the vacancy caused by the elevation of Justice Durfee to the office of chief justice. In July 1891, Matteson succeeded Durfee as chief justice. On May 22, 1900, he retired from the bench and embarked on a period of travels to other parts of the world. In June 1900, he went to Europe, returning in October 1902, and in June 1904, he went to Asia.

Personal life

Matteson married Belle Himes of

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

on August 22, 1872. They had three sons, Archibald, Arnold, and Paul. Matteson died in Providence.''Harvard Alumni Bulletin'', Volume 28, Issue 2 (1925), p. 62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matteson, Charles Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court 1840 births 1925 deaths Brown University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Rhode Island state senators