Compiled by Russell Bastedo
State Curator
1998

Charles W. Tobey (1929-1931). Born Roxbury (MA); Manchester (NH) businessman/manufacturer. Active in state politics from 1914. Governor 1929/31.

Tobey (1880-1953) was educated at Boston (MA) public schools and completed his formal education at Roxbury Latin School. He moved (1902) to Temple (NH) shortly after marriage (to Francella M. Lovett, June 4, 1902) to farm, but he soon gravitated into business in Manchester (NH). He was active in banking and insurance and became president of the F. J. Hoyt Shoe Company.

During World War I (1914/17) Tobey was chairman of the New Hampshire Liberty Loan campaign. He was also a selectman for the town of Temple, and served as a state representative (1915/16, 1919/22, 1923/4). He was Speaker of the House (1919/21) and served in the State Senate (1925/6; Senate president 1926). In 1928 Tobey entered the Republican direct primary for governor; he won the primary and the election.

The Tobey administration issued the first State of New Hampshire bonds devoted exclusively to highway construction. For the first time, also, highways began to be plowed during the winters (prior to this they had been rolled). Governor Tobey also used the powers of his office to push for better correctional facilities, with emphasis on youth facilities.

Tobey did not run for a second term; the onslaught of The Great Depression saw his business facing ruin. He served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives during the worst of The Great Depression (1933/9), and he served in the U.S. Senate from 1939 until his death in 1953, helping the country through both World War II and Korea. He was a member of the U.S. delegation at the International Monetary Conference held at Bretton Woods (1944), and he was an advisor to the U.S. delegation at the 1952 UNESCO conference held in Paris (France).

Location: State House, Second Floor
Portrait by A. Cosgrove