CHARLES AUGUSTUS TEMPLETON, Connecticut’s 51st governor, was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on March 3, 1871. He was educated in Connecticut’s public school system and Plainville’s Episcopal School. At the age of 13, he began working as a bookkeeper in a Waterbury hardware store, where he later became a partner. He eventually dissolved the partnership and opened his own wholesale and retail hardware store. Templeton entered politics as alderman of Waterbury, a position he held from the early 1900s to 1919. He also served as a member of the Connecticut State Senate from 1919 to 1921, was a delegate to the 1920 Republican National Convention, and was lieutenant governor of Connecticut from 1921 to 1923. Templeton won the 1922 Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected Governor of Connecticut. During his tenure, he denied the Republican state chair the right to name the secretary to the governor, thus alienating his party, and losing the legislature’s support for his choice on a state superior court vacancy. In an effort to balance the budget, legislation passed that limited funding to state institutions. Also enacted were a rigorous enforcement of state liquor laws and a bill that banned medical school correspondence course graduates from practicing in the state. After leaving the governor’s office on January 7, 1925, Templeton retired from politics, but stayed active working in civic affairs. He later served as a trustee of the St. Marguerite School for Girls, and was the director of Waterbury’s Young Men’s Christian Association. Governor Charles A. Templeton died on August 15, 1955, and he is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Current assignment referenced in the congressional directory.
