Charles Matteson

[1] 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.

[1][2] Having decided to become a lawyer, he then read law for a year in the office of Wingate Hayes, then United States district attorney for the State of Rhode Island.

[2] Their firm was dissolved in July 1871, with Matteson retiring from trial practice in order to focus on corporation practice,[2] a field in which he developed a reputation for expertise.

[1] On May 22, 1900, he retired from the bench and embarked on a period of travels to other parts of the world.

[2] Matteson married Belle Himes of Warwick, Rhode Island on August 22, 1872.