Charles Sweetser Hitchings (April 21, 1844 – December 12, 1894) was an American shoe manufacturer and politician whose election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives was contested due to irregularities.
In 1879, Hitchings purchased Walton & Wilson, and he moved his business to their three-story factory located on the corner of Central and Pearson Streets.
[3] In 1885, Hitchings defeated Charles H. Mansfield 368 votes to 364 for the 13th Essex district seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Mansfield contested the election, alleging that Hitchings had received votes from men who resided outside of the district or had not paid the poll tax.
An investigation by the House Committee on Elections found that one man who resided outside the district had indeed cast a ballot for Hitchings and 50 voters in Saugus had been registered after the deadline to do so had passed and without performing a literacy test.