His odes and prologues won several competitive prizes and were collected and published in 1841 as The Writings of Charles Sprague.

He was taught by Dr. Asa Bullard and Mr. Lemuel Shaw who later became Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

[3] His formal education ended at thirteen when he was apprenticed to a dry goods merchant, Messrs Thayer and Hunt.

His first recognition for poetry came when he won a prize for the best prologue at the opening of the Park Theater in New York City.

In the Salem Observer, August 29, 1829, it is noted that at the commencement at Harvard an honorary degree of Master of Arts was given to Mr. Charles Sprague, the poet.

Pearce) worked for the New England Mutual Life Insurance company for over fifty years and painted local landscapes.