Leon-Escambia-St Johns County FlArchives Biographies.....Choate, Charles Augustus 1842 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 3, 2008, 5:25 pm Author: B. F. Johnson Charles Augustus Choate Possibly no man now living has been of greater value to the State of Florida in his sphere as a newspaper man than Chas. A. Choate, of Tallahassee, and aside from the satisfaction which accrues from the consciousness of duty well done, it is probable that no man has received less reward from the hands of his fellow-citizens for service rendered than has Mr. Choate. He was born at La Harpe, Ill., on September 16, 1842. His father, Dr. Charles Choate, was a physician and farmer, who had married Mary Anne Howard, of Boston. Mr. Choate comes of a family of great distinction in our annals. The founder of the American family was John Choate (1624-1695). He came from England and settled at Ipswich, Mass., in 1643. All of the American Choates are his descendants. John, his grandson (1697-1765), was called "The Commoner" on account of his prominence in public affairs. Stephen, his great-grandson (1725-1815), was called "The Councillor." This Stephen was the great-grandfather of Chas. A. Choate. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence, in 1774, and also held membership in the Colonial Council and General Court of Massachusetts. Another distinguished member, Rufus Choate (1799-1859), was a celebrated lawyer, and was known as "The Advocate" and was the sixth generation from John. In the present generation, the seventh, Joseph Hodges Choate, born 1832, is a distinguished lawyer and has been Ambassador to Great Britain. Other members of the family have attained distinction as educators, writers, poets, business men lawyers and judges. C. A. Choate possesses as cherished relics the silver shoe buckles, holographic will, and Justice's Docket of his great-grandfather, Stephen Choate His father's family removed from Massachusetts (in 1839) to Illinois. Mr. Choate's education was obtained in the common schools and at Montebello (Ill.) Academy. He began active life as a school teacher, in 1860-1861. From 1861 to 1864 he read law in a lawyer's office, and was admitted to the bar in 1864, at Keokuk, Iowa. From 1865 to 1872 he practiced law at Memphis, Tenn. In 1873-1874 he was the general agent for Georgia of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York, with headquarters at Atlanta, Ga. In 187 5-187 6 he was connected with a law book publishing firm in St. Louis. In 1877 he moved to Florida, and since he came to Florida has given his time to journalistic work. He has been the editor and publisher of the Florida Immigrant, a monthly, published at Tallahassee; associate editor of the Tallahassee Floridian; editor of the Fernandina Mirror; managing editor of Jacksonville (Daily) Times, (afterwards Times-Union); editor of Brooksville News, Seville Independent, Pensacola (Daily) News; editorial writer to the Jacksonville (Daily) Citizen, (afterwards Times-Union and Citizen), St. Augustine (Daily) Record, and the Tallahassee True Democrat. In addition to these journalistic positions he published the "Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Court," in two volumes (1889 and 1898). He has written many illustrated immigration pamphlets for Leon county and for the railroads; also many magazine articles and special press articles. On November 16, 1869, he was married to Miss Nannie Ragland, a daughter of Adam and Demaris (Goolsby) Ragland, of La Grange, Ga. Her father was a planter and had served as Clerk of the Superior Court. They have three living children, Miriam Louise, John Ragland and Nancy Eleanor Choate. While in Memphis, Mr. Choate served as Assistant United States District Attorney for some three years. He served as Judge Advocate-General, with rank of Colonel, on the military staff of Gov. F. P. Fleming, from 1888-1891. In 1896 his newspaper colleagues throughout the State of Florida made a strong effort to secure his nomination as attorney-general, but as this was not in conformity with the will of the political leaders, this effort failed. In politics Mr. Choate is a Democrat. He is connected with various organizations, such as Knights of Honor, Sons of the American Revolution, in which society he has served on committees on Revolutionary Monuments, Press Committee, and Special Committee of the Proposed National Memorial to the Revolutionary Fathers to be erected at Washington, D. C. He is an active member of the Episcopal Church and has been several times a delegate to diocesan conventions. Years ago when living in Pensacola he served as Secretary of the Young Men's Business League. He has been a-worker in everything that would contribute to the upbuilding of Florida during the last thirty years. Like all good newspaper men, his reading has taken a wide range. His preferred reading, however, has been along the lines of law, history, good magazines, and first-class fiction. As to how to promote the best interests of Florida and the Nation, he is a believer in honest methods of government, "Equal rights to all—special privileges to none," firm execution of few and simple laws, conduct of public affairs with the same integrity of purpose and devotion to duty manifested by individuals in the conduct of their private business. At only one point does Mr. Choate touch a pessimistic note. When asked to state briefly some facts that would be helpful to other men in the same profession, he states that his newspaper experience of thirty years in Florida has led him to the conclusion that newspaper work is the most thankless task any one can undertake; benefiting all but the one who does the work. There is a noble philanthropy in it, but its material rewards are generally meager, and often even less. It is a rather sorrowful thought that in that statement Mr. Choate has told the exact truth and that this useful class in our country do really get for their labor less than any other men of anything like equal value. It is, however, true that in the making up of the annals of Florida the truthful historian will do justice to that noble and admirable element of Florida's population—the newspaper men. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/leon/photos/bios/choate32gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/leon/bios/choate32gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 7.1 Kb