Socialist Esperantist Dies in Massachusetts

Charles Horatio Matchett,
Early Esperantist
(circa 1896)

The Wikipedia entry for Charles Horatio Matchett mentions nothing about Esperanto, noting that he was, however, on the first Presidential ticket for the Socialist Party (he ran for Vice President in 1892 and for President in 1896). The winning candidate in 1896 was William McKinley, who received 7,102,246 votes, while Matchett received 36,359 votes, totaling exactly zero electoral votes.[1]

There’s ample genealogical information on Matchett. He was born in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 15, 1843, the son of Charles and Clarissa Matchett. Charles was their second child; he had three sisters, Julia, Clara, and Louisa. He married Georgina Straw, a dressmaker in 1871. They do not appear to have had any children. On the 1910 Census, his status is listed as divorced. But on the 1930 Census, her status is listed as “widowed.” Charles Horatio Matchett died on October 23, 1919 in Allston, Massachusetts.

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