Born in Alexandria, Virginia shortly after the American Civil War to railroad worker William Henry Carlin and his wife Frances Elizabeth Eskridge, Carlin lost his father as a boy. However, his mother took in boarders and later worked as a teacher to support the family, and Charles was able to attended local public schools and Alexandria Academy. Seven of his mother's family had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and one had served on the vestry of Alexandria's Christ Church and as the guardian of Mary Ball, who later became George Washington's mother. His parents had married in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1852, and William H. Carlin had served as a Confederate private in the 3rd Virginia Infantry. Before his early death, the young family also included daughters Mary and Fannie and another son Franklin . Charles Carlin worked as a clerk to support the family, and then attended the National University Law School, across the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.. He married Lilian E. Broders of Alexandria on October 28, 1891, and they would have two sons: Charles Keith Carlin and Charles Creighton Carlin.
Career
Carlin graduated from law school and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1891 and began his legal practice in Alexandria. He was active in the local Democratic Party for over forty years, and ten times served as delegate to Democratic National Convention. He also served as Alexandria's postmaster from 1893 to 1897, during the administration of Democratic president Grover Cleveland. Carlin published the Alexandria Gazette newspaper in his home town, and in 1895 helped start the CelinaDemocrat in Celina, Mercer County, Ohio, which ceased publication in 1921. With the support of Claude Swanson, Carlin was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the unexpected death of John F. Rixey. He had faced a hotly contested Democratic primary, then handily defeated Republican Ernest L. Howard in the general election. Carlin was re-elected to the Sixty-first and to five succeeding Congresses, serving from November 5, 1907, to March 3, 1919, when he resigned before the Sixty-sixth Congress, despite having been reelected without opposition. He had also faced no opponent in 1910, and had won lopsided victories in the contested elections: 79.68% of the vote against Republican J. W. Gregg in 1908, 90.7% of the vote against socialist F.T. Evans and independent Milton Fling in 1912, 75.3% of the vote against Republican Joseph L. Crupper, independent James E. Johnston and socialist Milton Fling in 1914, and 71.82% of the vote against Republican Joseph L. Crupper and independents Frank E. Manning and William H. Hamilton in 1916. In 1913, Carlin had succeeded in passing a bill to study creating a national park from the Manassas Battlefield, which his predecessor Rixey had introduced, but Congress failed to enact the appropriation the investigative committee recommended, due to the start of World War I. Fellow Democrat "Judge" Moore of Fairfax, Virginia succeeded Carlin in the U.S. House. Carlin resigned from Congress in order to manage the unsuccessful presidential campaign of President Wilson's Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer for the 1920 Presidential nomination. He later managed the unsuccessful 1924 Presidential campaign of Alabama Senator Oscar Underwood. Carlin also testified before Congress in 1920 concerning Presidential campaign expenses. Carlin also resumed his legal practice in Alexandria and Washington, D.C. Carlin moved to Washington, D.C. in 1936 and worked in both jurisdictions until his death.
Death and legacy
Carlin died in Washington on October 14, 1938, survived by his wife and two sons. He was interred in Alexandria's Ivy Hill Cemetery, as his widow would be seven years later. However, two wills were presented for probate, together with a revocation of one will and a trust document in favor of his granddaughter Sara. Despite an early settlement of the congressman's estate, a long legal battle later ensued over control of the newspaper, since another grandson had become mentally ill while attending the University of California and had subsequently been confined to state mental hospitals in California and eventually Williamsburg, Virginia. Congressman Carlin's son, Major Charles Keith Carlin and another grandson, would later be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and the Alexandria Gazette continues to publish.
