Charles H. Lake was born around 1839 in Massachusetts to Eleaser and Hannah Lake. His father was a farmer who owned $1,200 of real estate in 1850. Lake grew up in Topsfield, Massachusetts, and he began working as a farmer by 1861. He enlisted in the Union army on May 25, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company F of the 2^nd Massachusetts Infantry later that day. He apparently grew disillusioned with the war effort by August 1861, urging his cousin William Small never to “go to war if you can keep out of it. Better let the North become Slave Teritory [sic], and leave the Country.” Lake fell ill around June 1862 and spent the next year in a hospital in Washington, D.C. He mustered out on November 11, 1863, and became a hospital steward. Lake returned to Topsfield after the war, and he probably got married soon afterward. They had at least two children: Fred, born around 1868; and Vivian, born around 1869. His wife may have died sometime before 1870. By 1870, Lake owned $4,400 of real estate. He died sometime after 1870.

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