McCarthy served from May 18, 1898 – January 21, 1899 in Company F., Sixth Massachusetts Regiment during the Spanish–American War, attaining the rank of corporal. McCarthy was deployed along with his regiment to Puerto Rico[5] where they disembarked on July 25, 1898.[9] McCarthy was mustered out of service on January 21, 1899.[5]
In 1916 the Massachusetts legislature and electorate approved the calling of a Constitutional Convention. In May 1917, McCarthy was elected to serve as a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1917, representing the 9th Middlesex District of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.[11] McCarthy served on the Convention's committee on Military Affairs.[2][6]
McCarthy is reported as having made a Memorial Day address at the Town Hall on May 29, 1933.[12]
^ abcBridgman, Arthur Milnor (1919), A Souvenir of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, Boston, 1917–1919, Stoughton, MA: A. M. (Arthur Milnor) Bridgman, p. 81
^Who's Who in State Politics, 1911, Boston, MA: Practical Politics, 1911, p. 42
^United States, Selective Service System (September 1918), World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918; Registration Location: Middlesex County, Massachusetts; Roll: 1684573; Draft Board: 16., Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration
^ abcdBridgman, Arthur Milnor (1903), A Souvenir of Massachusetts legislators, Volume XIX, Stoughton, MA: A. M. Bridgman, p. 145
^ abA Manual for the Constitutional Convention, 1917: Submitted to the Constitutional Convention by the Commission to Compile Information and Data for the use of the Constitutional Convention, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Co., state printers, 1917, p. 289
^ abWho's Who in State Politics, 1908, Boston, MA: Practical Politics, 1908, p. 241
^Bigelow, Ella A. (1910), Historical Reminiscences of the early times in Marlborough, Massachusetts: and Prominent Events from 1860 to 1910, Including Brief Allusions to Many Individuals and an Account of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town, Marlborough, Massachusetts: Times Pub. Co., p. 330
^Spanish War Vets Reunion - Celebrate Anniversary of Landing of Co. 6th, Mass. Reg. at Porto Rico, Marlborough, Massachusetts: The Marlboro Enterprise, July 26, 1911, p. 1
^Bridgman, Arthur Milnor (1903), A Souvenir of Massachusetts legislators, Volume XIX, Stoughton, MA: A. M. Bridgman, p. 39
^Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Co., state printers, 1919, pp. 7–9
^Annual Reports of Town Officers, Volumes 71-74 (1936), p. 153: "Memorial Day exercises were observed at the Town Hall, May 29. Ex-Mayor Charles McCarthy, of Marlboro, spoke to the assembly".
