Charles Hiller Innes (b. August 6, 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts – d. May 27, 1939; Burial in Forest Hills Cemetary, Boston, MA). Mr. Innes was a lawyer, graduating summa cum laude from Boston University Law School in 1892. In 1896, he was selected to the Boston Common Council and from 1897-1898, Innes served in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives. He served two terms in the Massachusetts State Senate from 1899-1900. Innes was Chairman of the State Committee and a Delegate to the Republican National Convention and Counsel for the Republican National Committee. A personal friend and colleague of Calvin Coolidge, Innes is responsible for getting Mr. Coolidge elected as President of the United States. Known as the Grand Poohbah of Boston’s Republican Party, he was one of the most successful politicians and lawyers of his era. According to Elliot Norton, in his book entitled Broadway Down East, “ Charles H. Innes was considered the afternoon mayor.” Innes founded the law firm of Innes & Tuttle in Boston and in 1917 founded the first night law school in the United States known as the Charles H. Innes Law Association. More than nine hundred members of the Massachusetts Bar were trained in Innes's night law school. In 1928, the Association presented $5,000 to Boston University Law School for the establishment of the Charles H. Innes Law Association Scholarship (The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, May 28, 1939) In regards to Inne’s great influence on the building of the Cape Cod Canal, author William James Reid, in his book The Building of the Cape Cod Canal, 1961, writes “No little of the credit through the bill for the purchase of the Cape Cod Canal belongs to Charles H. Innes of Boston, a well-known lawyer and power in local politics who spent considerable time here of late to make sure that there was no slipup on the bill. Colonel Inne’s fee is reputed to be close to the half-million mark, but out of that he will be obligated to pay his heavy expenses for clerical and other work.”
<refWaymark</ref>The Charles H. Innes Memorial Underpass was dedicated to Innes and it is located at the intersection where Huntinton Avenue passes under Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. These two streets are major roads for Boston and was a WPA construction project. It has bronze plaques identifying it as being funded by the WPA and dedicated to Innes. Another plaque, closer to Symphony Hall, has the following text, "The Charles H. Innes Memorial Underpass Dedicated to the memory of Charles Hiller Innes 1870-1939 Lawyer - Legislator Teacher of Law Prominent in affairs of city, state and nation Noted for his capacity for friendship and his lifetime of devotion to the interests of the people of this district. November 6, 1941"
Innes was Director of the Eastern Racing Association and Director of the Boston National League Baseball Club. Innes was a member of the American Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association and the Economic Club. Upon his death, the then headmaster of the Rosemary Choate School in Wallingford, CT, the Rev. George C. St. John, eulogized Innes as a “born leader, a great teacher, and one of the most important men of his era.” The Boston Globe goes on to say, “Many were encouraged in high positions of honor through his helpfulness, his kindly guidance and his brillant leadership. All admired and respected him for his courage and justice.” (The Boston Globe, May 28, 1939)