Charles E. Boyle was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He attended the common schools, and Waynesburg College in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in December 1861 and practiced. He was elected district attorney for Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1862. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1865 and 1866. He was president of the Democratic State convention in 1867 and 1871, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876 and 1880.