Born to Charles and Nancy (Spaulding) Coolidge in Westminster, Massachusetts, he was a descendant on his father"s side of Thomas Hastings (colonist) who came from the East Anglia region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. He began his career working at his father"s chair factory, however in 1876 his father"s factory burned down.
Coolidge attended the common schools.
After the destruction of his father"s factory Coolidge became manager of the Boston Chair Manufacturing Company in Ashburnham, Massachusetts and later of the Leominster Rattan Works. Coolidge was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893). While in Congress Coolidge served on the Committee on Pacific Railroads and on the Select Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands in the United States.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1892 to the Fifty-third Congress.
He retired from active business pursuits. Coolidge died in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, on June 8, 1906.
He was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Westminster, Massachusetts.
Coolidge was a member of the Board of Selectmen of his native town for three years. He served as member of the Democratic State Central Committee. Coolidge served as member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1875.
