Charles Spear (May 1, 1803 - April 13, 1863), was a Universalist minister who spent much of his life advocating for the reformation of the prison system and the abolishment of the death penalty. He founded the newspaper, 'The Prisoner's Friend', focused on the abolition of capital punishment and better avenues of prisoner reform, that reached far beyond his New England home.

Spear was born and lived in Massachusetts for the entirety of his life. However, he traveled extensively as a Universalist missionary, salesman, and prison reform advocate. Charles, along with his brother, John, assisted in founding the New England Non-Resistance Society in 1839. This society called for an end to violence and 'worldly government'. In 1841 and 1842, Spear and his brother also organized the first two Universalist Anti-Slavery Conventions, held in Massachusetts. By 1845, Charles became General Agent of the newly formed Massachusetts Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment and published works arguing the long-term traumatic effects of execution on all those involved, including spectators.

During the American Civil War, Spear enlisted as an Army chaplain, assigned to the Army hospital at St. Elizabeth's Asylum in Washington, D. C., working there only a short time before the hospital director relieved him of duty on account of his views. He continued fervent chaplain work in and around the city, eventually succumbing to what his wife described as 'nervous exhaustion' in April 1863.