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Thursday,  August  30,   1900 

•  •  •   j\  l    •  •  •  • 

Newburyport,         Massachusetts 


OLD   CHASE    HOUSES    IN    WEST    NEWBURY. 
Mentioned  on  Pa«,es  IS  and  id. 


First  Reunion 


of 


The   Chase-Chace   Family 

Association 


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8 


i  IP 


THURSDAY,   AUGUST   30,    1900 


AT 


Newburyport,  Mass. 


•      THJ    GH-A<jE  I'KKSS 
HAVERHILL,  MASSACHUSETTS 

1901 


<-<■■    /    I 


BY-LAWS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


Article  I.     Name.     This  organization  shall  be  called  The  Chase 
Chace  Family  Association. 

Article  II.  Object.  The  object  of  the  Association  is  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  family  history  and  aid  in  its  compilation  and  publi- 
cation, and  to  promote  social  intercourse  among  the  members. 

Article  III.  Officers.  The  officers  of  the  Association  shall  be  a 
President,  three  or  more  Vice  Presidents,  Secretary-Treasurer,  one  or 
more  Historians  and  an  Executive  Committee  of  three  or  more,  of 
which  the  President  and  Secretary  shall  be  members,  ex-officio.  The 
officers  shall  be  elected  at  the  regular  meetings  of  the  Association  and 
shall  severally  perform  the  duties  incident  to  the  positions  which  they 
hold. 

Article  IV.  Membership  and  Fee.  Any  person  interested  in 
the  objects  of  the  Association  may  become  a  member  by  the  payment 
of  the  sum  of  two  dollars  to  the  Treasurer,  who  will  issue  a  member- 
ship receipt  for  the  same. 

Article  V.  Meetings.  Meetings  shall  be  held  annually,  if  practi- 
cable, at  such  time  and  place  as  the  Executive  Committee  may  select. 

Article  VI.     Amendments.     These  By-Laws  may  be  amended  by 

a  majority  vote  at  any  meeting  of  the  Association. 


FEB  1 5  \i\  1 


THE  CHASE -CH  ACE  FAMILY 
ASSOCIATION. 


Incorporated  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  July  6th,  1899. 


President. 

JOHN   C.  CHASE,  Derry,  N.  H. 

Vice  =  Presidents. 

Charles  E.  Chase,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Edward  O.  Chase,  Chicago,  111. 

George  W.  Chase,  Pawling,  N.  Y. 

Caleb  Chase,  Boston,  Mass. 

William   M.  Chase,  Concord,  N.  H. 

Historians. 

Mrs.  M.  L.  C.  Smith,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Of  the  Aquila  line. 

Rev.  William  A.  Eardelev, 

I'.i.  State  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Of  the  other  lines. 


Secretary=Treasurer. 

OMAR  P.  CHASE,  Andover,  Mass. 

Executive  Committee. 

George  L.  Chase,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Russell  S.  Taft,  Burlington,  Vt. 

Joseph  E.  Chase,  Holyoke,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Isabella  S.  Lounsderky, 

Hartford,  Conn. 
George  F.  Chace,  Taunton,  Mass. 

Josiah  G.  Chase,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Caroline  Atkinson,  Springfield,  Mass. 


The  Chase-Chace  Family  Association  was  organized  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,  July  6,  1899,  its  object  being  to  incite  interest  and  aid  in  com- 
piling and  publishing  a  genealogical  history  of  the  family. 

Will  you  not  assist  in  this  undertaking  by  becoming  a  member  of 
the  Association,  and  furnishing  such  data  relating  to  the  family  as  may 
be  in  your  possession  ? 

It  is  hoped  that  a  prompt  and  gratifying  response  may  be  made  to 
this  appeal,  in  order  that  the  long  delayed  work  of  publishing  the 
history  of  a  noted  family  may  be  prosecuted  to  an  early  and  successful 
conclusion. 


4  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

It  is  also  earnestly  desired  that  any  who  do  not  feel  like  rendering 
financial  aid,  by  becoming  members  of  the  Association,  will  not  fail  to 
send  their  own  family  records,  that  the  work  may  be  made  as  complete 
as  possible. 

The  membership  fee  has  been  fixed  at  two  dollars;  no  future 
annual  payments  being  required.  Membership  fees  should  be  sent  to 
the  Treasurer,  who  will  return  receipts  therefor.  Genealogical  data 
may  be  sent  to  either  of  the  Historians,  if  those  sending  have  any 
doubt  in  regard  to  the  line  to  which  they  may  belong. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical 
Association  and  George  Bigelow  Chase,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  the  Association 
has  been  permitted  to  copy  a  large  collection  made  by  the  latter,  and 
has  also  obtained  possession  of  the  collections  made  by  the  late  Dr. 
John  B.  Chace  of  Taunton,  Mass.,  and  the  late  Benjamin  Chase  of 
Auburn,  N.  H. 

Those  who  become  members  of  the  Association  will  be  furnished 
with  their  family  lines,  if  desired,  without  charge,  if  they  appear  in  the 
records  which  have  been  or  may  be  collected. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Association  will  be  held  August  30,  1900, 
at  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  in  the  Unitarian  Church,  Newburyport,  Mass.  A 
cordial  invitation  to  attend  is  extended  to  all  members  of  the  family  and 
its  collateral  branches;  also  to  any  who  are  interested  in  the  work  of 
the  Association.  Those  intending  to  be  present  are  requested  to  give 
timely  notice  to  the  Secretary. 

JOHN  C.  CHASE, 

President. 

(  hi  \k    1'.  Chase, 

Secretary. 


FIRST  REUNION. 


The  Chase -Chace  Family  Association, 

NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.,  AUGUST  30,  1900. 


The  first  reunion  of  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association  was  held 
in  the  historic  Meeting  House  of  the  First  Religious  Society  in  New- 
buryport,  Mass.,  Thursday,  August  30,  1900. 

In  the  preceding  month,  over  seven  thousand  circulars  were  sent 
out  announcing  the  organization  of  the  Association  and  its  objects,  the 
names  of  those  to  whom  the  circulars  were  sent  being  obtained  from 
city  directories,  and  from  the  records  in  the  possession  of  the  Historians 
of  the  Association.  A  copy  of  the  circular  appears  on  the  preceding 
pages  as  a  matter  of  record  and  for  the  information  of  those  who  did 
not  happen  to  receive  it. 

While  it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  more  than  a  small  portion 
of  those  notified  could  be  present,  the  response  by  letter  and  in  person 
was  very  gratifying,  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  being  in  attendance, 
although  but  few  more  than  onedialf  of  the  number  registered  as 
belonging  to  the  family. 

The  day  of  the  meeting  was  exceptionally  fine,  and  it  was  assumed 
that  Providence  as  well  as  nature  was  smiling  upon  the  venture  of 
launching  another  family  association. 

Although  the  hour  of  meeting  was  set  for  ten  o'clock,  many  came 
an  hour  earlier  and  pleasantly  passed  the  time  in  making  and  renewing 
acquaintances,  sociability  without  formality  being  the  order  of  the  day. 

Shortly  after  the  hour  set  for  beginning  the  exercises,  the  President 
called  to  order,  and  the  audience  joined  in  singing  the  opening  hymn 


6  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

to  the  grand  old  tune  of  Hamburg,  played  by  Miss  Alice  Louise  Chase 
of  Medina,  N.  Y.,  the  organist  of  the  day.  The  hymn  was  a  selection 
contributed  by  Mr.  Charles  Estes  of  Warren,  R.  I.,  who  was  unable  to 
be  present,  and  was  sent  in  response  to  a  request  for  a  poem. 


OPENING  HYMN. 

Two  hundred  years  !     Two  hundred  years  ! 

How  much  of  human  power  and  pride, 
What  glorious  hopes,  what  gloomy  fears, 

Have  sunk  beneath  their  noiseless  tide  ! 

'Tis  like  a  dream  when  one  awakes  — 
This  vision  of  the  scenes  of  old 

'Tis  like  the  noon  when  morning  breaks 
'Tis  like  a  tale  round  watch-fires  told. 

God  of  our  fathers,  in  whose  sight 
The  thousand  years  that  sweep  away 

Man,  and  the  traces  of  his  might 
Are  but  the  break  and  close  of  day. 

Grant  us  that  love  of  truth  sublime, 
That  love  of  goodness  and  of  Thee, 

Which  makes  thy  children,  in  all  time 
To  share  thine  own  eternity. 


Rev.  Horace  C.  Hovey,  D.  I).,  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church, 

Newburyport,  then  offered  the  following  prayer: 

All  wise  and  eternal  God,  who  art  from  everlasting  to  everlasting, 
we  come  into  Thy  presence  believing  in  Thee  and  trusting  in  Thee  as 
our  fathers'  and  as  our  God.  One  generation  passeth  away  and  another 
generation  cometh,  but  the  Lord  abideth  forever. 

We  pray  that  Thou  wilt  bless  the  family  reunions  that  are  being 
held  at  this  delightful  season  of  the  year  in  many  parts  of  our  country, 
and  as  the  children  meet  to  rehearse  the  deeds  of  the  fathers  and 
mothers  and  to  recount  their  struggles  and  triumphs,  may  their  own 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWIiURYPORT,  MASS.  7 

patriotism  be  rekindled  with  new  zeal.      May  their  love  for  God  and 
home  and  native  land  be  stronger,  purer  and  better  than  before. 

Wilt  thou  bless  all  the  different  branches  of  this  great  family  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Chase,  and  those  who  are  represented  here  to-day, 
either  personally  or  by  correspondence,  and  may  all  that  is  said  and 
done  here  to-day  be  to  Thine  honor  and  glory,  while  it  is  to  the  ad- 
vantage, welfare  and  prosperity  of  Thy  people. 

Closing  with  the  Lord's  Prayer. 


The  President  stated  that  up  to  a  late  hour  on  the  preceding 
day,  when  the  copy  for  the  programme  had  to  be  sent  to  the  printer,  it 
was  not  positively  known  that  any  of  the  lineage  would  be  present  to 
officiate  in  a  clerical  capacity.  In  this  extremity  an  appeal  was  made 
to  Rev.  Dr.  Hovey,  and,  although  due  at  a  Sunday  School  picnic  of  his 
church,  he  had  kindly  consented  to  come  to  our  relief.  An  invitation 
to  address  the  meeting  was  graciously  responded  to  as  follows  : 


ADDRESS  BY  REV.  DR.  HOVEY. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Chase  Family  : 

It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  be  invited  by  your  President 
to  take  part  in  any  way  in  a  family  reunion  of  this  nature,  particularly 
as  some  of  your  number  are  very  well  known  to  me  personally  and 
others  are  known  to  me  by  reputation,  and  more  especially  as  your 
worthy  President  is  of  the  Hovey  "line  of  ancestry,  and  although  he 
has  come  into  the  list  of  the  Hoveys  at  the  eleventh  hour,  his  name 
being  the  last  to  be  entered,  he  shows  a  good  spirit,  and  it  is  most 
pleasant  to  me  as  President  of  the  Daniel  Hovey  Association  to  know 
that  the  President  of  the  Chase-Chace  Association  has  his  heart  in  the 
right  place. 

We  have  just  had  our  Hovey  reunion  in  Ipswich,  on  August  21. 
We  had  eighty  sit  down  at  the  table  at  the  Agawam  House,  but  we 
labor  under  some  advantages  and  disadvantages.  We  have  not  the 
thought  of  such  a  legacy  hanging  over  our  heads.  Our  ancestor  was  a 
worthy  man  ;  we  have  the  old  Coat  of  Arms  and  have  proved  it  away 


8  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

back  to  the  old  Daniel  Hovey  who  came  in  1637,  or  perhaps  a  little 
earlier.  We  find  considerable  satisfaction  in  that  Coat  of  Arms,  but 
what  is  that  side  of  such  a  legacy  of  millions  as  will  come  to  you  when 
you  get  your  rights?  In  that  respect  we  labor  at  a  great  advantage  or 
disadvantage.  We  do  not  have  to  bother  ourselves  with  the  fear  of 
being  taxed,  nor  the  fear  of  a  wrong  distribution  of  the  estate.  We 
came  together  just  because  we  were  Hoveys,  and  we  looked  into  each 
other's  faces  and  we  were  as  brothers.  Some  of  us  were  quite  sur- 
prised to  find  how  good  looking  the  Hoveys  are.  A  great  many  of 
the  Hoveys  remarked  upon  it.  1  do  not  know  whether  they  had  been 
told  a  great  many  times  how  plain  they  were,  but  they  were  really  sur- 
prised to  find  how  good  looking  they  were,  and  they  talked  about  it. 
And  certainly,  if  it  were  not  for  seeming  to  be  flattering  and  too 
complimentary  right  to  your  faces,  I  might  tell  you  the  same  thing. 
When  you  get  one  of  these  New  England  families  together  you 
get  the  cream,  the  best  that  there  is  in  all  America,  and  there  is  no 
one  here  who  will  deny  that.  There  is  one  fact  which  has  been  im- 
pressed very  especially  upon  my  mind  with  regard  to  these  family 
reunions,  and  the  patriotic  societies  that  have  been  formed  —  The 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  The  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, The  Sons  of  the  Revolution  and  The  Sons  of  the  American 
Resolution, —  and  that  is  this:  If  you  went  to  the  annals  of  families, 
the  names  that  are  being  taken  in  the  census  that  is  now  approaching 
its  completion,  you  would  find  that  probably  two-thirds  of  the  people, 
at  a  moderate  estimate,  two-thirds  of  the  people  who  inhabit  the  cities 
have  no  ancestry  to  speak  of,  they  are  not  descended  from  the  old 
families  of  New  England.  Many  of  them  are  among  the  worthiest 
citizens  that  we  have,  but  they  cannot  claim  this  grand  ancestry  that 
the  old  families  have  as  a  spur  to  their  patriotism,  and  it  is  our  duty  to 
tell  them  all  about  the  deeds  of  our  ancestors.  That  is  the  argument  ; 
mere  family  pride  is  not  the  highest  motive.  We  are  not  responsible 
for  belonging  to  one  family  or  another.  There  is  no  particular  reason 
why  one  person  is  to  have  one  name  rather  than  another,  but  when 
you  know  your  ancestral  history,  and  what  has  been  done  in  war  and 
peace,  in  commerce,  in  literature,  and  the  fine  arts,  in  religion  and 
in  the  education  of  the  whole  country,  then  we  have  something  that 
causes  a  lot  of  responsibility  to  rest  upon  us  concerning  the  welfare  of 
our  great,  glorious  and  growing  republic,  to  tell  our  fellow-citizens  of 
the  achievements  of  the  past  and  to  help  each  other,  that  there  may 
be  even  greater  achievements. 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWDURYPORT,   MASS.  9 

Now,  Mr.  President,  you  all  know  these  things.  I  have  simply 
reminded  you  of  them.  I  thank  you  for  the  great  favor  that  you  have 
conferred  upon  me  and  I  express  my  sincere  regret  in  not  being  able 
to  remain.  You  have  my  best  wishes,  my  highest  respect  and  my  most 
sincere  regard  in  all  the  plans  which  may  be  formed  for  your  future 
and  especially  for  this  reunion.      May  God  bless  you  all. 


Dr.  Hovey's  address  received  close  attention  and  was  heartily 
applauded.  A  motion  was  unanimously  adopted  thanking  him  for  his 
courlesy  in  attending  the  meeting,  and  contributing  to  the  enjoyment 
of  those  present. 

A  finely  rendered  soprano  solo  by  a  sweet  singer  of  Chase  descent 
as  well  as  present  name,  Mrs.  Katherine  Knight  Chase  of  Haverhill, 
was  followed  by  the  president's  address. 


ADDRESS  BY  THE  PRESIDENT. 

JOHN  C.  CHASE,  Derry,  N.  H. 


Kinsmen  and  Friends  : 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  welcome  such  a  goodly  number, 
to  this,  the  first  reunion  of  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association. 
Organized  but  little  over  a  year  ago,  the  first  meeting  was  practically 
for  business  only,  but  to-day  we  assemble  with  a  different  object,  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  reunion  will  be  the  first  of  a  series,  that  shall 
continue  as  long  as  any  of  the  name  and  blood  can  be  found  to  keep 
the  organization  alive.  Each  generation  will  have  its  own  record  to 
perpetuate,  and  I  can  conceive  of  few  obligations  paramount  to  that  of 
transmitting  to  posterity  a  record  of  the  achievements  of  their  ancestors. 
Says  Edmund  Burke,  "People  who  will  not  look  forward  to  their  pos- 
terity, who  never  look  backward  to  their  ancestors,"  and  it  was  with  the 
object  of  furthering  genealogical  research,  preserving  family  records 
and  strengthening  the  ties  of  kinship,  that  this  Association  was  formed. 

It  is  particularly  appropriate  that  the  initial  reunion  of  this  As- 
sociation should  be  held  in  this  city,  rich  in  historic  traditions  and 


In  I  III    CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

hallowed  memories,  for  it  was  here  the  progenitor  of  a  numerous  and 
important  branch  of  our  family  took  up  his  abode,  a  half  a  dozen  years 
alter  the  first  settlement  was  made  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Parker. 

Other  gatherings  of  the  family  have  been  held  in  former  years,  the 
earliest  of  which  we  have  any  record  being  held  in  this  city  in  1847. 
The  main  incentive  of  those  gatherings  was  the  pursuit  of  that  will-o'- 
the-wisp,  known  as  the  "Chase  Fortune."  "Hope  springs  eternal  in 
the  human  breast,"  and  recent  correspondence  discovers  the  existence 
of  many  who  still  have  faith  in  the  mythical  fortune  awaiting  pre- 
sumptive American  heirs  of  the  English  line.  If  any  here  present  are 
indulging  in  such  belief,  let  me  assure  them  that  an  investment  in  a 
gold  brick  is,  if  anything,  of  more  prospective  value  than  one  to  prose- 
cute this  chimerical  claim. 

If  the  "blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church,"  then  no 
less  did  those  who  caused  these  meetings  to  be  held,  render  service 
of  incalculable  value  to  coming  generations,  as  they  stimulated  genea- 
logical research,  and  caused  the  collection  and  preservation  of  historical 
data,  that  otherwise,  in  all  probability,  would  have  been  lost.  So  we 
may  well  say,  all  honor  to  those  who,  for  whatever  motive,  initiated  the 
movement  to  collect  and  preserve  the  family  history. 

Strenuous  efforts  were  put  forth  to  secure  an  address  from  some 
noted  member  of  the  family,  but,  possibly  on  account  of  our  policy  of 
"benevolent  assimilation,"  we  have  been  unable  to  secure  anyone, 
consequently  the  set  literary  programme  will  be  comparatively  brief. 
Personally  I  do  not  regard  this  as  an  unmixed  evil,  for  I  believe  that 
in  a  gathering  of  this  kind  the  time  allotted  to  social  intercourse  should 
predominate ;  that  a  large  proportion  of  those  who  attend,  would 
prefer  to  spend  their  time  in  making  and  renewing  acquaintances,  re- 
hearsing family  traditions,  and  proving  their  genealogy,  to  listening  to 
the  average  oratorical  effort.  Be  that  as  it  may,  you  have  the  best  we 
have  been  able  to  provide.  We  are  certain  that  the  experience  gained 
will  be  of  great  value  in  arranging  for  future  reunions,  which,  we  are 
confident,  will  show  a  largely  increased  attendance,  and  a  growing 
interest  in  the  Association  and  its  object. 

Notwithstanding  the  youth  of  the  Association,  it  has  already  been 
called  to  mourn  the  decease  of  one  of  its  members,  Henry  Martin  Chase 
of  Barnstable,  Mass.  Although  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  some  of  his 
early  years  were  spent  in  Newburyport,  and  his  remains  rest  in  the 
beautiful  Oak  Hill  Cemetery  not  far  distant  from  his  former  home. 
He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  aims  and  work  of  the  Association,  and 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWJ1URYPORT,  MASS.  1  1 

would  have  been  an  exceedingly  useful  and  valuable  member.  Our 
proceedings  will  contain  a  more  appropriate  biographical  notice  than  1 
can  give  at  this  time. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  I  might  occupy  a  portion  of  the  time 
that  happens  to  be  available,  with  a  brief  account  of  our  ancestors  who 
first  settled  in  this  country.  There  is  a  popular  but  incorrect  idea 
extant,  that  all  bearing  the  name  of  Chase  in  this  country  are  the 
descendants  of  three  brothers,  who  settled  in  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  There  are 
however,  a  number  who  trace  their  descent  from  an  immigrant  who 
settled  in  Maryland  and  was  the  ancestor  of  Judge  Samuel  Chase  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Others  are  descended  from 
a  John  Chase  who  came  from  the  Barbadoes  and  settled  in  Providence, 
R.  I.,  in  1730. 

From  a  reply  to  one  of  the  circulars  sent  out,  we  learn  of  one 
bearing  the  name  who  came  to  this  country  from  Canada,  but  was  born 
in  Ireland.  Their  traditions  make  the  family  of  Hugenot  origin. 
They  sought  refuge  in  England  at  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
and  for  services  rendered  in  Cromwell's  army,  were  given  grants  of 
land  in  England  and  the  south  of  Ireland. 

We  also  have  a  colored  brother  of  the  name,  the  editor  of  an 
Afro-American  paper  published  at  the  national  capital.  It  is  hardly 
probable  that  there  is  an  Ethiopian  line  of  the  family,  and  in  this  case 
it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  name  was  adopted  rather  than  inherited. 
Whatever  our  personal  feelings  may  be  in  regard  to  the  matter,  we  can 
hardly  criticise  the  compliment  paid  us  in  the  selection  of  the  surname. 

However,  it  is  certain  that  nearlv  all  of  those  bearing  the  name 
are  the  descendants  of  three  immigrants  who  settled  in  Massachusetts. 
William  Chace  was  the  first  in  the  field,  coming  in  Gov.  Winthrop's 
fleet,  in  1630.  His  name  is  found  m  the  records  of  the  first  church  in 
Roxbury,  in  the  handwriting  of  the  Rev.  John  Elliott,  the  apostle  to 
the  Indians.  He  removed  to  Yarmouth  in  1637,  and  those  of  the 
name  in  southeastern  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  are'generally  of 
this  line.  They  may  be  identified  to  a  large  extent  by  the  spelling  of 
the  name  Cha<re,  but  it  can  by  no  means  be  assumed  that  those  spelling 
it  Cha.ve  are  not  of  this  line.  Nothing  is  known  of  his  history  before 
his  arrival  here,  and  if  any  relationship  exists  between  him  and  the 
other  two  immigrants,  it  is  purely  conjectural  and  apparently  not  sus 
ceptible  of  proof. 

Aquila  and  Thomas  had  grants  of  land  in   Hampton,  N.  H.,   in 


L2  THE  CHASE-CHACE   FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

1640;  and  it  is  assumed  that  they  may  have  arrived  the  preceding 
year.  That  they  were  brothers,  is  shown  by  a  deed  on  record,  in 
which  Aquila  conveys  a  certain  tract  of  land  to  his  brother  'Thomas. 
It  is  supposed  that  Thomas  lived  where  the  Quaker  meeting  house 
now  stands  in  the  town  of  Seabrook.  As  his  oldest  son,  Thomas,  was  a 
bachelor,  it  is  probable  that  he  remained  on  the  homestead.  "For  the 
love  and  good  will  that  1  have  and  do  bear  unto  ye  people  of  (iod, 
called  Quakers,"  he  deeded  on  June  1,  1689  to  John  Hussey,  in  their 
behalf,  about  sixty  acres  of  land,  "for  a  burying  place  and  to  build  a 
meeting  house  on."  (Essex  Records,  10-88.)  When  the  estate  was 
divided  after  his  death  in  1714,  the  tract  by  which  the  above  merito- 
rious gift  is  bounded,  is  described  as  his  homestead. 

Thomas,  the  original  gfantee,  married  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of 
'Thomas  Philbrick,  and  died  in  1652,  leaving  five  sons.  Joseph,  the 
second  son  was  taken  prisoner  at  Dover,  N.  H.,  in  the  assault  upon 
Major  Waldron's  house  in  1689.  Dying  in  1718,  his  will  provided 
that  certain  beds,  furniture,  silver  tankard  and  'Turkey  worked  chairs, 
should  not  be  divided,  but  that  whichever  daughter  should  occupy  the 
house,  should  take  care  to  entertain  strangers,  more  particularly  called 
Quakers.  It  is  recorded  that  the  youngest  son,  Abraham,  born  the 
year  his  father  died,  "was  slain  in  the  warres,"  in  1676. 

The  birthplace  of  'Thomas  and  Aquila  is  unknown  and  the  year 
of  birth  of  the  latter  is  only  known  on  the  authority  of  Joshua  Coffin, 
the  historian  of  Newbury,  who  has  stated  that  he  has  seen  a  deposition 
in  which  Aquila  gives  his  age. 

It  has  been  assumed  that  they  were  the  sons  of  Aquila,  the  son 
of  Richard  Chase  and  Joan  bishop,  of  Chesham,  England,  but  it  is 
exceedingly  doubtful  if  satisfactory  proof  of  the  fact  can  ever  be  ad- 
duced. 'The  above  mentioned  Aquila  was  baptized  August  14,  L580, 
but  the  parish  records  contain  no  other  mention  of  him  or  his  younger 
brothers,  Thomas  and  Mordeeai.  The  marriage  or  death,  and  in  some 
cases  both,  of  the  seven  other  children  of  Richard  and  Joan  are  re- 
corded,  which  is  strong  evidence  that  the  three  sons  referred  to  lived 
and  died  elsewhere. 

'The  Hampton,  N.  H.,  records  show  that  in  1(>4(>  there  was 
granted  to  Aquila  Chase  six  acres  for  a  house  lot.  In  1  64  1,  an  additional 
grant  was  re<  orded  of  six  acres  "of  upland,  meadow  and  swamp." 

The  Newbury,  Mass.,  records  contain  the  following:  "(banted 
to  Aquila  Chase,  Anno  li>  16,  lower  acres  of  land  at  the  new  towne  for 
a  house  lott  and  six  acres  of  upland  for  a  planting  lott,  where  it  can 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  13 

be  had,  and  six  acres  of  marsh  where  it  can  be  had,  also  on  condition 
that  he  do  goe  to  sea  and  do  service  in  the  towne  with  a  boate  for  four 
years." 

It  is  probable  that  he  removed  to  Newbury  the  same  year,  as  the 
county  records  state,  that  in  September,  1646,  Aquila  Chase  and  wife, 
and  David  Wheeler,  of  Hampton,  her  brother,  were  prosecuted  for 
picking  peas  on  the  Sabbath  day.  As  the  patriarch  was  allowed  to 
change  his  name  from  Abram  to  Abraham  in  witness  of  the  covenant, 
that  he  should  be  the  father  of  many  nations,  so  it  is  perhaps  possible 
that  the  punishment  for  this  transgression  of  our  progenitor  was  giving 
his  name  the  current  pronunciation  of  ^4-quila  instead  of  the  scriptural 
^^-uila. 

Tradition  throws  little  light  upon  the"  question  of  Aquila  Chase's 
residence.  The  "Newtowne"  where  his  house  lot  was  located  is  what 
is  now  known  as  Newburyport,  the  original  settlement  in  Newbury 
having  been  made  on  Parker  River.  It  is  probable  that  the  "fower 
acres  of  land  at  the  new  towne  for  a  house  lott"  was  at  the  corner  of 
Chandler's  Lane,  now  Federal  Street,  and  the  old  highway,  now  Water 
Street,  for  he  conveyed  this  lot  to  Robert  Rogers  in  1659,  eleven  years 
before  his  death.*  The  records  of  deeds  and  probate  indicate  with 
reasonable  certainty  that  he  also  lived  on  the  north  side  of  what  is  now 
known  as  North  Atkinson  Street,  about  five  hundred  feet  from  its  inter- 
section with  Low  Street. 

In  1668  Daniel  Merrill  bought  of  John  Godfrey  eighteen  acres  with 
the  "housing"  near  the  Great  Pine  Swamp,  which  tract  was  bounded 
on  one  side  and  end  by  land  belonging  to  Aquila  Chase.  The  Great 
Pine  Swamp  lies  a  few  rods  west  of  Low  Street,  and  is  a  positive  and 
permanent  identification  of  location.  Daniel  Merrill's  will,  dated  1717, 
gives  his  homestead  in  Newbury  to  his  oldest  son,  Daniel,  who  married 
Esther  Chase,  daughter  of  Aquila,  Jr.  Daniel,  Jr.,  died  about  1725, 
and  the  division  of  the  estate  is  recorded  in  the  probate  records.  His 
son  Peter  had  half  of  the  house  and  probably  bought  the  other  half, 
and  lived  there.  His  will  was  proved  in  1778,  and  gave  to  his  son 
Jacob  all  of  his  real  estate.  The  house  stood  at  the  intersection  of 
North  Atkinson  and  Low  Streets,  and  was  known  until  its  demolition 
as  the  Jacob  Merrill  house. 

The  will  of  Aquila  Chase,  dated  December  19,  1670,  may  be 
seen  at  the  probate  orifice  in  Salem.  The  homestead  was  given  to  his 
oldest  son,  Aquila,  who  made  a  will,  now  in  the  possession  of  one  of 

*  Currier's  "  Ould  Newbury,"  page  14". 


14  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

his  descendants,  but  died  before  signing  it,  and  the  estate  was  divided 
by  the  heirs  in  1723.  Daniel  Merrill  and  wife  Esther  had  ten  acres  of 
the  northwest  end,  which  was  bounded  by  their  homestead,  and  Joseph, 
the  only  surviving  son,  who  had  settled  in  what  is  now  West  Newbury, 
had  the  other  seven  acres  and  buildings.  He  sold  his  share  to  Daniel 
Merrill,  and  the  deed  describes  it  as  "bounding  on  Sawyer's  Lane." 
Enoch  1'.  Chase,  who  was  born  in  L789,  and  lived  on  North  Atkinson 
Street,  says  the  Sawyers  lived  where  he  did,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
Sawyer's  Lane,  and  that  there  were  two  Merrill  houses.  The  Daniel 
Merrill  cellar  was  open  until  within  a  few  years,  and  the  hollow  place 
marking  the  cellar  of  the  house,  where  it  is  confidently  believed  Aquila 
Chase  lived  and  died,  can  be  identified.  'Die  place  of  his  burial  is 
unknown,  but  tradition  savs  fhat  it  is  in  the  old  cemetery  on  the  Plains. 

Thomas,  the  second  son  of  Aquila,  married  Rebecca,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Follansbee,  and  settled  near  Amesbury  Kerry,  about  thirty 
rods  north  of  the  road  leading  from  the  Ferry  road  to  the  Artichoke 
River,  which  also  leads  by  the  old  cemetery  to  the  Bradford  road. 
The  deed  for  his  first  purchase  of  fourteen  acres  is  dated  June  2, 
1<>77.  The  estate  remained  in  the  family  until  1798,  and  the  house 
stood  until  L875.  His  son,  Thomas,  born  September  15,  1680,  settled 
in  what  is  now  West  Newbury  previous  to  1700,  and  the  estate  still 
remains  in  the  family.  It  is  now  held  by  Miss  Lois  Jane  and  Thomas 
Chase  Thurlow,  whose  mother,  Susan  Chase,  of  the  seventh  generation 
from  Aquila,  married  George  Thurlow. 

Aquila,  fourth  son  of  Thomas,2 born  July  15,  L688,  lived  in  Ipswich, 
and  died  in  1714.  Among  the  items  in  the  expense  account  of  his 
funeral,  we  find  one  of  £]  :  Ids.  for  eight  gallons  of  wine. 

fohn,  the  third  son  of  Aquila,  bought  on  December  24,  1698,  a 
lot  of  land  "in  the  upper  woods,"  now  West  Newbury,  giving  in  ex- 
change a  tract  of  tide  meadow  in  Salisbury.  His  house  was  at  the 
"Training  Field,"  and  was  the  second  east  of  the  present  town  house. 
Hi.  will  was  dated  October  22,  L730,  ami  proved  May  19,  1739.  He 
gave  to  his  grandson,  "John  Chase,  of  Hampton,  the  son  of  my  son 
John,"  twenty  shillings.  "It  is  all  wliich  1  should  have  given  to  my 
said  son  John  had  he  been  living."  This  phraseology  of  the  will  settles 
beyond  question  the  identity  of  the  John  Chase,  grandson  of  Aquila, 
who  married  Abigail  Green,  granddaughter  of  Thomas  of  Hampton,  as 
there  has  been  some  confusion  in  regard  to  the  matter.  The  home- 
stead was  given  to  his  son  David. 

Daniel,  Aquila's  fourth  son,  acquired  by  purchase  from  his  brother 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  I  5 

Aquila,  the  lot  on  the  west  of  that  owned  by  his  brother  John,  being 
the  one  just  east  of  the  West  Newbury  town  house.  He  died  in  1707 
and  the  place  soon  passed  out  of  the  name  of  Chase,  although  it  re- 
mained in  the  collateral  line  of  Carr  for  over  a  hundred  years. 

Moses,  the  youngest  son  and  eleventh  child  of  Aquila,  was  born 
December  24,  1663.  He  married  Ann  Follansbee,  who  died  April  15, 
1708,  at  the  birth  of  her  youngest  son,  Benoni.  She  was  buried  in  the 
old  cemetery  at  the  Plains,  and  her  tombstone  has  the  oldest  date  of 
any  belonging  to  the  family  so  far  as  I  am  aware. 

He  died  September  6,  1743,  and  was  buried  in  the  old  Ferry 
Lane  (now  Bridge  Street)  Cemetery  in  West  Newbury,  where  may  be 
seen,  in  addition  to  his  own,  the  headstones  of  three  others  bearing  the 
name  of  Moses  of  successive  generations. 

The  elder  Moses  was  styled  weaver  and  ensign  and  the  latter  title 
appears  on  his  tombstone.  He  and  his  wife  were  admitted  to  member- 
ship in  the  Second  Church  in  1713,  and  he  signed  the  covenant  and 
helped  form  the  Fourth  Church  in  1731.  September  20,  1700,  it 
was  "granted  to  Moses  Chase  to  set  in  the  fore  seat  by  the  pulpit." 
His  eldest  son,  Daniel,  settled  in  Sutton  and  was  the  ancestor  of  Chief 
Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase. 

In  1689  he  purchased  a  lot  of  land  in  the  "upper  woods,"  as  that 
part  of  the  town  lying  west  of  the  Artichoke  Piver  was  then  called, 
being  the  first  of  the  name  to  settle  in  that  locality.  He  afterward 
made  other  purchases  so  that  his  farm  contained  one  hundred  acres, 
having  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  .and  six  rods  on  the  Bradford  road 
and  extending  back  to  the  Merrimack  Piver.  The  house  he  built 
stood  about  twenty-five  rods  back  of  one  now  standing,  which  was 
built  by  his  son  Joseph  in  1755.* 

The  Essex  records  contain  numerous  deeds  of  land  which  he 
bought  and  sold,  and  he  also  acquired  large  tracts  in  Sutton  and 
Powley,  Mass.,  and  Nottingham,  N.  H.,  which  were  willed  to  his  sons. 
The  homestead  was  divided  between  his  sons,  Moses  and  Joseph,  the 
first  named  having  the  east  half,  on  which  his  son,  Moses,4  had  built 
a  house  in  173o.*  This  house  is  still  standing,  and  is  occupied  by 
the  family  of  Samuel  Carr,  a  descendant  of  the  original  settler  of  two 
hundred  and  eleven  years  ago.  The  house  built  by  Joseph  on  his 
part,  in  1755,  is  still  standing  and  has  been  kept  in  such  a  state  of 
repair  that  it  little  conveys  an  idea  of  its  age. 

The  house  built  by  Ensign  Moses'  fourth  son,  Samuel,  is  supposed 

*  See  Frontispiece.     No.  1,  Mosc-;:  No.  2,  Joseph. 


|{>  I  III-.  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

to  be  the  oldest  Chase  house  in  existence.  It  is  of  brick  and  stands 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Bradford  road  about  a  mile  above  the  spot 
where  Ensign  Moses  settled.  According  to  tradition,  it  was  erected 
previous  to  172V,  and  the  bricks  were  made  on  adjoining  land  and 
carried  to  the  site  by  Samuel's  wife  in  her  apron.  The  house  has 
remained  in  the  family  until  the  present  time  and  is  now  occupied  by 
John  Tyler  Bailey,  a  direct  descendant  of  the  original  owner.* 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  give  you  a  brief  account  of  some  who 
helped  make  our  early  family  history,  and  much  could  be  added  did 
time  permit.  A  large  portion  of  what  I  have  given  has  been  compiled 
from  the  material  gathered  by  my  grandfather,  the  late  Benjamin  Chase 
ot  Auburn,  N.  H.,  to  whose  patient  research  and  unflagging  industry 
we  are,  without  doubt,  indebted  for  the  preservation  of  much  valuable 
data  that  otherwise  would  have  been  lost. 


A  musical  number  came  next  on  the  programme,  and  Miss  Alice 
Louise  Chase  entertained  the  audience  with  an  enjoyable  organ  solo, 
Guilmant's  "Elevation"  in  A  flat. 


The  poet  of  the  occasion  was  a  son  of  the  late  Dr.  John  B.  Chace 
of  Taunton,  Mass.,  who  for  many  years  gave  liberally  of  his  time  and 
means  towards  the  collection  of  material  for  a  genealogical  history  of 
the  family.  The  task  was  longer  than  his  life  but  the  results  of  his 
labor  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Historians  of  the  Association,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  before  long  they  may  be  seen  in  print. 


Mr.  Chace  prefaced  the  reading  of  his  poem  by  the  statement  that 
the  imitation  to  contribute  had  been  accepted  with  the  understanding 
that  he  might  make  use  of  one  that  had  been  read  upon  another 
o<  casion,  should  the  demands  upon  his  time  be  such  as  to  prevent  the 
writing  of  one  especially  for  this  gathering.  His  apprehension  of  being 
obliged  to  give  us  a  second  hand  production  had  been  realized,  but  it 
was  new  to  all  of  his  hearers  without  doubt,  and  was  thoroughly  enjoyed 
by  those  who  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  its  reading. 

*  Sec  Frontispiece.     No.  .<,  Samuel. 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  17 


THE  ROSE. 


By  GEORGE  F.  CHACE,  Taunton,  Mass. 

In  Afric  wilds  there  grows  the  grapple  plant ; 

With  flowers,  whose  beauteous  hues  the  senses  haunt. 

Along  the  ground  its  branches  trail,  a  mass 

Of  lovely  bloom,  enchanting  all  who  pass. 

Upon  the  trees  and  shrubs  as  well,  this  vine 

Lifts  high  its  purple  mantle,  rich  and  fine. 

Approach  and  gather  garlands,  full  and  free. 

'Twere  shame  to  leave  them  here,  so  fair  to  see, 

To  droop  and  die,  unsought,  a  withered  heap. 

But  soft ;   a  while  restrain  your  rapture  deep. 

Beneath  those  petals,  sharp  and  barbed  thorns 

Malignant. hide  ;  so  says  a  voice  which  warns 

Unwary  travellers  to  keep  away. 

Such  was  the  story  that  I  read  one  day. 

In  sombre  mood,  long  mused  I  o'er  this  tale. 

It  seemed  to  picture,  how  in  life  we  fail, 

The  path  of  wrong  e'er  charms  the  seqse  of  man. 

He  seeks  alluring  pleasures  where  he  can. 

But  does  he  think,  in  time,  to  count  the  cost? 

How  sure,  in  coils  of  vice  forever  lost, 

Is  he  who  once  shall  step  aside  from  right, 

To  follow  sensuous  ways,  in  downward  flight? 

With  pain  and  sadness  thought  I  much  on  this. 

Is  beauty  false,  and  ne'r  allied  with  bliss? 

Is  true  that  phrase,  "no  rose  but  has  its  thorn"? 

Is  virtue  of  all  charm  and  graces  shorn? 

I  love  the  rose.      Is  all  its  fragrant  breath 

Alone  designed  its  friend,  to  lead  to  death? 

Its  lovely  tints,  a  snare,  to  make  one  feel 

The  prick  of  vicious  thorns  which  they  conceal? 


L8  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

While  musing  thus,  with  thoughts  that  made  me  weep, 

Upon  the  lounge  one  day  1  fell  asleep. 

In  my  brain  cells,  shadowy  dreams  began  to  play. 

Methought,  I  walked  a  long  and  dreary  way. 

At  last,  when  faint  and  worn,  beside  a  gate 

I  stood,  not  knowing  what  might  be  my  fate, 

If  entrance  sought  1  there,  for  food  and  rest, 

At  the  door  of  Paradise,  where  dwell  the  blest. 

But  lo,  the  gate  upon  its  hinges  turns, 
And  then  a  wondrous  sight  upon  my  vision  burns. 
A  form,  divine  or  human,  I  could  not  tell, 
Stands  in  that  gateway  there,  with  eyes  that  well 
With  love,  and  face  that  shines  with  heavenly  smile. 
Entranced,  I  gazed,  nor  dared  to  move  the  while. 

"Come  in,  my  brother,"  said  a  woman's  tone, 
With  tenderness  to  melt  a  heart  of  stone. 

"Nay,  nay,"  I  faltered,  "Messenger  of  God, 
Give  not  to  me  of  love  the  slightest  nod. 
Unworthy  I  to  hear  thy  welcome  voice, 
To  see  the  angels,  and  with  them  rejoice. 
I'm  stained  with  sin,  ashamed  to  raise  my  lids, 
To  look,  where  virtue,  truth  or  honor  bids." 

But  still  the  angel  took  my  hand  and  said  : 
"Your  faults  are  known.      By  sympathy  misled, 
You've  strayed  away  from  duty's  path,  'tis  true ; 
Yet,  brother  dear,  there's  peace  in  store  for  you. 
The  queen  of  Heaven  doth  bid  you  come  within, 
Because  you  wear  a  charm,  to  pardon  sin." 

I  ken  not  what  she  means,  but  trembling  go 

With  anxious  eagerness  to  see  and  know, 

1  low  such  as  I  can  heavenly  favor  find. 

The  touch  of  the  angel's  fingers,  as  they  wind 

About  my  own,  thrills  through  my  doubting  soul. 

I've  reached  at  last,  it  seems,  the  heavenly  goal. 

"Behold,"  she  says,  "the  queen  of  Heaven  now." 
Amazed,  I  look,  and  see  a  beauteous  brow 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,   MASS.  19 

Of  purest  white,  and  cheeks  of  carmine  hue, 

And  lips  that  melt  as  if  kissed  by  morning  dew; 

A  fragrant  breath,  a  figure  and  a  pose, 

The  tout  ensemble  of  a  matchless  rose, 

No  thorns  I  see,  but  drapery  of  white, 

And  tints  of  blushing  pink,  with  pure  delight. 

Ah,  thorns  are  guardian  angels  in  disguise, 

Protecting  beauty,  when  ruffian  hands  arise, 

To  mar  its  glory,  and  rob  of  all  its  worth. 

'Tis  this  they  mean,  methinks,  when  found  on  earth. 

"What  talisman  gives  me  this  vision  sweet, 

And  will  it  from  before  me  never  fleet?" 

I  asked  my  guide.     She  smiling  made  reply  : 
"You  wear  a  flower,  the  fairest  'neath  the  sky. 

No  soul  can  wholly  fallen  be  in  wrong, 

Whose  love  for  God's  own  flowers  is  pure  and  strong." 

And  now  my  eyes  to  me  the  truth  disclose, 

For  there  upon  my  coat  I  wore  a  rose. 

Anon  from  sleep  I  woke,  with  tear  dimmed  eyes, 
To  find  upon  my  cheek  a  rose  leaf  lies. 


Miss  Emily  A.  Getchell,  the  Historian  of  the  Pillsbury  Family  and 
Secretary  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Old  Newbury,  presented  the 
following  communication,  which  was  read  and  the  Secretary  instructed 
to  acknowledge,  with  the  thanks  and  fraternal  greetings  of  this  Associ- 
ation, in  time  for  their  annual  reunion,  which  will  be  held  in  this  city 
the  coming  week  : 

^ 

Newburyport,  August  30,  1900. 

The  Pillsbury  Family  Association  extends  greetings  to  the  Chase 
Family  Association  and  felicitates  it  on  its  meeting  to-day  in  the  old 
town  of  which  the  common  ancestor  of  the  family,  Aquila  Chase,  was  a 
land  holder  and  resident. 

May  the  present  gathering  be  a  success  in  every  respect  and  the 
forerunner  of  others  to  come. 
For  the  Pillsbury  family, 

Albert  E.  Pillsbury,  Boston,  President. 
Emily  A.  Getchell,  Newburyport,  Secretary. 


20  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

Rev.  Kufus  Emery,  the  Historian  of  the  Emery  Family  and  Secre- 
tary of  its  Association,  tendered  its  greetings,  which  were  accepted 
with   thanks. 


Numerous  letters  were  received  in  response  to  the  circulars  and 
those  read  are  herewith  appended. 


A  private  letter  was  also  read  from  Miss  Anna  A.  Gould,  of  Chase 
lineage,  who  was  a  missionary  in  China.  The  letter  was  dated  May  20, 
L900,  and  told  of  the  dangers  she  was  undergoing  from  the  Boxers,  by 
whom  she  was  afterwards  inhumanly  murdered. 


From  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Beane,  D.  D.,  Newburyport,  Mass.,  Pastor  of   the 
Chtkch  in  which  the  Gathering  was  Held. 


Mr.  John  C.  Chase, 

Deny,  N.  H. 

Fairview,  N.  H.  August  23,  1900. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Your  welcome  letter,  forwarded,  found  me  here 
at  the  White  Mountains.  I  am  sorry,  but  our  plans  do  not  land  us 
back  at  Newburyport  till  the  day  after  your  Chase  gathering.  I  should 
gladly  have  been  one  of  you,  even  though  I  am  not  conscious  of  Chase 
blood,  wishing  all  the  while  that  I  had  some  of  that  fluid  in  my  veins. 
Were  I  to  be  there,  I  should  want  to  give  you  greeting  to  our  old  and 
beautiful  First  Church  of  Newburyport,  the  delight  of  its  worshipers, 
and  an  almost  ideal  structure  in  the  eyes  of  architects,  both  American 
and  European.  The  first  minister  was  John  Lowell,  the  ancestor  of 
the  founder  of  the  great  city  of  Lowell,  of  the  successive  John  Lowells 
who  were  famous  judges,  and  of  our  great  poet  and  ambassador,  James 
Russell  Lowell.  Among  the  worshipers  in  the  edifice  which  preceded 
this  was  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  Theophilus  Parsons  worshiped  in 
both.  Colonel  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  was  one  of  the  late 
ministers.     Let  the  present  pastor  welcome  you  thus  by  letter. 

I  shall  always  be  glad  to  see  you  at  my  house. 

Always  yours, 

Samuel  C.  Beane. 


FIRST  REUNION,  NFAVBURYPORT,  MASS.  21 

From  Hon.  William  M.  Chase,  Judge  Supreme  Court 
of  New   Hampshire. 


Canaan  Street,  N.  H.,  August  18,  1900. 

Mr.  John  C.  Chase, 

Derry,  N.  H. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Chase  :  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  cannot  accept 
your  kind  invitation  to  address  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association  at 
its  approaching  meeting.  Mrs.  Chase  and  I  are  to  start  for  Seattle, 
Wash.,  about  that  time  —  if  not  before  —  shall  start  as  soon  as  I  can  get 
my  affairs  into  shape,  so  I  can  leave. 

I  assure  you  it  would  afford  me  much  pleasure  to  be  present  at  the 
meeting,  and  I  should  esteem  it  a  great  honor  to  address  the  "family," 
than  which  I  believe  there  is  no  better  in  the  world. 

Yours  very  truly, 

William  M.  Chase. 


From  Alden  Chase. 


Bryant  Pond,  Me.,  August  27,  1900. 
Mr.  John  C  Chase. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  sometime  since  received  a  circular  relative  to 
the  Chase  Association,  and  will  give  in  answer  to  it  a  brief  account  of 
my  family.  I  am  a  descendant  of  Aquila  Chase,  who  came  to  Hamp- 
ton in  1639,  and  my  line  is  through  Thomas,  Nathan,  Edmund,  and 

Merrill.     I  am  the  youngest  of  ten  children  and  was  born  June  5,  1819. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *         #         *         * 

Now  I  have  given  a  condensed  sketch  of  my  family,  and  if  you 
should  desire  a  brief  notice  of  any  of  my  father's  other  children  I 
could  help  you  to  it.  Myself  and  my  sister  Lydia,  who  is  in  her 
ninetieth  year,  are  all  that  are  left  of  the  ten  children. 

I  should  be  glad  to  be  at  your  meeting  on  the  thirtieth  instant,  but 
age  precludes  it. 

Should  you  ever  obtain  the  Chase  property  from  England,  please 
give  my  portion  of  the  ninety  millions  of  pounds  sterling  (?)  to  my 
legal  heirs,  as  I  do  not  expect  to  live  to  obtain  it  myself !  !  ! 

I  am  yours  respectfully, 

Alden  Chase. 


22  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

From  Geo.  C.  Chase,  President  Bates  College,  Lewiston,  Me. 


Andover,  Me.,  August  7,  1900.     . 
Mr.  John  C.  Chase, 
Derry,  N.  H., 

President  of  The  Chase-Chace  Family  Association. 

Pear  Sir:  Your  courteous  note  of  August  2,  inviting  me  to  ad- 
dress a  meeting  to  be  held  August  30,  is  at  hand.  It  would  give  me 
pleasure  to  meet  those  of  my  own  name  and  blood  and  to  extend  my 
knowledge  of  the  Chase  Family  in  America.  Unfortunately,  important 
engagements  will  require  my  presence  elsewhere.  I  shall  take  pleasure 
in  sending  my  membership  fee  to  the  Secretary-Treasurer,  and  shall 
hope  to  meet  you  at  some  future  meeting  of  the  Association. 

On  the  opposite  page  I  give  the  names  of  some  of  my  ancestors. 
My  life  has  thus  far  been  too  busy  to  permit  me  to  give  much  attention 
to  the  genealogy  of  the  Chase  Family.  I  shall  highly  prize  any  data 
that  may  be  sent  me.  As  I  am  away  from  home  at  this  writing,  I  have 
only  my  memory  from  which  to  draw,  and,  therefore,  will  not  attempt 
much.  '  Yours  sincerely, 

George  C.  Chase. 


From  P.  J.  Chase,  Attorney  at  Law. 


Bowling  Green,  Ohio,  August  4,  1900. 

John  C.  Chase, 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  circular  with  reference  to  the  compiling  of  a 
genealogical  record  of  the  Chase  Family  received,  and  in  reply  will 
say  that  my  ancestors  on  the  Chase  side  were  born  at  Taunton,  Mass. 
They  lived  there  so  long  that  "The  memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the 
contrary"  and  were  an  apple  eating,  cider  drinking,  cheese  paring  set, 
none  of  whom  were  exceptionally  bright  and  none  of  whom  were  fools. 
However,  some  of  them  had  the  nerve  to  leave  that  land  of  stone  walls, 
and  codfish,  come  west,  and  have  been  heard  from,  outside  of  the 
mausoleum  of  a  genealogical  book.  Very  truly  yours, 

P.  J.  Chase. 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  23 

From  Hon.  George  C.  Hazelton,  Late  M.  C.  from  Wisconsin. 


Washington,  D.  C,  August  14,  1900. 
Mr.  John  C.  Chase, 

Deny,  N.  H. 

Dear  Mr.  Chase:  I  am  in  receipt  of  two  of  the  Chase  Family 
circulars  by  your  kindness,  and  the  first  one  1  forwarded  to  my  brother, 
Gerry  W.  Hazelton  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  now  visiting  in  New  England, 
and  at  Chester  now  spending  a  week  among  our  kith  and  kin,  and 
thence  to  Manchester.  I  should  like  very  much  to  attend  the  meeting 
on  the  thirtieth  instant,  but  fear  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  get  away 
from  Washington  at  that  time. 

My  grandmother  on  my  paternal  side  of  the  house  was  a  Chase ; 
but  died  before  my  remembrance. 

1  hope  that  the  meeting  will  be  both  pleasant  and  profitable. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

George  C.  Hazelton. 


From  Mrs.  W.  II.  S.  Hascall. 


North  Conway,  August  29,  1900. 
To  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association. 

Dear  Friends  :  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  meet  with 
you  at  Newburyport  and  learn  something  of  the  large  family  to  which 
I  belong.  I  presume  my  brother,  Stephen  F.  Chace,  of  Providence, 
has  given  you  the  family  record  as  far  as  our  parents  left  it  for  us. 

Were  I  nearer  I  should  certainly  meet  with  you  this  year.  I  have 
left  Dover  and  am  now  on  my  way  to  New  York,  where  my  husband, 
Rev.  W.  H.  S.  Hascall,  has  become  pastor  of  the  Carmel  Church 
(Baptist)  and  my  address  hereafter  will  be  223  E.  123d  Street,  New 
York  City. 

Shall  be  glad  to  meet  with  you  next  year,  if  possible.  If  I  can 
give  you  any  information,  shall  be  glad  to  do  so. 

Emma  Chace  Hascall. 


24  THE  CHASE-CHACE  I  \.\lll.\    ASSOCIATION. 

From  Rev.  Arthur  Chase,  Ware,  Mass. 


Branford,  Conn.,  August  25,  1900. 
Mr.  John  C.  Chask, 

President  of  the  Chase-Chace  Association. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Yours  of  August  twenty-first  was  forwarded  to  me 
from  Ware,  and  received  to-day. 

I  very  much  regret  that  I  shall  be  unable  to  attend  the  meeting  of 
the  Association  on  the  thirtieth. 

'Thanking  you  for  your  courtesy,  and  with  assurances  of  keen  in- 
terest in  the  investigations  of  the  Association,  I  am 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Arthur  Chase. 


From  Rev.  J.  K.  Chase. 


East  Hampstead,  N.  H.,  August  29,  1900. 
John  C.  Chase,  Esq., 

President  of  The  Chase-Chace  Family  Association. 

Mv  Dear  Sir  :  I  am  sorry  1  cannot  attend  your  meeting  in 
Newburyport.  1  had  the  pleasure  some  fifty  years  ago  of  being  present 
at  the  great  Chase  meeting  held  in  Newbury.  A  dear  brother  of  mine, 
the  late  Rev.  James  N.  Chase,  was  present  and  took  an  active  part  in 
the  meeting.     We  were  both  descendants  of  Aquila  Chase. 

May  you  have  as  enthusiastic  a  gathering  as  that  was. 

Very  truly, 

John  K.  Chask. 


From  T.  Elw<  >od  <  !hase. 


Lockport,  N.  V.,  August  7,  L900. 
Mr.  Omar  P.  Chase,  Secretary, 
Andover,  Mass. 

M\  I  »i  \r  Sir  :  being  in  direct  line  a  Chase  of  the  original  type, 
and  also  deeply  interested  in  the  work  of  the  Chase-Chace  Association, 
allow  me  to  ask  you  to  tender  to  the  officers  and  members  my  hearty 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  25 

cooperation  in  the  furtherance  of  the  Association.  It  has  already  been 
my  pride  to  point  to  the  records  of  their  forefathers  in  the  past  as  a 
stimulus  to  my  children  to  encourage  them  to  endeavor  to  leave  behind 
them  a  record  not  only  stainless,  but  a  record  of  having  advanced  the 
cause  of  humanity. 

As  the  year  1901  will  see  the  largest  purely  American  and  Ameri- 
canized gathering,  viz.,  the  Pan-American  at  Buffalo,  permit  me  to  ask 
the  Association  to  adjourn  at  the  close  of  this,  the  August,  1900,  meet- 
ing, to  meet  in  Buffalo  in  1901  at  such  time  as  your  honorable  body 
may  deem  best. 

During  the  Pan-American  the  rates  of  railroad  fare  will  undoubtedly 
be  within  the  reach  of  the  humblest  Chase  or  his  descendants,  thus 
affording  an  opportunity  to  very  largely  increase  the  membership  of 
the  Association,  and  also  to  bring  together  in  one  body  at  one  time 
the  largest  number  of  relatives  descended  from  one  line  the  world  ever 
saw. 

Should  your  Association  consider  favorably  the  proposition  to 
meet  in  Buffalo,  I  will  now  offer  my  services  in  any  capacity  in  which 
I  can  be  of  service. 

As  you  undoubtedly  know,  Buffalo  is  a  large,  prosperous  city,  with 
accommodations  for  almost  unlimited  gatherings,  both  indoor  and  out- 
door. It  seems  to  me  as  though  the  time  and. place  is  so  opportune 
that  other  propositions  would  willingly  withdraw  in  favor  of  Buffalo. 

I  can  promise  you  in  advance,  that,  should  he  be  then  living,  our 
next  President,  William  McKinley,  will  sit  with  your  President  and 
honor  the  illustrious  name  of  Chase  with  his  presence  and  counsel. 

Sincerely  yours  to  command, 

T.  Ellwood  Chase. 


From  Constantine  Chase,  Capt.  4th  Artillery,  U.  S.  A. 


Fort  Trumbull,  New  London,  Conn., 

August  5,  1900. 
Mr.  Omar  P.  Chase, 

Andover,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  received  your  bulletin  of  The  Chase  Associ- 
ation and  wish  to  be  enrolled  as  a  member.  To  this  end  I  enclose 
check  for  two  ($2.00)  dollars. 


26  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

I  also  enclose  memorandum  of  my  genealogical  record.  I  have 
more  of  it  of  the  female  side  and  collaterals,  but  suppose  you  don't 
want  it.  I  expect  to  get  more  from  my  father,  also,  who  has  made 
it  quite  a  study. 

If  you  can  fill  in  any  of  the  blank  dates  in  this  memorandum  I 
will  be  glad  to  get  them. 

Thomas  Chase,  my  ancestor,  came  from  England  with  his  brother 
and  settled  in  Hampton,  N.  H.  Lieut.  Isaac  Chase,  a  British,  Colonial 
officer,  settled  in  Martha's  Vineyard  and  died  there.  I  have  seen  his 
grave.  The  rest  of  my  direct  line,  Chase,  lived  at  Martha's  Vineyard 
until  my  grandfather  settled  in  Boston.  I  was  born  in  Vineyard  Haven, 
but  was  brought  up  in  Boston  until  the  Civil  War,  when  I  became  a 
soldier.  Yours  very  truly, 

CONSTANTINE    CHASK, 


From  Philip  Brown  Chase. 


Roskmont,  Penn.,  August  20,  1900. 
Omar  P.  Chase. 

Respected  Kinsman  :  Thy  letter  to  son  Frederic  has  been  read 
to  me.  It  gave  me  much  pleasure,  and  it  would  give  me  much  pleasure 
to  meet  so  many  kinsfolk  on  that  beautiful  hill  at  Andover  on  the 
thirtieth  instant.  The  surroundings  on  my  younger  days  are  perfectly 
familiar  to  my  mind's  eye.  It  was  a  favorite  ride  to  me  from  old 
Salem,  to  start  on  a  fine  morning,  dine  at  a  very  pleasant  house  of 
entertainment  directly  opposite  to  what  was  then  called  the  Institution 
and  ride  home  in  the  later  afternoon.  I  enjoyed  the  air  and  whole 
environment,  and  with  one  of  my  cousins  or  an  uncle  went  as  often  as 
we  could. 

Please  give  my  best  wishes  to  the  whole  assembly  for  the  success 
of  their  meeting.  Respectfully, 

Thy  kinsman, 

P.  B.  Chase. 

The  writer  of  the  above  letter,  Philip  Brown  Chase,  i^  a  native  of  Salem,  Mass., 
now  residing  in  Philadelphia,  Penn.  lie  was  horn  June  lf>,  1809,  ami  his  advanced 
age  would  entitle  him  to  he  called  the  Dean  nl  the  Association.  The  letter  wax 
evidently  written  under  the  impression  that  the  reunion  was  to  he  held  at  Andover, 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  27 

From  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Chase  Palmer. 


Kennebunkport,  Me.,  August  28,  1900. 

Secretary  Chase-Chace  Association, 
Newburyport,  Mass. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  neither  your  name  or  address,  therefore 
take  the  liberty  of  sending  my  subscription  in  this  general  manner, 
trusting  it  will  serve  the  purpose  of  identifying  me  with  the  Associ- 
ation, in  which  I  am  deeply  interested. 

I  should  greatly  enjoy  being  present  on  the  thirtieth,  but  have 
found  it  impossible  to  accomplish  it  from  this  point  in  one  day. 

My  great  grandfather,  Deacon  Amos  Chase,  left  Newbury  and 
settled  in  Saco,  Maine,  before  1760.  The  old  homestead  still  stands, 
with  the  noble  elms  planted  by  him.  My  eldest  son,  Amos  Chase 
Palmer,  a  representative  of  the  fifth  generation,  was  born  there. 

I  rejoice  in  this  movement  and  regret  that  I  cannot  be  present. 
I  shall  welcome  any  information  on  this  subject. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Elizabeth  Chase  Palmer. 


From  Samuel  A.  Chase,  Treasurer  Central  Savings  Bank. 


«  Lowell,  Mass.,  August  16,  1900. 

Mr.  Omar  P.  Chase, 

Treasurer  The  Chase-ChaGe  Family  Association. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  circular,  I  enclose  two  (#2.00) 
dollars  for  membership. 

I  have  before  me,  in  a  magazine  article,  an  interesting  history  of 
Bishop  Chase  of  New  Hampshire. 

I  think  I  am  the  only  one  who  has  received  a  cash  payment  for 
shares  in  the  many  millions  belonging  to  the  Chase  and  Townley  estate 
in  England.     With  fraternal  regards,  I  am 

Very  truly  yours, 

Samuel  A.  Chase. 


28  THE  CHASE-CHAt  1.  I  AMIIA    ASSOCIATION. 

From  Geo.  L.Chase,  Pres.  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Co. 


Hartford,  August  27,  1900. 
O.  P.  Chase,  Esq.,  Secretary. 

Dear  Sir:  1  will  not  be  able  to  be  with  you  on  the  thirtieth, 
which  I  much  regret. 

Wishing  success  to  those  who  are  doing  so  much  for  the  Associa- 
tion, 1  am  Yours  truly, 

George  L.  Chase. 


From  Wife  of  Gov.  Allen  of  Porto  Rico. 


5  7   Rolfe  Street,  Lowell,  Mass., 

August  7,  1900. 

Mr.  Omar   P.  Chase, 

Andover,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir:  Enclosed  find  two  ($2.00)  dollars  for  membership  in 
the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association.  I  have  also  to  record  the  birth 
ill"  Allen  Hobbs,  born  July  30,  1899,  son  of  Alexander  F.  and  Louise 
(Allen)   Hobbs. 

I  enclose  my  branch  to  see  if  you  wish  any  of  it.  I  am  very  sorry 
that  I  shall  be  unable  to  attend  the  meeting  of  August  thirtieth. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Mrs.  Charles  1 1.  Allen. 


From  Chief  Justice  Russell  S.  Taft,  Supreme  Court  of  Vermont. 


MONTPELIER,  VT.,  August  28,   190(1. 

Mr.  O.  P.  Cu.\^  . 

Andover,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir  :  It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  Chase 
meeting  on  the  thirtieth  instant.  I  regret  it  exceedingly,  but  am  en- 
gaged in  court,  although  the  mercury  is  about  ninety  in  the  shade. 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.'  29 

I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  the  object  of  the  Association,  but  I  am 
so  engaged  that  I  cannot  devote  the  time  to  render  much  aid.  You 
ought  to  choose  some  one  to  act  as  executive  committee  in  my  place. 

Extend  my  hearty  greetings  to  my  distant  cousins  of  the  Chase 
blood.  I  am  faithfully  yours, 

Russell  S.  Taft. 


From  Agnes  Blake  Poor,  Brookline,  Mass. 


Andover,  Me.,  August  24,  1900. 
Mr.  Omar  P.  Chase, 

Dear  Sir  :  I  enclose  a  money  order  for  two  ($2.00)  dollars, 
desiring  to  become  a  member  of  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association, 
and  wish  your  object  every  success.  I  enclose  my  line  from  Aquila, 
the  emigrant,  son  of  Richard,  and  grandson  of  Thomas  Chase  of 
Hundrick,  Chesham,  Backs. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Agnes  Blake  Poor. 


From  Hon.  Emory  A.  Chase,  Judge  Supreme  Court 
of  New  York. 


Catskill,  N.  Y.,  August  27,  L900. 
(  >mar  P.  Chase,  Treasurer, 

Andover,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir  :  Enclosed  you  will  find  two  ($2.00)  dollars,  member- 
ship fee  in  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association. 

I  have  been  in  communication  with.  Rev.  William  A.  Eardeley  and 
have  given  and  will  give  him  so  far  as  possible  the  descendants  of 
Zepheniah  Chase,  of  whom  I  am  a  descendant.  I  desire  to  be  fur- 
nished with  family  line  as  stated,  that  I  can  compare  with  what  I  have. 

Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  let  me  know  where  you  get  the  coat  of 
arms  on  your  letter  paper.  Very  truly, 

Emory  A.  Chase. 


30  THE  CHASE  CHACE   FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  reading  of  the  letters  was  followed  by  a  vocal  solo  by  Miss 
Elizabeth  C'arr  Adams  of  Newburyport.  Although  not  connected  with 
the  Chase  family,  so  far  as  known,  she  had  kindly  consented  to  assist 
in  entertaining  the  gathering,  and  her  selection  was  highly  appreciated. 


The  President  and  Secretary  made  verbal  reports  in  regard  to 
the  business  matters  of  the  Association,  which  reports  were  accepted. 
A  committee,  previously  appointed,  to  make  nominations  for  officers  for 
the  coming  year,  reported  the  following  list,  which  were  duly  elected  : 

President  —  John  C.  Chase,  Derry,  N.  H. 

Vice  Presidents  —  George  F.  Chace,  Taunton,  Mass.;  Charles  E. 
Chase,  Worcester,  Mass. ;  Caleb  Chase,  Boston,  Mass. ;  William  M. 
Chase,  Concord,  N.  H. ;  Clinton  S.  Chase,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Secretary-Treasurer  —  Omar  P.  Chase,  Andover,  Mass. 

Executive  Committee  —  Josiah  G.  Chase,  Cambridge,  Mass.; 
Thomas  C.  Thurlow,  West  Newbury,  Mass. ;  William  E.  Chase,  New- 
bury, Mass. ;   Harry  G.  Chase,  Tufts  College,  Mass. 

Historians  —  Mrs.  Mary  L.  C.  Smith,  Hartford,  Conn.;  Rev. 
William  A.  Eardeley,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


After  another  enjoyable  solo  by  Mrs.  Katherine  Knight  Chase, 
the  President  announced  that  brief  addresses  would  be  in  order,  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  no  one  would  hesitate  to  speak  on  account  of 
not  being  called  upon,  as  he  was  not  able  to  call  all  present  by  name, 
and  an  excessive  degree  of  modesty  might  deprive  the  meeting  of 
entertaining  and  interesting  remarks. 


Remarks  by  Rev.  Rufus  Emery  of  Newburyport. 

The  book  of  heraldry  says,  that  "  He  who  has  no  desire  to  know 
what  he  has  been  has  no  knowledge  of  what  he  is  going  to  be."  And 
this  seems  to  me  to  enclose  a  very  great  truth,  one  of  vast  influence 
and  power.  We  are  sometimes  made  fun  of  or  laughed  at,  as  one  man 
said,  "Genealogy  is  fit  for  fools."     Of  course  there  is  a  great  deal  of 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWRURYPORT,  MASS.  31 

sarcasm  expended  on  genealogical  research  and  investigation,  but  I 
have  always  thought  that  the  more  we  look  into  the  past,  and  the  more 
we  meditate  upon  the  deeds  of  those  brave  men,  the  more  we  desire 
to  imitate  them.  My  ancestors  wore  no  coronet  nor  ciown  ;  their 
names  were  not  enrolled  on  the  annals  of  the  College  of  London  or 
elsewhere,  but  I  believe  them  to  have  been  brave  men,  and  men  of 
wisdom,  which  would  offset  all  that.  They  dared  to  care  for  and  to 
feed  the  Quakers  whom  others  drove  from  city  to  city.  I  believe  they 
were  men  of  sterling  purpose  and  great  zeal  and  that  they  acted  in 
truth.  My  ancestor,  Aquila  Chase,  suffered  somewhat  when  he  picked 
his  peas  on  Sunday.  I  certainly  believe  in  the  independence  of  the 
man ;  it  was  to  his  credit,  and  I  reverence  him  for  it,  as  I  reverence 
my  other  ancestor  because,  when  the  minister  of  this  town  of  Newbury 
came  to  remonstrate  with  them  for  harboring  the  Quakers,  he  put  his 
head  in  at  the  door  and  said,  "Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers, 
for  thereby  some  have  entertained  angels  unawares."  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  the  descendants  of  the  Chase  family  will  strive  to  imitate 
their  efforts  and  to  cherish  their  memories. 


Remarks  by  T.  C.  Thttrlow  of  West  Newbury. 

We  live  on  the  place  in  West  Newbury  formerly  occupied  by 
Aquila  Chase  —  whether  the  original  Aquila  or  one  of  his  sons,  I  am 
unable  to  say ;  but,  according  to  the  record,  1  am  of  the  seventh 
generation  direct  from  Aquila  Chase,  and  own  the  land  where  the 
original  house  stood.  My  mother  was  Susan  Chase,  and  the  reason 
my  name  is  not  Chase  is  because  she  was  an  only  child.  Many  from 
our  family  formerly  settled  in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  in  my 
grandfather's  day  they  often  came  back  to  the  old  homestead  to  visit 
their  "cousins."  Since,  many  of  their  descendants  have  emigrated  to 
New  York,  Ohio  and  further  west.  They  were  generally  of  a  nervous 
temperament,  muscular,  and  energetic  to  a  remarkable  degree,  and 
have  often  retained  these  characteristics  to  the  present  time. 

1  very  well  remember  the  Chase  gathering  at  Newburyport,  when 
I  was  a  small  boy, —  at  the  sudden  news  of  "untold  wealth"  over  in 
England,  for  the  descendants  of  Aquila  Chase.  Joshua  Coffin,  Esq., 
the  Old  Newbury  Historian,  was  chosen  a  committee  to  go  to  England 
and  secure  this  vast  estate  and  have  it  divided  among  the  rightful 
heirs;   but  as  the  "needful"  for  the  journey  was  not  supplied,  Mr. 


32  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

Coffin  did  not  go,  which  shows  that  the  faith  in  securing  this  property 
was  not  any  stronger  then  than  now. 

It  is  said  that  Aquila  Chase  first  settled  in  Hampton,  N.  H.,  but 
as  he  understood  navigation  better  than  the  early  settlers  of  Newbury, 
he  was  offered  a  farm  if  he  would  come  over  here  and  make  his  home 
on  this  side  of  the  river.  History  records  it  that  he  was  the  first  white 
man  who  ever  came  over  the  Newburyport  bar  and  went  up  the  Merri- 
mack River  in  a  boat. 

I  have  never  during  my  travels  been  ashamed  to  admit  of  my 
Chase  blood,  notwithstanding  the  crime  of  our  original  ancestor  in 
being  fined  for  picking  green  peas  on  Sunday. 

We  are  glad  to  see  so  large  an  attendance  at  this  Chase  gathering 
to-day.  There  are  many  places  of  historic  interest  in  this  and  the 
neighboring  towns,  and  1  would  extend  a  cordial  invitation  to  any  and 
all  to  visit  me  at  the  old  Chase  farm  in  West  Newbury,  where  the 
cellar  of  the  original  house  can  still  be  seen. 


Remarks  by  William  E.  Chase  of  Newbury. 

1  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  our  honored  President  recently,  but  he 
did  not  tell  me  that  he  wanted  me  to  make  a  speech.  I  have  made  it 
the  rule  of  my  life,  however,  never  to  refuse  to  say  a  few  words  when 
called  upon.  I  presume  our  President  wanted  some  one  to  speak 
who  had  always  lived  in  Newbury  for  the  nine  generations.  We  have 
always  lived  here,  and  my  son  makes  the  tenth  generation.  I  welcome 
all  of  you,  who  have  deserted  the  old  town  of  your  ancestors,  back  to 
where  you  should  have  remained.  If  you  had  all  remained  here,  we 
should  have  had  a  town  of  our  own  and  have  had  everything  our  own 
way,  city  government  and  all.  I  have  always  lived  here  and,  though 
they  have  taken  the  heart  of  the  old  town  and  called  it  Newburyport, 
I  have  moved  to  Newbury,  so  I  still  live  in  Newbury. 

I  have  heard  that  story  about  Aquila  Chase  being  the  first  white 
man  to  cross  the  Newburyport  bar,  that  he  was  a  good  pilot  and  under- 
stood'a  boat,  and  perhaps  he  was  also  a  farmer.  Perhaps  he  went  to 
West  Newbury,  but  I  cannot  believe  that.  I  rather  think  he  died  in 
Newbury,  and  all  my  ancestors  have  lived  there  a  part  of  their  lives. 

I  am  glad  I  have  met  the  President  and  Secretary;  I  am  glad 
that  they  came  to  see  me,  and  1  hope  I  may  be  of  some  future  service 
to  them,  living  here  in  the  old  place.      1  thank  you,  Mr.  President,  for 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  33 

the  honor  of  calling  upon  me,  and  welcome  you  all  to  Newburyport, 
and  would  like  to  have  you  all  come  to  see  me,  as  well  as  to  see 
Mr.  Thurlow  of  West  Newbury,  of  whose  invitation  I  shall  avail  myself 
sometime  and  see  if  I  cannot  find  some  trace  of  the  old  gentleman. 


Remarks  by  Rev.  William  A.  Eardeley  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

I  consider  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  called  upon  to  speak  here. 
It  is  in  our  articles  of  incorporation  that  we  are  to  publish  the  Chase 
family  history.  Where  this  story  of  the  legacy  first  started  I  do  not 
know.  I  do  not  think  it  was  heard  of  back  of  1825.  There  is  an 
impression  that  it  has  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  gener- 
ation. I  think  it  is  absolutely  absurd.  I  do  not  think  it  was  heard  of 
until  some  scheming  lawyers  came  along  and  proposed  it  to  the  family. 
There  have  been  a  number  of  people  in  different  places  looking  it  up, 
but  they  say  there  is  nothing  in  it.  Whether  there  is  anything  in  it  I 
am  not  prepared  to  say.  From  the  fact  that  it  is  so  well  known,  it 
would  almost  seem  that  there  is  some  foundation  for  it.  I  wish  you 
would  all  think,  if  you  believe  in  that  estate,  that  your  first  duty  is  to 
have -your  family  history  published.  It  will  be  almost  impossible  to 
get  the  history  of  any  branch  complete,  but  you-  can  do  nothing  with 
that  legacy  until  we  have  the  family  history  complete. 


Remarks  by  William  Moody  Chase  of  Dorchester,  Mass. 

I  have  sent  out  a  great  number  of  cards  to  the  members  of  the 
Chase  family  and  they  almost  universally  believe  in  this  Chase  legacy. 
Now  the  minister  to  London  who  has  -recently  died  spent  a  great  deal 
of  time  in  looking  it  up,  and  he  said  positively  that  there  was  nothing 
of  the  kind,  nothing  tangible  to  get  hold  of.  He  was  bothered  almost 
every  day  in  the  year  with  some  correspondence  about  it,  and  he  stated 
conclusively  that  there  was  nothing  in  it.  I  have  been  familiar  with 
this  Chase  legacy  for  more  than  fifty  years.  I  think  Dr.  Chace's 
family  sent  me  the  first  notice  of  it,  and  I  wrote  back  to  him  that  I 
did  not  think  there  was  much  probability  of  there  being  anything  there. 

I  have  been  collecting  the  facts  in  regard  to  my  branch  of  the 
family  and  am  about  to  publish  it,  not  for  any  material  gain.  This  is 
the  first  time  that  I  have  met  so  many  Chases  in  my  life.     I  am  very 


34  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

glad  to  meet  the  representatives  of  the  family.  I  must  say  that  I  have 
never  seen  a  better  gathering  for  character  and  ability  than  those  that 
represent  our  society.  1  am  happy  to  see  so  respectable  a  number 
and  such  good  looks. 


Remarks  by  Miss  Alice  Louise  Chase,  Medina,  N.  Y. 

I  am  a  descendant  of  William  Chase.  We  have  our  genealogy 
published,  but  1  am  not  very  well  versed  in  the  early  history. 

I  want  to  say  that  my  grandmother  Chase,  when  eighty-two  years 
of  age,  received  a  prize  for  writing  one  of  the  memorial  poems  for  the 
Garfield  family.  All  of  our  family  are  Republicans  except  one  brother, 
and  while  it  is  not  a  disgrace,  still  we  wish  he  was  a  Republican  too, 
instead  of  a  Democrat. 

I  am  very  glad  to  be  here  and  to  do  what  I  can  for  the  Associ- 
ation. 


Remarks  by  Miss  Helen  A.  Whittier  of  Lowell,  Mass. 

My  cousin,  Mr.  I).  B.  Whittier,  of  Boston,  now  deceased,  was 
very  much  interested  in  the  "Chase  estate,"  and  devoted  some  time 
to  the  pursuit  of  information  concerning  it.  His  ardor,  however,  re- 
ceived a  check  when  I  was  able  to  prove  to  him,  by  computing  the 
shares  that  would  lie  inherited  by  the  several  branches  of  the  Chase 
family,  that  his  portion  of  the  Chase  millions  would  be  only  thirty- 
seven  and  a  half  cents  !  Later,  in  reply  to  a  letter  which  he  addressed 
to  Minister  Phelps,  he  received  a  printed  circular  prepared  by  the 
latter,  stating  conclusively  that  there  was  no  such  estate  or  inheritance 
that  could  be  claimed  by  the  Chase  Family. 

I  can  add  a  word  in  regard  to  my  great  grandfather,  Francis 
Chase,  which  may  be  of  interest.  He  was  the  son  of  SamueF  and 
became  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  Newton,  N.  H.,  then  known  as 
Amesbury  Newtown.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Pike,  daughter  of  Hugh 
I'ike  and  Hannah  Fmerson.  He  had  fourteen  children,  one  of  whom 
was  my  grandmother,  Betsy  Chase,  who  married  Richard  Whittier  of 
Methuen. 

Francis  Chase  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  man  baptized  in  the 
Merrimack  River,  and  for  some  time  his  house  was  used  for  the  meet- 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  35 

ings  of  the  Baptist  society  which  he  was  instrumental  in  forming  in 
Newton,  and  of  which  he  was  Deacon. 

A  short  time  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  the  site  of  Francis 
Chase's  homestead,  now  marked  only  by  the  cellar-hole  and  many  old 
hand-made  bricks,  and  I  also  discovered  the  family  lot  and  handsome 
slate  gravestones  of  Deacon  Francis  Chase  and  Sarah,  his  wife,  also  of 
some  of  their  descendants,  all  of  which  are  beautifully  preserved  and 
cared  for  by  their  lineal  descendant,  Stephen  Chase,  of  Haverhill,  who 
still  owns  the  homestead  lot. 

The  line  of  my  Chase  ancestry  is  as  follows:  Aquila,1  Moses,- 
Samuel,3  Francis,4  Betsy,5  Moses  'Whittier,6  Helen  A.  Whittier.7 


« 

Remarks  by  Albert  H.  Lamson,  Elkins,  N.  H, 

In  conversation  with  an  old  lady  whom  I  met  in  Scranton,  Penn., 
she  said  :  "You  do  not  talk  like  a  Pennsylvanian."  I  answered,  "No, 
I  am  from  New  England."  She  asked  me  if  I  knew  the  Chases  there, 
and  I  said,  "Yes,  my  great  grandmother  was  a  Chase."  Then  she 
asked  if  I  had  ever  heard  of  the  Chase  legacy  in  England,  and  I  told- 
her  that  I  had.  She  then  inquired  how  many  there  were  in  my  family 
that  I  could  think  of,  and  I  told  her  about  fifty.  She  replied  :  "Then 
there  will  not  be  much  left  for  my  family." 


After  all  who  desired  had  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
speak,  the  President  made  some  announcements  and  the  thanks  of  the 
Association  were  tendered  the  First  Religious  Society  for  the  use  of 
their  Meeting  House  ;  Miss  Elizabeth  Carr  Adams,  Mrs.  Katherine 
Knight  Chase  and  Miss  Alice  Louise  Chase  for  the  enjoyable  and 
appreciated  music  rendered,  and  to  all  others  who  had  contributed 
to  the  enjoyment  and  success  of  the  occasion.  The  audience  then 
joined  in  singing  America,  and  the  first  reunion  of  the  Association 
closed  with   the  benediction  by   Rev.  Mr.   Emery. 


In  the  afternoon  a  party  of  nearly  forty,  personally  conducted  by 
the  President,  took  the  electrics  for  West  Newbury  and  visited  the  site 
of  Ensign  Moses  Chase's  first  settlement  and  his  grave  and  those  of 
other  early  Chases  in  the  old  Ferry  Lane  cemetery. 


36  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMIU     ASSOCIATION. 


"  Waking,  I  dream.     Before  my  vacant  eyes 
In  long  procession  shadowy  forms  arise; 
Far  through  the  vista  of  the  silent  years 
I  see  a  venturous  band  ;   the  pioneers, 
Who  let  the  sunlight  through  the  forest's  gloom, 
Who  bade  the  harvest  wave,  the  garden  bloom. 

"The  seasons  pass ;   the  roses  come  and  go  ; 
Snows  fall  and  melt;  the  waters  freeze  and  flow  ; 
The  boys  are  men  ;   the  girls,  grown  tall  and  fair, 
Have  found  their  mates  ;  a  gravestone  here  and  there 
Tells  where  their  fathers  lie  ; 

"Art  thou  not  with  me,  as  I  fondly  trace 
The  scanty  records  of  thine  honored  race, 
Call  up  the  forms  that  earlier  years  have  known, 
And  spell  the  legend  of  each  slanted  stone? 

"Could  I  but  feel  thy  gracious  presence  near 
Amid  the  groves  that  once  to  thee  were  dear  ! 
Could  but  my  trembling  lips  with  mortal  speech 
Thy  listening  ear  for  one  brief  moment  reach  ! 
How  vain  the  dream  !     The  pallid  voyager's  track 
No  sign  betrays  ;  he  sends  no  message  back." 

—  O.  IV.  Holmes. 


VLu^hCui^M^ 


1fn  /Iftemotiam 


HENRY  MARTYN  CHASE. 

The  pioneers  of  1849  were  really  few  in  number,  and  now,  after 
fifty-one  years,  they  are  the  "lone  white  peaks  of  our  history"  in  this 
land  of  adventure,  for  one  by  one  these  brave  men's  names  are  enrolled 
among  the  silent  majority,  and  we  who  are  left  can  only  tell  of  their 
courage  and  patience  through  repeated  strokes  of  ill  fortune  and  hard- 
ship. This  time,  last  year,  one  was  living  who  would  have  been  fore- 
most in  welcoming  all  who  meet  here  today,  and  it  is  with  a  sense  of 
great  loss  that  we  remember  the  friendship  of  our  kinsman,  Henry 
Martyn  Chase,  who  passed  from  this  life  November  18,  1899.  He 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  March  25,  1831,  and  was  the  youngest  son  of 
William  Frederic  Chase  and  Anna  Wiley,  of  Puritan  stock  on  the 
father's  side  and  Scotch  Irish  on  the  mother's.  His  father  died  in 
September  of  that  year,  and  his  mother  married  six  years  after,  Joshua 
Coffin,  of  Newbury,  who  was  at  that  time  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

He  was  descended  from  Aquila  Chase,  an  early  settler  of  New- 
buryport,  and  was  a  direct  descendant  of  the  famous  Hannah  Dustin 
of  the  Indian  war  of  1687,  of  whom  you  all  know,  and  he  was  proud  of 
the  fact. 

In  1844  Mr.  Coffin  brought  his  family  to  the  old  homestead  in 
Newbury,  and  the  boy  came  soon  after  and  attended  school  there  for 
a  year,  when  he  entered  a  store  in  Newburyport  and  was  also  in  Ames- 
bury  for  a  time.  In  '48  he  went  to  New  Orleans  by  sea,  and  after  that 
he  went  on  a  fishing  cruise,  as  his  love  of  the  water  and  of  travel  was 
inborn.  When  scarcely  sixteen  he  became  so  much  interested  in 
Fremont's  account  of  the  far  west  that  he  determined  some  day  to  find 
that  favored  land,  and  the  opportunity  came  soon  after  the  discovery  of 
gold. 


38  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

On  the  eleventh  of  January,  '49,  he  took  passage  in  the  Brig 
Forest,  Captain  Nicholas  Varina,  of  Xewburyport,  and  sailed  from 
Boston  to  San  Francisco,  a  boy  not  eighteen,  full  of  enthusiasm  and 
hope  for  the  future.  When  off  Cape  Horn,  in  a  terrific  gale,  the 
Captain  and  all  of  the  crew  but  two  sick  sailors  were  washed  overboard. 
Young  Chase  happened  to  be  on  deck,  and  the  same  traits  which 
followed  him  all  through  his  life  were  then  manifest,  for  he  at  once 
aroused  the  sleeping  passengers,  and  by  throwing  over  ropes,  life  buoys 
and  planks,  the  ship  being  hove  to,  they  succeeded  in  bringing  these 
men  aboard,  but  one  poor  fellow  was  dead. 

After  landing  in  San  Francisco,  with  but  a  few  cents,  he  went  im- 
mediately to  work,  but  in  a  few  weeks  was  taken  very  ill,  and  was  be- 
friended by  a  native  of  Newburyport,  Captain  Kilburn,  who  took  him 
on  his  ship  to  Portland,  Oregon,  and  thence  to  Astoria,  from  there  to 
Oregon  City,  where  he  was  a  clerk  in  the  Captain's  store,  but  the 
disastrous  floods  of  that  year  washed  away  the  stores  and  he  was  left 
stranded,  and  he  went  to  Portland,  then  a  little  village,  hired  a  batteau 
and  engaged  in  transporting  freight  and  passengers  from  Portland  to 
Oregon  City,  a  distance  of  thirteen  miles.  The  rates  of  freight  were 
then  $25.00  per  ton,  and  passenger  fares  $5.00  ;  as  he  afterwards  said, 
"  unvexed  by  legislative  enactment  and  anti-monopoly  measures."  He 
continued  in  this  business  until  the  summer  of  1850,  when  sickness 
compelled  him  to  engage  in  mercantile  business  in  Oregon  City  and 
also  in  Champoeg,  in  the  latter  place  as  factor  for  the  famous  Hudson 
Bay  Company.  'Phis  was  not  profitable,  and  he  associated  himself  with 
Dr.  William  McKay  and  went  east  of  the  mountains  on  a  trading  expe- 
dition, going  as  far  as  the  Nez  Perce  country. 

In  1853  he  returned  to  the  Dalles  and  was  an  agent  for  McKinley 
and  Allen,  a  large  trading  firm.  In  '54  he  was  in  business  with  William 
Craig  in  trading,  and  went  with'  him  to  the  Grande  Ronde  Valley  to 
meet  the  coming  emigration,  and  then  took  the  stock  bought  there  to 
the  Papwai  country,  where  Mr.  Craig  lived.  During  the  year  185  I  he 
married  Margaret  Raboine,  who  died  in  1873.  Two  children  survive 
him  —  Henry  Dustan  and  Anna*. 

As  he  was  favorably  impressed  with  the  climate  and  resources  of 
this  region  in  Walla  Walla  County,  now  known  as  Eastern  Washington, 
he  located  on  the  Touchet  River,  where  Dayton  now  stands,  and  en- 
gaged in  stock  raising,  putting  up  large  buildings  with  a  force  of  men. 
In  1855  the  Indian  war  broke  out  and  this  region  was  abandoned,  but 
he  staid  until  all  had  gone,  not  willing  to  leave  his  property  ;   but  being 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  .MASS.  39 

warned  by  a  friendly  Indian  that  the  hostile  tribes  were  ready  to  attack 
him,  he  was  forced  to  go,  and  on  the  next  day  they  came,  destroying 
everything  and  driving  away  his  stock. 

In  1855-6  he  raised  a  company  of  volunteers  from  the  Colville 
miners  and  friendly  Nez  Perces.  In  '56  he  was  commissioned  as 
Captain  of  Company  M,  Second  Regiment  of  Volunteers,  and  did  good 
service  until  the  war  was  over.  In  August  of  that  year  his  company 
was  mustered  out,  and  he  then  crossed  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains  and 
located  at  Fort  Owen,  now  in  Montana.  Here,  in  Major  John  Owen's 
service,  he  rebuilt  the  fort,  a  large  adobe  structure.  He  then  concluded 
to  go  back  to  Eastern  Washington  to  look  up  his  claims.  As  he  had  a 
number  of  horses,  the  fruit  of  his  labor  in  that  region,  he  went  with  a 
party  going  to  Salt  Lake  City,  to  trade  his  horses  for  cattle  and  take 
heavy  teams  there  for  Walla  Walla.  The  trip  was  hazardous  and 
lasted  forty  days.  While  there  he  was  commissioned  by  Superin- 
tendent Davies  of  Utah  to  find  two  children  who  had  been  captured 
by  the  Indians,  and  this  he  accomplished  in  the  face  of  many  perils. 
After  this,  in  company  with  three  men  whom  he  employed  and  a 
German  family  of  four  people,  he  left  again  for  Walla  Walla,  making 
another  dangerous  trip  of  twenty-one  days. 

He  found  Walla  Walla,  when  he  returned  again,  a  thriving  village, 
but  his  land  had  been  taken,  and  a  law  suit  was  unavoidable.  While 
this  was  pending  he  located  on  the  Yukannon  and  engaged  in  stock 
raising.  His  claim  was  unjustly  decided  against  him,  so  he  removed 
to  Walla  Walla. 

In  1862  he  was  elected  to  the  Washington  Territory  Legislature 
and  served  over  a  year.  He  was  in  the  Quartermaster's  employ  at 
Fort  Walla  Walla  until  'b5,  then  went  to  the  town  with  his  family.  In 
'68  he  was  elected  Probate  Judge,  in  '69  County  Auditor ;  was  re- 
elected in  '71,  serving  four  years..  In  that  time  he  served  as  City 
Clerk  and  City  Treasurer,  and  was  also  on  the  Common  Council.  In 
'69,  with  others,  he  organized  the  Walla  Walla  and  Columbia  River 
Railroad.  In  '75  the  road  was  built,  the  first  in  the  territory,  thirty 
miles  long.  He  was  connected  with  the  road,  from  its  organization, 
for  many  years  in  various  capacities,  but  for  a  greater  part  as  a  Trustee 
and  as  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  He  was  also  connected  with  the 
Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation  Company.  In  '7o  he  was  appointed 
by  the  Governor  as  a  Commissioner  from  the  Territory  to  the  Cen- 
tennial Exposition  in  Philadelphia,  and  spent  the  summer  in  the  East. 
In  '78  he  was  appointed  as   Deputy  County  Treasurer.     In   '79   and 


40  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

until  '85  he  was  in  active  service  for  the  W.  W.  &  C.  R.  R.  and  the 
O.  R.  &  N.  Co.  In  the  fall  of  '85  he  again  visited  the  East,  and  was 
occupied  a  part  of  the  time  in  the  interests  of  the  Railroad  Company 
and  the  western  country,  the  land  of  his  adoption.  In  '88  he  sold  his 
home  in  Walla  Walla  and  came  to  Massachusetts  to  live,  settling  in 
Barnstable  in  '91.  In  '89  he  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the 
new  state  of  Washington  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  attend  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  George  Washington's  inaugural  in  New 
York,  and  was  present  at  all  the  ceremonies.  Whatever  he  engaged  to 
do,  at  home  or  abroad,  was  always  well  done. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  gave  freely  to  its 
support  in  the  West,  and  was  one  of  its  vestrymen  for  many  years  at 
St.  Paul's  in  Walla  Walla  and  was  also  senior  warden  at  St.  Mary's  in 
Barnstable.  He  was  always  ready  to  listen  and  respond  to  calls  for 
charity,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  answer  public  demands.  He  was  a 
real  lover  of  art  in  all  her  phases,  was  devoted  to  literature,  and  very 
fond  of  reading  aloud  from  his  favorite  books,  which  he  did  to  per- 
fection. Within  the  past  four  years  he  collected  a  large  amount  of 
genealogical  matter,  but  was  not  able  to  finish  the  work. 

His  manner  was  that  of  the  old  school  and  his  hospitality  genuine. 
His  faults  (for  who  has  them  not)  were  more  the  outcome  of  circum- 
stances than  inborn,  and  to  those  who  knew  him  truly,  were  dear.  He 
bore  with  great  fortitude  and  patience  his  manifold  cares  and  per- 
plexities and  clung  to  life  until  the  last,  feeling  that  he  had  left  much 
undone.  Upon  the  marble  which  marks  his  resting  place  in  the 
beautiful  Oak  Hill  cemetery,  in  Newburyport,  are  these  words,  and 
none  could   be   more  fitting  : 

"To  live  in  hearts  we  leave  behind, 
Is  not  to  die." 


t^ 


^ 


A 


^y 


BENJAMIN  CHASE. 


Benjamin  Chase,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  that  part 
of  Chester,  N.  H.,  now  known  as  Auburn,  July  7,  1799,  and  entered 
into  rest  after  a  long,  active  and  well  spent  life,  May  5,  1889.  He  was 
the  son  of  Benjamin  Pike  and  Anna  Blasdel  Chase,  his  family  line 
being  Benjamin  Pike,6  Wells,5  Moses,4  Moses,3  Moses,2  Aquila.1 

The  first  twenty-six  years  of  his  life  were  spent  on  his  father's  farm. 
His  education,  as  stated  by  himself,  was  limited  to  about  eight  weeks 
each  winter,  after  the  age  of  twelve,  at  the  common  school,  kept  "in  a 
house  fifteen  by  sixteen  feet,  rough  boarded  and  ceiled,  with  three 
windows  of  nine  panes  each,  a  smoky  chimney,  and  warmed  by  burn- 
ing green  wood,  which  lay  out  in  the  snow  until  needed.  The  writing 
desks  were  planks  or  boards,  one  edge  fastened  to  the  wall  of  the 
house  and  the  other  supported  by  legs  inserted  in  auger  holes,  and 
stools  with  legs  for  seats."  Three  terms  previously,  in  the  summers,  at 
private  schools  taught  by  a  woman,  made  up  the  sum  of  his  school 
days.  Before  going  to  any  school  he  had  of  his  own  volition,  and 
practically  unaided,  mastered  the  common  school  arithmetic  as  far  as 
the  "  Rule  of  Three,"  in  the  absence  of  a  slate  using  a  board  and  chalk. 
We  quote  further  from  his  reminiscences  : 

"The  school  district  to  which  I  belonged  had  in  1806,  $25.00; 
in  1810,  $31.67;  in  1815,  $34.27,  which  was  laid  out  in  the  winter, 
paying  a  male  teacher  ten  or  eleven  dollars  per  month  and  board. 
Grammar  was  taught  but  little,  geography  not  at  all,  except  by  using 
Morse's  Abridgement  as  a  reading  book  in  the  highest  class.  In  early 
times  the  pupils  had  no  arithmetics  and  the  teacher  set  the  sums  on 
the  slate  and  the  pupils  wrought  them  and  carried  them  up  for  exami- 
nation. In  1816  I  borrowed  from  Stephen  Chase,  Esq.,  an  English 
work  on  Geometry,  Trigonometry  and  Surveying  and  went  through 
that  in  the  school-house,  but  without  a  teacher,  just  for  the  pleasure 
of  it,  and  without  the  least  idea  of  any  practical  advantage.  I  also 
studied  navigation.  In  the  summer  of  1816  my  brother  John  and 
my  father  had  a  controversy  on  some  point  of  astronomy,  and  to  settle 


\2  TI1K  CHASI    <II\M     KAMI  I. V  ASSOCIATION. 

it,  father  went  to  Chester  to  the  town  library  and  got  Ferguson's 
Astronomy,  which  contained  rules  for  calculating  new  and  full  moons 
and  eclipses.  I  thought  that  it  would  be  a  pleasant  thing  to  know  how 
to  do  it.  From  the  tables  certain  elements  are  obtained  and  then  a 
geometrical  projection  is  made.  As  the  book  must  be  returned,  I  had 
to  copy  the  tables,  and  now  have  them.  I  calculated  the  eclipses  for 
several  years  and  have  several  of  the  projections  now.  I  had  no  other 
instruments  than  a  two  foot  Gunter  scale  and  a  pair  of  brass  dividers. 
If  I  wished  to  draw  a  circle  I  had  to  tie  a  pen  to  one  leg  of  the 
dividers.  These  studies,  pursued  merely  for  the  pleasure  of  them, 
have  proved  of  great  practical  utility  to  me.  In  1818,  Stephen  Chase 
who  had  done  all  of  the  land  surveying  for  many  years  failed  in  health 
and  I  took  it  up  and  did  much  for  several  years,  which  prepared  me 
to  write  and  make  the  map  for  the  History  of  Chester.  These  studies 
also  prepared  me  to  understand  the  science  of  the  millwrights  trade." 

Procuring  the  necessary  tools,  he  finished  the  house  which  became 
his  residence  on  his  marriage  and  was  his  home  to  the  end  of  his  long 
life.  He  was  married  March  2,  1826,  to  Hannah,  daughter  of  Moses 
Kimball  and  Fucretia  Currier  Hall,  to  whom  were  born  two  daughters 
and  a  son.  She  died  suddenly  February  25,  1876,  while  invitations 
were  out  for  a  golden  wedding. 

Being  a  descendant  on  his  mother's  side  of  two  generations  of 
clock  makers,  he  was  a  mechanic  by  inheritance.  In  1825  he  found 
temporary  employment  as  a  millwright,  which  led  him  into  that  line  of 
business  for  the  remainder  of  his  most  active  life,  making  many  im- 
provements on  the  sawmills  and  gristmills  that  were  in  use  preceding 
his  time.  Though  mathematical  and  philosophical  in  his  tastes,  his 
character  was  well  rounded  out  by  the  development  of  moral  and 
literary  qualities.  In  his  early  manhood  he  heard  a  discourse  on  the 
subject  of  total  abstinence  from  intoxicating  liquors,  and  at  once  not 
only  adopted  that  principle  in  his  practice,  but  confined  himself  mainly 
to  water  as  a  beverage  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

When  the  docrine  of  immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves  was 
proclaimed  by  William  Floyd  Garrison  it  was  embraced  by  Mr.  Chase, 
as  well  as  that  of  non-resistance  and  woman's  rights,  and  he  often  con- 
tributed articles  on  those  subjects  to  the  "liberator"  and  the  "Herald 
oi  Freedom." 

In  1864  he  commenced  the  work  of  compiling  the  History  of 
Chester,  N.  IF,  1719-1869,  with  map  of  the  original  proprietor's  lots, 
devoting  to  that  work  the  time  not  occupied  in  his  regular  vocation. 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS.  43 

This  was  published  as  a  volume  of  seven  hundred  pages  in  1869  and  is 
adjudged  one  of  the  best  of  the  many  town  histories. 

When  the  story  of  the  Chase  fortune  in  England  was  proclaimed, 
about  1846,  Mr.  Chase,  though  giving  no  credence  to  the  report,  be- 
came interested  to  look  up  the  genealogy  of  his  ancestry  and  the 
different  branches  of  the  immigrant  Aquila.  This  he  made  complete 
for  his  own  line  and  collected  much  more  for  connecting  lines,  making 
very  thorough  search  of  real  estate  and  probate  records,  and  making 
maps  of  old  Newbury,  Cornish,  N.  H.,  and  other  places,  and  thus 
locating  the  residences  of  many  of  the  earlier  generations.  Copies  of 
these  memoranda  were  furnished  to  Dr.  John  B.  Chace  of  Taunton, 
Mass.,  now  deceased,  who  was  engaged  in  the  same  work  for  publi- 
cation, giving  his  attention  not  only  to  the  genealogy  of  Aquila  and  his 
brother  Thomas,  but  also  to  William,  who  was  contemporary  with  but 
not  certainly  related  to  them.  The  tangible  work  of  these  men  is  now 
deposited  with  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society  in 
Boston,  awaiting  a  master  hand  who  shall  complete  for  publication. 

Mr.  Chase  was  a  man  of  sturdy  frame  and  great  earnestness  of 
purpose.  One  of  the  rules  of  his  life  was  the  scriptural  injunction, 
"Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might."  Another 
was,  "I  first  endeavor  to  ascertain  my  duty  and  then  do  it."  He  knew 
no  idle  hours.  Pushing  his  business  in  working  hours,  he  devoted 
all  others  but  those  for  sleep  to  intellectual  and  social  enjoyment. 
Though  doing  a  great  amount  of  laborious  work  in  his  occupation  as 
millwright,  he  so  kept  an  even  balance  of  physical  and  mental  effort 
that  his  strength  was  well  preserved  and  his  mind  clear  until  near  the 
end,  at  two  months  less  than  ninety  years. 


JOHN  B.  CHACE,  M.  D. 


John  B.  Chace,  M.  U.,  of  Taunton,  was  born  in  Swansea,  June  14, 
1816.  His  father  was  John  Chace,  who  died  while  still  a  young  man, 
leaving  his  only  son  to  the  care  of  his  mother,  Deborah  nee  Macomber, 
who  afterward  married  William  Wilbur  of  Little  Compton.  During  his 
early  years  he  attended  the  district  school  of  his  native  town.  When 
about  eleven  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  the  Friends'  School  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.  There  he  spent  the  next  five  years,  including  most  of  the 
vacation  seasons.  Full  of  fun  he  was  (to  judge  from  reports  of  his 
school  life  still  in  existence),  diligent  and  faithful  in  his  school  work. 
He  was  very  fond  of  the  higher  mathematics,  and  in  later  life  thoroughly 
enjoyed  wrestling  with  hard  problems  until  he  conquered.  In  Taunton 
there  lived  a  man  by  the  name  of  Williams  whose  one  aim  in  life  was 
to  solve  mathematical  problems  which  others  had  given  up  in  despair. 
Dr.  Chace  and  "Mathematical  Williams"  (the  only  name  by  which 
he  was  called),  enjoyed  interchanging  such  difficult  problems  as  were 
brought  to  them  by  others. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  Wilbur  of  Fall  River.  He  took  his  degree  in  1838  at  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  Somerset.  There  he  married  Rebecca, 
daughter  of  Eber  and  Sybil  Chace  who  belonged  to  the  Society  of 
Friends.  Three  sons  and  a  daughter  died  in  infancy.  Two  sons  and 
three  daughters  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  sons  and  daughters 
for  whose  lives  he  thanked  God  upon  his  dying  bed. 

In  1848,  in  company  with  others,  he  went  to  California  as  a 
physician.  The  voyage  was  made  on  the  "old  Bark  Ann,"  by  way  of 
Cape  Horn.  He  was  away  about  two  years.  His  stay  in  California 
was  not  without  its  hardships.  In  later  years,  when  one  of  his  children 
was  fretting  because  the  city  water  was  not  colder,  he  said  to  her  : 
"You  ought  to  be  thankful  for  pure  water.  I  remember  a  time  in 
California  when,  in  one  of  our  journeys,  we  suffered  so  much   from 


a^c^e_ 


FIRST  REUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,   MASS.  45 

thirst  that  we  were  thankful  to  kneel  down  by  a  pool  of  stagnant  water 
and  brush  away  the  green  scum  that  we  might  get  water  to  moisten  our 
parched  lips." 

From  California  he  embarked  as  surgeon  on  an  East  Indian  ship, 
and  then  lived  a  short  time  in  Manila.  While  there  an  English  phy- 
sician, Dr.  Reed,  presented  him  with  an  elegant  and  valuable  lace 
handkerchief  containing  one  hundred  dollars  in  gold  as  an  expression 
of  appreciation  for  professional  service  rendered  to  his  wife. 

On  his  return  from  the  East  Indies,  in  1850,  he  lived  in  Somerset 
five  years,  and  then  in  Westport  two  years,  returning  to  Taunton  in 
1857,  where  he  remained  until  his  death  with  the  exception  of  a  short 
time  spent  in  the  state  of  New  York. 

"As  a  physician  he  was  faithful  and  successful,  but  it  was  in  surgery 
that  he  had  especial  pride.  Here  his  clear  judgment,  perfect  ana- 
tomical knowledge,  and  steady  hand,  combined  to  give  him  a  high 
rank."  Many  a  poor  fellow  owed  the  preservation  of  an  arm  or  a  leg 
to  Dr.  Chace.  When  others  had  said  "It  must  come  off,"  he  would 
say,  "Let  us  try  first  to  save  it,"  and  save  it  he  did  if  possible.  He 
often  remarked,  "It  is  much  easier  for  a  surgeon  to  take  off  a  badly 
injured  limb  than  it  is  to  save  it ;  but  it  is  far  better  for  the  man  to 
have  his  limb,  even  if  he  can  make  but  little  use  of  it."  He  despised 
shams  and  make-believe  sickness,  but  he  had  long  patience  with  real 
sickness.  One  day  he  said  to  a  well  woman  who  was  always  complain- 
ing, "Madam,  what  you  need  is  to  go  home  and  go  to  work."  Some 
months  later  she  came  to  him  and  said  :  "  Doctor,  I  was  mad  when 
you  told  me  to  'go  home  and  go  to  work,'  but  I  did  it  and  it  cured 
me.  You  told  the  truth."  At  another  time  he  was  asked  what  en- 
abled him  to  cure  so  many  people  of  chronic  ailments.  His  reply  was 
short  and  to  the  point  —  "Patience." 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  from 
1848  until  his  death,  and  of  the  North  District  Medical  Society,  and 
one  of  its  board  of  censors. 

During  our  Civil  War  he  was  assistant  examining  surgeon  for  re- 
cruits and  substitutes  for  eastern  Massachusetts ;  and  for  ten  years 
previous  to  his  death  he  served  as  United  States  Examiner  of  Pensioners, 
his  last  illness  compelling  him  to  resign  a  few  months  before  his  death. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Christian  denomination  to  which  he  was 
strongly  attached ;  and  while  there  was  a  church  of  that  name  in 
Taunton,  his  house  was  always  "ministers'  hotel."  One  of  the  minis- 
ters who  was  told  on  coming  to  Taunton  that  it  was  "necessary  for  him 


In  THE  CHASE-CHACE  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 

to  go  to  the  hotel  as  neither  of  the  deacons  could  entertain  him,"  re- 
plied, "You  needn't  think  I  shall  go  to  a  hotel  while  Brother  Chace  is 
in  town,"  and  he  didn't.  While  in  Westport  he  held  pastoral  charge 
of  the  small  church  at  Brownell's  Corners  for  some  months,  and  in 
Somerset  and  other  places  he  assisted  smaller  churches  by  occasionally 
preaching  for  them. 

In  his  family  relations  he  was  a  true  and  faithful  husband  and 
father.  He  trained  his  children  with  especial  care.  Young  physicians, 
troubled  fathers  and  neighbors  in  their  perplexities  often  sought  his 
aid,  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  the  wise  counsel  of  a  true  friend. 

His  genealogical  researches,  which  continued  while  strength  lasted, 
covered  a  period  of  more  than  thirty  years.  He  thoroughly  enjoyed 
the  work,  to  which  he  devoted  a  large  expenditure  of  time,  money  and 
faithful  and  persistent  effort.  He  was  greatly  disappointed  because  he 
was  unable  to  complete  and  publish  the  work. 

His  last  illness  was  one  of  intense  and  prolonged  suffering,  borne 
with  patience  and  faith  until  the  end,  which  came  May  31,  1881. 
The  funeral  services  were  conducted  by  the  Rev.  J.  Colver  Wightman 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  assisted  by  Rev.  Martyn  Summerbell  and 
another  minister  of  his  own  denomination. 

By  Helena  P.  Chace. 


FIRST  RKUNION,  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS. 


47 


ATTENDANCE   REGISTER. 


Lark  in  E.  Bennett 

Charles  H.  Brown 

John  T.  Brown 

Mrs.  Olive  S.  Bunce 

Alice  Durgin  Chase 

Alice  Louise  Chase 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  J.  Chase 

Anna  Louise  Chase 

Benjamin  Chase    . 

Benjamin  Hall  Chase 

Carolyn  Louise  Chase 

Charlotte  Fabens  Chase 

Clinton  S.  Chase   . 

Daniel  E.  Chase    . 

Edward  C.  Chase 

Elizabeth  Moon  Chace 

Mrs.  Fred  W.  Chase       . 

George  Frederic  Chace 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  George  Thorndike  C 

Mrs.  Hannah  Smith  Chase 

Harriett  Louise  Chase   . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harry  Gray  Chase 

Mrs.  Harvey  B.  Chase   . 

Herbert  Appleton  Chase 

Herbert  Lincoln  Chase 

Horace  Chase 

Ida  M.  Chase 

James  Albert  Chase 

Jenny  J.  Chase 

J.  Herbert  Chase 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  C.  Chase 

John  M.  Chase 

John  Tilton  Chase 

Joseph  Titcomb  Chase 

Joseph  Titcomb  Chase,  Jr.,  3d 

Joseph  Warren  Chase     . 

Josiah  G.  Chase     . 


hase 


Lowell,  Mass. 

Newbury  port,  Mass. 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

Groveland,  Mass. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Medina,  N.  Y. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Keene,  N.  H. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Manchester,  N.  H. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Salem,  Mass. 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Somerville,  Mass. 

Chester,  N.  H. 

Valley  Falls,  R.  I. 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass.- 

.    New  York,  N.  Y. 

Salisbury,  Mass. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

West  Newbury,  Mass. 

Lowell,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

Chester,  N.  H. 

West  Newbury,  Mass. 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

West  Newbury,  Mass. 

Nashua,  N.  H. 

Meriden,  Conn. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

West  Newbury,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Chester,  N.  H. 

Cambridge  port,  Mass. 


IN 


THE  CHASE-CHACIi  FAMILY  ASSOCIATION. 


Mrs.  Katherine  Knight  Chase 

Moses  H.  Chase    . 

Omar  P.  Chase 

Mrs.  Otis  Cray  Chase     . 

Sara  Chase 

Sarah  Alice  Chase 

Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Chase 

Mrs.  Thurston  S.  Chase 

William  E.  Chase 

William  Moody  Chase    . 

Mrs.  Emily  A.  Clark       . 

William  J.  Creasey 

Mrs.  Lucy  A.  Danforth 

Mrs.  Mary  F.  Dow 

Rev.  William  A.  Eardeley 

Mrs.  Ira  A.  Eastman 

Rev.  Rufus  Emery 

Mrs.  Susie  J.  Fitz 

Elizabeth  M.  Cray 

Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Gray 

Mrs.  E.  Ellen  Hayvvard 

Mrs.  Minnie  Dow  Janvrin 

Mrs.  Franklin  E.  Johnson 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albert  Henry  Lamson 

Mrs.  Anna  Cora  Lewis   . 

Mrs.  Anna  Maria  Morse 

Mrs.  Lucy  Hale  Ordway 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Ryan 

Ethyl  Ryan  . 

Melinda  P.  Rogers 

Avery  Chase  Smith 

George  Brainard  Smith 

Mrs.  Mary  L.  C.  Smith 

Mrs.  Edward  B.  Storer 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  J.  Stevens 

Mrs.  Lucinda  Levina  Temple 

Edward  Kimball  Thurlow 

Thomas  Chase  Thurlow 

Mary  Anna  Toppan 

Helen  A.  Whittier 


Haverhill,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Andover,  Mass. 
West  Newbury,  Mass. 
.       Parkville,  N.  Y. 
South  Byfield,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Newbury,  Mass. 
.  Dorchester,  Mass. 
Derry,  N.  H. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Haverhill,  Mass. 
Hampton  Falls,  N.  H. 
.       Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Andover,  Mass. 
West  Newbury,  Mass. 
Salem,  Mass. 
Nashua,  N.  H. 
Nashua,  N.  H. 
South  Framingham,  Mass. 
Hampton  Falls,  N.  H. 
Lowell,  Mass. 
Elkins,  N.  H. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Keene,  N.  H. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Byfield,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Maiden,  Mass. 
Manchester,  N.  H. 
West  Newbury,  Mass. 
\Yest  Newbury,  Mass. 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Lowell,  Mass. 


VM  V1V* 


and   Third 


.  REUNIONS  ... 


The  Chase=Chace  Family 
...  Association  ... 


5T 


AT 


Providence,  R.I.,  Thursday,  Sept.  5, 1901 

...  AND  ... 

Salem,  Mass.,  Thursday,  Sept.  4, 1902 


SECOND 


Annual  Reunion 


of 


The    Chase-Chace    Family 

Association 


THURSDAY,  SEPTEMBER  5,  1901 


AT 


Providence,  R.  I. 


THE   CHASE    PRESS 
HAVERHILL,    MASSACHUSETTS 

1903 


BY-LAWS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


Article  I.  Name.  This  organization  shall  be  called  The  Chase- 
Chace  Family  Association. 

Article  II.  Object.  The  object  of  the  Association  is  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  family  history  and  aid  in  its  compilation  and  publi- 
cation, and  to  promote  social  intercourse  among  its  members. 

Article  III.  Officers.  The  officers  of  the  Association  shall  be  a 
President,  three  or  more  Vice  Presidents,  Secretary-Treasurer,  one  or 
more  Historians  and  an  Executive  Committee  of  three  or  more,  of 
which  the  President  and  Secretary  shall  be  members,  ex-officio.  The 
officers  shall  be  elected  at  the  regular  meetings  of  the  Association  and 
shall  severally  perform  the  duties  incident  to  the  positions  which  they 
hold. 

Article  IV.  Membership  and  Fee.  Any  person  interested  in 
the  objects  of  the  Association  may  become  a  member  by  the  payment 
of  the  sum  of  two  dollars  to  the  Treasurer,  who  will  issue  a  member- 
ship receipt  for  the  same. 

Article  V.  Meetings.  Meetings  shall  be  held  annually,  if  practi- 
cable, at  such  time  and  place  as  the  Executive  Committee  may  select. 

Article  VI.  Amendments.  These  By-Laws  maybe  amended  by 
a  majority  vote  at  any  meeting  of  the  Association. 


FEB  18  1$11 
K 


SECOND  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


The  Chase  -Chace  Family  Association, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.,  SEPTEMBER  5,  1901. 


The  second  annual  reunion  of  The  Chase-Chace  Family  Associa- 
tion was  held  in  the  vestry  of  the  Mathewson  Street  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  Providence,  R.  I.,  Thursday,  September  5,  1901. 

The  President  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  10.30  o'clock,  up- 
wards of  an  hour  having  been  devoted  to  a  general  reception  and 
social  intercourse.  The  exercises  were  commenced  by  the  singing  of 
the  following  opening  hymn,  to  the  tune  of  "Rockingham"  : 


OPENING  HYMN. 

[George  A.  Makden.] 

"  How  fast  the  centuries  come  and  go, 
Each  with  its  freight  of  joy  and  woe  ; 
Whate'er  the  future  holds  in  store, 
Fixed  past  recall  what 's  gone  before. 

"Our  fathers  built  in  sacrifice 
What  we  have  found  beyond  all  price  ; 
When  we  recall  the  hopes  and  fears, 
Which  have  enshrined  these  many  years. 

"Blest  be  the  memories  of  the  past, 
They  shall  endure  while  time  shall  last; 
Sunshine  and  shadow,  grief  and  joy, 
All  shall  our  grateful  hearts  employ. 

"  Greeting  and  parting,  we  today 
Meet  but  a  moment  on  life's  highway ; 
Count  we  our  joys,  forget  our  woes, 
Each  cheering  each  as  he  onward  goes." 


52  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Amos   F.  Chase  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  as  follows  : 

PRAYER. 

Our  Heavenly  Father,  we  come  to  thank  Thee  this  morning  for 
this  privilege  of  a  family  gathering.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  tokens 
of  Thy  love  manifest  all  about  us.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  blessing 
which  Thou  hast  conferred  upon  us  in  giving  to  men  and  women  this 
relationship,  this  brotherhood  upon  earth.  We  realize  that  every  good 
and  perfect  gift  cometh  from  Thee.  So  we  gather  in  this  beautiful  and 
comfortable  place  to  celebrate  the  reunion  of  those  ties  of  kindred 
that  bind  us  to  one  another.  We  realize  that  all  we  are  and  all  we 
possess  and  all  our  hopes  in  the  future  have  come  from  Thee.  For 
these  we  return  our  thanks  to  Thee  this  morning.  We  thank  Thee 
most  of  all  that  Thou  hast  given  us  Thine  only  begotten  and  well- 
beloved  Son,  to  take  away  our  sins,  and  not  only  for  this,  but  because 
Thou  hast  made  us  to  know  that  through  Him  we  are  made  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  living  God  ;  that  through  Him  we  are  enjoying  alj 
the  privileges  of  His  love.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  brotherhood  in 
Christ.  We  thank  Thee  that  we  are  conscious  of  the  close  relation- 
ship of  those  who  are  united  in  Christ,  under  whatever  circumstances 
they  are  placed.  Let  Thy  love  rest  upon  all  who  are  gathered  here. 
We  ask  that  each  and  all  our  needs  may  be  supplied,  through  the 
riches  of  Thy  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ,  for  Thy  glory  and  the  salvation  of 
all  men.  We  bless  Thee  that  Thou  wilt  manifest  Thyself  unto  us  as 
Thou  dost  not  unto  the  world.  We  thank  Thee  that  we  have  had  the 
blessings  of  a  religious  nurture.  We  thank  Thee  because  we  are  made 
to  see  what  the  heavenly  life  will  be  in  the  future,  in  its  fellowships. 
Hear  and  answer  our  prayers  out  of  the  abundance  of  Thy  mercy  in 
Christ  our  Saviour.     We  ask  it  for  Jesus'  sake.     Amen. 


The  President:  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  introduce  to  a  Provi- 
dence audience  the  gentleman  who  is  now  to  speak  a  few  words  of 
welcome  to  us.  It  is  proper  for  me  to  say  that  he  has  kindly  con- 
sented to  come  here  and  make  a  brief  address  —  not  as  a  member  of 
this  family,  but  as  one  who  takes  a  general  interest  in  the  Association. 
I  take  pleasure  in  presenting  to  you  the  Rev.  Henry  W.  Rugg,  D.  D. 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE.,    R.    I.  53 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME. 

By  REV.  HENRY  W.  RUGG,  D.D.,  of  Providence,  R.  I. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

I  am  pleased  and  honored  to  be  counted  among  the  goodly  com- 
pany gathered  here  this  morning.  It  is  by  the  favor  of  my  esteemed 
friend,  the  President  of  this  Association,  that  I  enjoy  such  a  privilege. 
My  appearance  here  is  not  in  any  official  capacity,  and  the  words  of 
hearty  greeting  and  welcome  which  I  would  speak  at  this  time  are  but 
the  expression  of  an  individual ;  and  yet  I  do  not  think  that  I  should 
exceed  the  limits  of  such  a  representative  position  as  for  the  moment 
I  occupy,  in  assuring  the  members  of  this  Association  that  they  are 
most  heartily  welcome  to  Providence. 

We  are  glad  and  grateful  that  you  arranged  to  hold  the  second 
meeting  of  your  Association  in  this  city  —  a  city  of  prominence  and 
progress  ;  a  city  of  many  notable  attainments,  some  of  which  attest  the 
energy,  the  varied  abilities  and  the  faithful  services  of  the  Chase-Chace 
family. 

Providence,  I  believe,  will  have  the  "latch-string  out"  for  you  at 
the  time  of  this  meeting.  It  has  the  wish,  I  am  sure,  to  make  your 
visit  agreeable  and  pleasant  in  all  respects.  The  ancient  legend, 
"What  Cheer,"  still  appears  on  our  sign-boards,  and  its  significance,  I 
like  to  think,  abides  in  the  hearts  of  Providence  people.  And  thus 
from  them  to  you,  if  1  may  so  phrase  it,  goes  forth  the  gracious  salu- 
tation, "What  Cheer." 

If  I  might  enlarge  the  scope  of  my  representative  position  a  little, 
I  would  add,  welcome  to  our  State  —  welcome  to 

"  Rhode  Island,  fair  and  free, 
Home  of  soul-liberty." 

Mr.  President  and  friends,  although  I  may  not  be  included  among 
the  members  of  your  Association,  I  have  been  thinking,  since  coming 
here,  that  there  is  a  bond  of  kinship  between  us.  My  mother  was  a 
"Smith,"  and  surely  the  Smith  family  holds  a  semi-detached  relation 
to  all  the  families  of  earth. 


54  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

The  Chase-Chace  family  is  to  be  congratulated  that  it  is  numer- 
ous—  not  quite  so  large  as  the  Smith  kin,  but  yet  of  large  numerical 
showing  and  constantly  increasing.  In  looking  within  the  Providence 
directory  this  morning  I  found  several  pages  given  to  members  of 
your  family,  resident  in  this  city.  I  noted  the  names  of  persons 
identified  with  important  material  interests,  names  well  known  in  busi- 
ness and  professional  life,  names  of  those  who  have  served  and  are 
serving  the  community  worthily  in  varied  positions  of  influence  and 
responsibility.  It  is  not  for  me,  however,  to  outline  the  varied  lines 
of  effort  put  forth  by  the  individuals  making  up  the  Chase-Chace 
family.  In  this  presence,  on  this  occasion,  we  meet  on  the  plane  of  a 
free,  inspiring  fellowship,  and  are  reminded  of  the  broader  relationship 
and  of  that  "one  touch  of  nature  which  makes  the  whok  world  kin" 
—  that  brotherhood  of  the  race  which  includes  "all  sorts  and  condi 
tions  of  men."  In  that  family  of  our  common  humanity  we  all  have 
place  and  appointed  service.  There  we  stand,  or  ought  to  stand,  in 
full  realization  of  the  truth  that  "  No  man  liveth  to  himself  and  none 
dieth  to  himself." 

Mr.  President,  I  can  see  many  benefits  arising  from  such  Associa- 
tions as  the  one  here  represented.  They  do  a  good  work  in  preserving 
local  and  personal  items  of  interest,  thus  helping  the  historians  to  de- 
sired material.  They  touch  the  springs  of  kinship  and  affection,  and 
so  exercise  a  blessed  ministry  to  augment  the  zest  of  life.  Out  of 
such  comradeship  and  good  feeling  comes  the  larger  recognition  of 
humanity,  already  intimated,  and  more  of  that  faith,  love  and  true 
service  which  makes  life  best  worth  having,  and  worth  living,  through 
and  through,  as  God  gives  it  to  us.  Thus  may  we  adapt  the  lines  : 
"  I  live  for  those  who  love  me, 
For  those  who  know  me  true  ; 

For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me, 
And  awaits  my  coming,  too. 

For  the  cause  that  needs  assistance, 

For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 

For  the  future  in  the  distance, 
And  all  the  good  that  I  can  do." 


The  President:  I  am  glad  that  fraternal  association  with  m\ 
brother  Rugg  has  enabled  us  to  have  the  pleasure  of  his  presence  to- 
day, and  without  the  formality  of  any  vote  authorizing  it.  I  will  extend 
to  him  the  thanks  of  the  Association  for  his  most  interesting  address. 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,  R.    I.  55 

A  saxophone  solo,  entitled  "Twilight  Reverie,"  was  then  given  by 
Mr.  James  M.  Kimball,  of  Woburn,  Mass.,  after  which  the  President 
delivered  his  annual  address. 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT. 

JOHN  C.  CHASE,  Derry,  N.  H. 


Members  of  the  Association  and  Friends  : 

It  is  again  my  privilege  and  pleasure  to  welcome  you  in  annual 
reunion.  A  little  more  than  a  year  ago  the  ancient  city  of  Newbury- 
port,  the  home  of  one  of  the  prominent  progenitors  of  our  name,  was 
the  scene  of  our  first  gathering.  Today  we  assemble  in  the  historic 
city  founded  by  that  enforced  emigrant  from  Massachusetts,  Roger 
Williams,  who  well  deserves  the  honor  of  being  styled  the  "Apostle  of 
Religious  Toleration." 

William  Chace,  the  first  of  our  name  to  set  foot  on  the  New 
England  coast,  finally  settled  in  southeastern  Massachusetts,  and  a 
large  proportion  of  those  bearing  our  name  in  this  vicinity  are  of  his 
line.  While  it  would  have  been  particularly  appropriate  to  have  had 
the  meeting  at  Yarmouth,  it  was  not  deemed  advisable,  but  it  is  hoped 
that  at  some  future  time  we  may  honor  the  former  abiding  place  of  our 
ancestor  with  a  visit. 

Comparatively  little  is  known  of  the  early  history  of  William 
Chace.  His  name  is  found  in  the  list  of  those  who  came  in  Governor 
Winthrop's  fleet  in  1630.  Of  his  former  history  nothing  is  reliably 
known  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  he 
was  in  any  way  related  to  the  brothers  Aquila  and  Thomas  Chase, 
who  appeared  in  Hampton,  N.  H.,  in  1639. 

On  the  records  of  the  First  Church  of  Roxbury,  Mass.,  we  find 
in  the  handwriting  of  the  pastor,  Rev.  John  Eliot,  "Apostle  to  the 
Indians,"  the  following: 

"William  Chase,  he  came  wth  the  first  company,  1630  he 
brought  one  child  his  son  willia.,  a  child  of  ill  qualitys,  &  a 
sore  affliction  to  his  parents  :  he  was  much  afflicted  by  the 
long  &  tedious  affliction  of  his  wife ;  after  his  wives  recovery 
she  bare  him  a  daughter,  wch  they  named  mary  borne  aboute 
the  midle  of   the  3d  month.   1637.  he  did  after  y'  remove 


56  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

(intending)   to  Situate,  but  after  went  wth  a  company  who 
maide  a  new  plantation  at  yarmouth." 

It  is  recorded  that  on  October  19,  1630,  he  applied  for  admission 
as  a  freeman  and  took  the  oath  on  May  14,  1634.  He  held  the  office 
of  constable  in  Yarmouth,  having  been  appointed  in  1639,  and  resided 
there  until  his  death  in  May,  1659. 

The  Roxbury  Church  records,  previously  referred  to,  also  contain 
the  following  : 

"Mary  Chase,  the  wife  of  William  Chase,  she  had  a  para- 
litik  humor  vvch  fell  into  her  back  bone,  so  y'  she  could  not 
stir  her  body,  but  as  she  was  lifted,  and  filled  her  wth  great 
torture,  &  caused  her  back  bone  to  goe  out  of  joynt,  &  bunch 
out  from  the  begining  to  the  end  of  wch  infirmity  she  lay  4 
years  &  a  halfe,  &  a  great  pt  of  the  time  a  sad  spectakle  of 
misery  :  But  it  pleased  God  to  raise  her  againe,  &  she  bore 
children  after  it." 

As  throwing  a  sidelight  on  this  record  relating  to  the  wife  of  our 
ancestor,  I  present,  with  due  respect,  the  following  bit  of  humor  from 
our  witty  poet-doctor,  Holmes,  which  has  been  reposing  in  my  scrap- 
book  for  the  past  twenty  years,  awaiting  an  occasion  like  this  : 

At  the  banquet  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Association  in  Boston 
in  June,  1881,  the  Rev.  George  E.  Ellis,  in  responding  to  a  toast,  read 
the  foregoing  extract  from  the  church  records.  He  stated  that  he  had 
submitted  the  case  professionally  to  Dr.  Holmes,  and  assuming  that  the 
proclivities  of  his  audience  would  undoubtedly  lead  them  to  prefer  the 
Doctor's  account  to  the  Apostle's,  read  the  reply  he  had  received,  as 
follows : 

No.  296  Beacon  Street,  June  3,  1881. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Ellis  : 

A  consultation  without  seeing  the  patient  is  like  a  murder 
trial  without  the  corpus  delicti  being  in  evidence.  You  re- 
member the  story  of  Mr.  Jeremiah  Mason  and  the  witness 
who  had  had  a  vision  in  which  the  angel  Gabriel  informed 
him  of  some  important  facts  :  "Subpoena  the  angel  Gabriel." 
So  I  should  say,  carry  us  to  the  bedside  of  Mary  Chase  ;  but 
she  has  been  under  green  bedclothes  so  long  that  I  am  afraid 
that  she  would  be  hard  to  wake  up.  We  must  guess  as  well 
as  we  can  under  the  circumstances.  The  question  is  whether 
she  had  angular  curvature,  lateral  curvature,  or  no  curvature 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  57 

at  all.  If  the  first,  angular  curvature,  you  must  consult  such 
authorities  as  Bryant,  Dewitt,  and  the  rest.  If  you  are  not 
satisfied  with  these  modern  writers,  all  I  have  to  say  is,  as  I 
have  said  before  when  asked  whom  to  consult  in  such  cases, 
go  to  Pott,  to  Percival  Pott,  the  famous  surgeon  of  the  last 
century,  from  whom  this  affection  has  received  the  name, 
by  which  it  is  still  well  known,  of  "  Pott's  disease,"  for  if  a 
doctor  has  the  luck  to  find  out  a  new  malady  it  is  tied  to  his 
name  like  a  tin  kettle  to  a  dog's  tail,  and  he  goes  clattering 
down  the  highway  of  fame  to  posterity  with  his  aaolian  attach- 
ment following  at  his  heels.  As  for  the  lateral  curvature,  if 
that  had  existed,  it  seems  as  if  the  apostle  Eliot  would  have 
said  she  bulged  sideways,  or  something  like  that,  instead  of 
saying  the  backbone  bunched  out  from  beginning  to  end. 
Besides,  I  doubt  if  lateral  curvature  is  apt  to  cause  paralysis. 
Crooked  backs  are  everywhere,  as  tailors  and  dressmakers 
know,  and  nobody  expects  to  be  palsied  because  one  shoulder 
is  higher  than  the  other  —  as  Alexander  the  Great's  was,  and 
Alexander  Pope's  also. 

I  doubt  whether  Mary  Chase  had  any  real  curvature  at  all. 
Her  case  looks  to  me  like  one  of  those  mimoses,  as  Marshall 
Hall  called  certain  forms  of  hysteria  which  imitate  different 
diseases,  among  the  rest  paralysis.  The  body  of  a  hysteric 
patient  will  take  on  the  look  of  all  sorts  of  more  serious  affec- 
tions. As  for  mental  and  moral  manifestations,  a  hysteric 
girl  will  lie  so  that  Sapphira  would  blush  for  her,  and  she 
could  give  lessons  to  a  professional  pickpocket  in  the  art  of 
stealing.  Hysteria  might  well  be  described  as  possession  — 
possession  by  seven  devils,  except  that  this  number  is  quite 
insufficient  to  account  for  all  the  pranks  played  by  the  sub- 
jects of  this  extraordinary  malady. 

I  do  not  want  to  say  anything  against  Mary  Chase,  but  I 
suspect  that,  getting  nervous  and  tired  and  hysteric,  she  got 
into  bed,  which  she  found  rather  agreeable  after  too  much 
housework  and  perhaps  too  much  going  to  meeting,  liked  it 
better  and  better,  curled  herself  up  into  a  bunch  which  made 
her  look  as  if  her  back  was  really  distorted,  found  she  was 
cosseted,  and  posseted  and  prayed  over  and  made  much  of, 
and  so  lay  quiet  until  a  false  paralysis  caught  hold  of  her 
legs  and  held  her  there.     If  someone  had  "hollered"  Fire  ! 


58  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

it  is  not  unlikely  that  she  would  have  jumped  out  of  bed,  as 
many  other  such  paralytics  have  done  under  such  circum- 
stances. She  could  have  moved,  probably  enough,  if  anyone 
could  have  made  her  believe  that  she  had  the  power  of 
doing  it.  Possumus  quia  posse  videmur.  She  had  played 
possum  so  long  that  at  last  it  became  11011  possum. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

O.  W.  Holmes,  M.D. 
I  regret  that  I  am  not  thoroughly  versed  in  the  detailed  history  of 
this  branch  of  our  family,  but  I  am  confident  that  this  unhappy  experi- 
ence of  Mary  Chace  had  no  detrimental  effect  upon  her  posterity,  and 
that  descendants  of  both  of  her  sons  have  achieved  equal  prominence 
in  whatever  sphere  they  may  have  selected  for  the  exercise  of  their 
talent,  industry  and   skill. 

Of  the  two  sons  of  William  and  Mary,  the  oldest,  William,  born  in 
England,  lived  in  Yarmouth  and  died  there  February  27,  1685,  leaving 
eight  children. 

Benjamin,  the  youngest  son,  born  in  Yarmouth  in  1639,  after  his 
mother's  recovery  from  her  indisposition,  became  a  freeman  at  Ports- 
mouth, R.  I.,  in  May,  1674.  He  afterwards  moved  to  Freetown,  Mass., 
and  died  there.  His  will,  dated  September  6,  1730,  and  proved  July  20, 
1731,  indicates  that  he  lived  to  the  ripe  age  of  ninety-two. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  occupy  much  of  the  time  on  this  occasion. 
More  fortunate  than  last  year,  we  have  with  us  today  one  of  our  name 
and  kin  who  will  address  us,  and  the  subject  he  has  chosen  is  an 
earnest  of  an  interesting  and  instructive  discourse. 

There  are  various  matters  of  business  to  be  taken  up  at  the  proper 
time,  which  I  trust  will  have  the  careful  consideration  of  the  Association. 
And  now,  in  closing,  let  me  counsel  you  to  heed  not  the  criticism 
of  those  who  are  disposed  to  belittle  the  object  and  jeer  at  the  existence 
of  organizations  like  ours,  scornfully  saying  that,  "Genealogy  is  fit  only 
for  fools."  Let  us  rather  make  renewed  efforts  toward  accomplishing 
the  objects  of  the  Association,  fully  believing  that  we  can  be  engaged 
in  no  better  work  or  higher  duty  than  preserving  for  posterity  a  knowl- 
edge of  their  ancestors. 


The  audience  was  then  highly  entertained  with  a  soprano  solo  by 
Mrs.  Katherine  Knight  Chase  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  who  gave  "Spring's 
Awakening"  in  her  customary  artistic  manner. 


(^h^^z^t^es    C^7.    y^-^^^^  - 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  59 

The  principal  address  of  the  day  was  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Abbott 
Chase  of  Wollaston,  Mass.,  and  received  careful  attention,  the  subject 
being,  "Some  New  England  Traditions."  It  is  a  source  of  great  regret 
that  through  some  misunderstanding  no  report  of  the  address  is  avail- 
able for  preservation  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Association  in  order 
that  their  record  may  be  full  and  complete. 

The  President  extended  the  thanks  of  the  Association  for  the 
address  and  took  occasion  to  say  that  those  upon  whom  the  duty 
devolved  of  making  up  a  program  for  the  day  had  had  no  easy  task. 
He  also  expressed  the  hope  that  the  good  fortune  of  the  present  meet- 
ing might  be  an  augury  for  the  future  success  of  the  officers  of  the 
Association  in  finding  those  able  and  willing  to  take  a  prominent  part 
in  entertainment  and  instruction. 


Miss  Annie  Allender  Gould,  of  Chase  lineage,  was  a  missionary  to 
China  and  barbarously  murdered  during  the  late  disturbances  in  that 
country.  A  biographical  memorial  sketch  that  had  been  prepared  was 
read  by  Miss  Olive  Bowers  Eddy  of  Providence. 


ANNIE  ALLENDER  GOULD. 

Annie  Allender  Gould  was  born  in  Bethel,  Maine,  among  her 
mother's  kindred,  but  lived  in  Portland  during  her  girlhood.  Her 
education  began  in  the  public  schools  of  Portland.  In  1887  she 
entered  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  (which  was  changed  to  a  college  while 
she  was  there),  and  in  1892,  after  having  been  there  five  years,  she 
graduated  with  the  valedictory  honor. 

On  August  7,  1893,  she  left  home  for  the  city  of  Pao  ting  fu, 
North  China,  Province  of  Chihli,  going  as  a  missionary  of  the  "Ameri- 
can Board."  She  was  faithfully  working  for  the  good  of  the  women 
and  children  under  her  charge,  when  in  May,  1900,  the  "Boxer," 
or  anti-foreign  storm  broke  over  that  land.  It  was  then  too  late  to 
escape;  or,  in  the  language  of  her  sister  missionary  (Miss  Mary  S. 
Morrill),  "We  cannot  go  if  we  would,  and  we  would  not  if  we  could." 
All  foreigners  in  that  Province  were  massacred  about  a  month  later, 
and  also  all  native  Christians,  excepting  those  who  contrived  to  hide 
or  escape. 

Miss  Gould   came  of  good   New  England  stock.     She  inherited 


60  THE    CHASE- CH ACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

her  desire  and  delight  in  missionary  work  from  her  mother  (Amelia 
J.  Twitchell),  who,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Freedmen,  had  spent  two 
years  in  South  Carolina,  during  war  and  reconstruction  times.  It  is, 
perhaps,  more  interesting  today,  to  this  assembly,  to  say  that  a  very 
strong  point  of  her  character  was  inherited  from  her  "Grandmother 
Gould"  (born  Althea  Chase*),  and  is  thus  expressed  by  Annie  herself 
in  a  quiet  word  to  her  aunt :'  "When  I  see  a  thing  to  be  done  I  do  it." 
She  would  have  been  altogether  another  person  had  it  not  been  for 
this  faculty  of  ready  discernment  of  the  needs  of  others  and  her  un- 
selfish desire  to  remedy  the  evil  or  right  the  wrong  with  prompt  and 
vigorous  action.  As  a  little  girl,  though  quiet  and  somewhat  bashful 
in  the  presence  of  strangers,  she  had  the  rare  good  quality  of  carrying 
a  fearless  and  level  head  in  the  moment  of  trial  or  danger.  She  started 
off  alone  for  Mt.  Holyoke,  in  perfect  confidence  of  her  ability  to  attend 
to  all  matters  of  business  and  steer  clear  of  all  dangers  from  man  or 
fate.  With  much  joyfulness  she  again  said  good-bye  to  all  her  friends 
of  '93. 

Her  work  in  China  was  first  to  battle  with  the  language  :  there 
she  was  most  successful.  Within  a  fortnight  after  arrival,  she  had 
committed  to  memory  several  hymns  and  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  was 
able  to  take  part  in  the  religious  services  as  well  as  to  lead  in  the 
singing.  Another  pleasing  incident  was  in  keeping  with  her  Chase- 
like character,  to  which  we  have  just  referred.  After  she  had  been 
in  China  about  eight  months,  she  was  sent  up  to  Tung  Chow  (near 
Pekin)  to  the  annual  meeting  to  see  and  hear  what  she  could  and  to 
get  acquainted.  Finding  no  one  there  but  herself  to  answer  when  the 
call  came  for  Pao  ting  fu  to  report,  she  quickly  jumped  up  and  "did 
what  she  could."  Her  speech  must  have  been  much  like  baby-talk, 
but  it  was  received  by  both  foreigner  and  native  with  great  delight 
and  satisfaction.  Before  she  had  been  a  year  in  China,  a  small  party 
who  wished  to  travel  to  the  great  wall  needed  an  interpreter.  As  no 
one  else  could  be  found,  Miss  Gould  accepted  the  difficult  task  and 
got  on  well.  The  native  Christians  of  the  Mission  took  great  interest 
in  this  somewhat  phenomenal  development,  and  one  was  heard  to  ask 
the  Lord  in  prayer  that  the  "new  lady  might  quickly  learn  to  twist 
her  tongue,"  and  so  be  able  the  sooner  to  help  Miss  Morrill. 

As  fast  as  she  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  language  her  sphere 
of  usefulness  enlarged  and  her  duties  increased.  Her  daily  life  at  last 
was  filled  with  many  burdens  and  sorrows.      Miss  Morrill  broke  down 

*  Althea  Chase",  Asa6,  William5,  Wells',  Moses'*,  Moses2,  Aquila1. 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  61 

completely  and  was  sent  home  —  it  was  not  known  whether  to  re- 
cuperate or  to  die.  Miss  Gould  was  left  two  years  as  the  only  "single 
lady"  of  the  Mission.  Her  letters,  or  rather  the  lack  of  them,  showed 
plainly  that  the  added  duties  were  telling  hard  upon  her,  but  there  was 
no  complaint.  Her  last  year  was  spent  in  teaching  the  native  Chris- 
tians to  become  teachers.  During  Miss  Morrill's  absence  Miss  Gould 
took  the  task  of  "touring,"  that  is,  of  visiting  the  people  in  the  country 
towns  outside  the  city,  but  one  cannot  judge  from  the  letters  whether 
or  not  she  liked  this  better  than  other  work.  She  took  hold  of  it,  as 
in  everything  else,  with  a  conscientious  determination  to  do  her  best. 

The  single-lady  teachers  had  the  physical  as  well  as  the  moral  and 
religious  well-being  of  the  pupils  in  their  hands ;  considerable  medical 
treatment  and  nursing  were  left  to  them,  as  well  as  the  clothing  and 
cleansing  of  the  pupils.  Nearly  all  the  children  who  came  from 
heathen  homes  required  an  overhauling  from  which  such  a  woman  of 
less  nerve  would  shrink.  Miss  Gould's  letters  reveal  a  satisfaction  at 
her  success  in  transforming  these  young  heathen  into  at  least  a  set  of 
clean-looking  and  well-clothed  children. 

As  the  Boxer  movement  gained  headway,  touring  was  necessarily 
abandoned ;  despite  this  and  the  threats  made,  first  to  the  native 
Christians  and  later  to  the  foreigners,  the  ladies  kept  on  with  school, 
chapel,  and  city  duties.  The  work  was  constantly  increasing  until  the 
spring  of  1900,  when  the  Boxers,  without  rebuke  from  the  Governor, 
began  drilling  in  the  city  streets.  After  this  many  of  the  natives  kept 
away,  and  others  feared  to  be  even  at  work  for  the  foreigners,  or  to 
show  a  friendliness  they  had  been  accustomed  to  before ;  but  if  the 
ladies  or  any  of  the  missionaries  were  frightened  their  letters  do  not 
show  it.  Not  until  late  in  May,  when  the  Boxers  had  killed  several 
Chinese  officials  who  tried  to  put  them  down,  and  had  terrified  the 
whole  population,  is  there  a  note  of  alarm.  Then  came  the  terrible 
news  —  the  letter  which  was  our  last  —  of  the  destruction  of  the  rail- 
way, cutting  of  wires,  and  killing  of  the  Belgian  employees  on  the  line 
between  Pekin  and  Pao  ting  fu. 

What  happened  after  this  has  been  learned  little  by  little  and 
after  long  waiting  and  suspense.  Every  truth  has  been  hidden  in 
much  exaggeration  and  wilful  lying,  so  that  even  now  it  is  not  safe  to 
go  far  into  details.  We  know,  however,  that  when  Admiral  Seymour's 
marines  were  repulsed  in  their  efforts  to  reach  Pekin,  the  Govern- 
ment was  overturned  and  Prince  Tuan,  or  if  you  please,  the  Empress 
Dowager,  issued  an  edict  to  slay  every  foreigner  in  China.     This  was 


62  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

obeyed  only  in  a  few  of  the  northern  provinces,  Chihli  being  one.  It 
was  not  until  June  30th  that  an  actual  massacre  of  inoffensive  mission- 
aries was  attempted  in  Pao  ting  fu.  On  that  day,  the  Presbyterian 
Mission  was  burned,  all  perishing  in  the  flames.  This  awful  fate  was 
immediately  made  known  to  the  little  handful  remaining  at  the  Ameri- 
can Board  compound,  and  their  last  night  was  one  of  unspeakable 
dread  and  suspense.  We  have  learned  that  our  people  spent  the 
night  in  prayer,  in  writing  good-bye  letters,  and  in  sending  off  the  few 
servants  and  helpers  who  remained,  excepting  eight  or  ten  who  pre- 
ferred to  die  with  them.  Some  of  these  letters  were  hidden,  while 
others  were  sent  off  by  trusted  messengers,  but  all  were  found  by  the 
Hoxers,  none  having  ever  reached  a  friendly  eye.  No  last  messages 
have  come  to  us,  save  those  written  the  last  of  May  before  noted.  On 
Sunday,  July  1st,  the  mob  of  roughs  broke  down  the  slender  barrier  at 
the  American  Board  compound,  killed  Mr.  Pitkin,  the  only  white  man 
left,  and  carried  our  two  ladies  inside  the  city.  While  being  led 
across  the  fields,  Miss  Gould  fainted  and  became  unconscious.  Her 
feet  were  thereupon  tied  and  a  pole  run  between  them  and  through 
her  long  hair,  and  thus  slung  after  the  manner  in  which  pigs  are  there 
carried  to  market,  while  Miss  Morrill  walked  along  side  ;  she  herself 
was  borne  inside  a  heathen  temple.  Here  they  were  soon  joined  by 
the  people  of  the  China  Inland  Mission.  All  were  knocked  about 
during  the  day,  and  jeered  at  by  the  mob.  Some  sort  of  a  trial 
was  had,  but  no  one  has  yet  been  found  who  can  tell  what  happened 
in  those  awful  hours.  About  sundown  all  were  led  outside  the  wall,  a 
great  crowd  following,  and  there  they  were  beheaded  and  their  bodies 
thrown  into  a  common  pit. 

In  October  following,  the  city  was  occupied  by  foreign  troops,  the 
Governor  and  some  others  being  shot,  and  the  temple  blown  up.  The 
bodies  were  more  securely  buried.  In  March  a  party  of  missionaries 
from  Pekin,  assisted  by  the  foreign  troops  and  all  the  new  dignitaries 
of  the  city,  held  funeral  services  over  the  dead,  whose  bodies  were 
then  gathered  and  placed  in  a  new  spot,  which  will  have  a  fitting 
monument  and  will  be  known  as  the   martyrs'  ground. 

We  will  close  with  a  quotation  from  a  leaflet  published  by  the 
Woman's  Board  :  "We  believe  that  when  she  left  us  that  bright  August 
day  seven  years  ago,  if  she  could  have  had  the  seer's  vision  and  known 
what  the  years  had  in  store  for  her  and  their  final  ending,  she  would 
not  have  deviated  from  her  chosen  path,  but  with  the  same  self- poise,  the 
same  heroic  courage,  she  would  have  lived  her  life  and  met  her  death." 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  63 

Two  solos  by  Mrs.  Chase  —  an  "Irish  Love  Song"  and  a  "Japanese 
Love  Song" — were  greatly  enjoyed  and  received  hearty  applause. 

The  Treasurer  presented  his  report,  from  which  it  appeared  that 
the  total  receipts  for  the  year  had  been  $262.00  and  the  expenditures 
$232.25,  leaving  a  balance  of  $29.75,  which  he  stated  would  be  more 
than  absorbed  by  the  expenses  of  this  meeting.  On  motion  the  report 
was  received  and  placed  on  file. 

The  President  :  It  is,  perhaps,  appropriate  that  I  should  make 
some  general  statements  at  this  time.  This  Association  was  organized 
at  Hartford,  Conn.,  some  two  years  ago  and  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  that  state.  Its  object  is  to  incite  interest  in  the  preservation 
and  publication  of  the  family  history  and  the  promotion  of  social  inter- 
course among  its  members.  It  takes  quite  a  length  of  time  to  get  an 
organization  like  this  in  working  order,  especially  when  we  take  into 
account  the  fact  that  those  attending  the  first  meetings  are  nearly  all 
total  strangers  to  each  other,  and  it  is  particularly  gratifying  to  note 
the  growing  interest  manifested. 

It  was  thought  best  to  hold  this  second  reunion  in  Providence,  on 
account  of  there  being  a  large  number  of  the  descendants  of  William 
Chace  in  this  vicinity,  the  first  reunion  having  been  held  in  the  section 
where  the  descendants  of  Aquila  and  Thomas  Chase  are  more  in  evi- 
dence. It  has  been  suggested  that  we  go  to  Salem,  Mass.,  next  year, 
as  that  city  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  landing-place  of  William 
Chace,  and,  in  addition,  is  a  place  rich  in  historic  associations. 

These  family  associations  require  money  to  successfully  carry  them 
on,  and  there  was  a  due  amount  of  consideration  given  to  the  financial 
question  :  whether  to  have  a  small  fee"  for  admission  with  yearly  dues, 
or  to  have  a  life  membership  fee,  naturally  larger  in  amount,  with  no 
future  dues,  depending  upon  voluntary  contributions  to  make  up  any 
deficit  in  the  running  expenses.  There  are  objections  to  annual  dues, 
as  usually  they  are  not  readily  collected  unless  the  members  are  pres- 
ent at  the  meetings,  and  it  was  assumed  that  a  large  portion  of  them 
would  not  be  regular  attendants.  The  membership  fee  was  fixed  at 
two  dollars,  and  the  Treasurer  will  be  pleased  to  furnish  his  official 
autograph  to  all  who  will  leave  with  him  that  sum. 

Seven  thousand  copies  of  a  circular  announcing  the  organization 
of  the  Association  were  sent  out  last  year  to  addresses  obtained  from 
city  directories  and  the  historians'  records.     There  are  several  of  these 


64  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

circulars  on  hand  which  I  shall  be  pleased  to  give  to  those  who  desire 
to  have  them,  and  I  trust  they  may  be  distributed  among  those  who 
may  not  have  seen  them. 

The  Secretary  and  President  have  given  freely  of  their  time  and 
means  to  help  make  the  Association  a  success,  and  they  only  ask  that 
there  may  be  sufficient  enthusiasm  aroused  to  make  our  organization 
the  peer  of  any  now  in  existence. 

The  Secretary  :  The  proceedings  of  last  year's  reunion  have  been 
issued  in  pamphlet  form  and  contain  some  fifty  pages  of  historical  and 
biographical  matter  which  is  of  interest  and  value,  also  portraits  and  a 
frontispiece  giving  views  of  some  old  Chase  houses  and  tombstones  in 
West  Newbury,  Mass.  Copies  are  here  and  for  sale  by  the  Secretary 
at  thirty-five  cents  each,  the  proceeds  being  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Association.  I  would  advise  you  to  secure  a  copy  before  the  supply  is 
exhausted,  as  I  expect  to  see  the  time  when  they  will  command  three 
limes  as  much  as  the  present  price,  judging  by  the  experience  of  other 
associations. 

The  President  stated  that  the  By-Laws  provided  for  the  election 
of  officers  at  the  annual  meeting,  and  on  motion  a  committee  of  three 
was  appointed  to  report  nominations. 

The  Secretary  then  read  letters  received  from  the  following  named 
persons:  Judge  William  M.  Chase,  Concord,  N.  H.  ;  Rev.  John  K. 
Chase,  East  Hampstead,  N.  H.  ;  Alden  Chase,  Bryant  Pond,  Me.; 
S.  J.  Pattinson,  York  Harbor,  Me.  ;  Mrs.  E.  Ellen  Hayward,  South 
Framingham,  Mass.  ;  Miss  Emma  E.  Peirce,  New  Bedford,  Mass. ; 
Mrs.  Arabella  Chase  Perkins,  Falmouth,  Mass.;  Rev.  William  A. 
Eardeley,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  Caroline  Chase  Tiffany,  New  York 
City. 

A  telegram  was  also  read  from  William  F.  Robertson,  of  Wilming- 
ton, North  Carolina,  a  personal  friend  of  the  President,  who  sent  the 
gathering  his  hearty  good  wishes.  Although  a  native  of  South  Caro- 
lina, he  is  of  Connecticut  ancestry. 

The  following  volunteer  poem  from  an  anonymous  contributor  was 
also  read  : 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  65 

GREETING  TO  THE  CHASE  REUNION. 

1901. 
From  old  England  sailed  the  Chases, 
Sailed  to  Massachusetts  Bay  ; 
William  and  his  son,  with  Winthrop, 
In  the  Mayflower,  so  they  say, 
Sixteen  hundred  something  or  other, 
O  the  years  are  such  a  bother  ! 
William  settled  down  in  Yarmouth  ; 
Harwich,  Truro  knew  the  tribe  ; 
Some  were  lawyers,  some  were  scholars, 
Every  one  of  them  a  scribe. 
Handsome  was  the  tribe  of  Chases, 
With  no  shame  upon  their  faces, — 
William,  Thomas  and  Aquila, 
Good  names  for  a  shop  or  villa, 
How  they  scattered  everywhere  ; 
Manly  sons  and  maidens  fair, 
Never  yielding  to  despair 
Whatsoever  called  to  bear. 
"  Ne  cede  malis"  on  their  shield 
Like  a  tribe  that  foes  not  yield. 
Though  the  Chase  estate  is  waiting, 
Not  a  claim  are  they  abating ; 
When  it  comes  how  we  will  splurge  ! 
'Til  then  we  will  not  sing  a  dirge. 
Here  's  my  hand  in  loving  token 

That  the  Chase  tie  is  not  broken. 

—  One  of  the  Tribe* 
V.  O.  Box  173,  Falmouth,  Mass. 


[ames  F.  Chase,  Esq.,  of  Boston:  I  am  not  a  member  of  this 
Association,  but  propose  to  become  one  before  I  leave  the  hall.  I 
would  like  to  ask  if  anyone  has  any  knowledge  as  to  the  probable 
number  of  these  books  that  maybe  sold? 

The  -President  :  I  can  only  say,  in  a  general  way,  that  the  usual 
editions  of  these  genealogies  are  from  five  hundred  to  seven  hundred 
copies.     The  usual  price  of  the  standard  genealogy  is  from  five  to  six 

*  Since  i'dentified  as  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Chase  Swift,  born  in  1817,  and  a  de- 
scendant of  William  Chace. 


66  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

dollars,  for  a  volume  of  seven  to  eight  hundred  pages,  to  those  who 
subscribe  before  it  is  issued.  After  it  is  issued  the  price  is  generally 
raised  some  twenty  per  cent. 

Mr.  James  F.  Chase  :  It  would  seem,  then,  from  what  you  have 
stated,  that  the  total  expense  would  be  a  matter  of  some  three  or  four 
thousand  dollars,  to  publish  such  a  number  as  we  may  need.  I  would 
like  to  say  that  I  was  very  much  interested  in  what  the  Secretary  said, 
and  I  would  like  to  see  the  movement  take  proper  shape*  I  would 
consider  it  a  privilege  to  become  a  stockholder  in  such  a  company.  I 
think  that,  by  the  exercise  of  proper  judgment  and  energy  on  the  part 
of  the  right  individual,  the  end  may  be  reached  by  which  we  can  all 
become  possessed  of  one  of  these  books. 

The  Secretary  :  It  is  estimated  that  a  genealogy  of  the  Chase- 
Chace  family  will  require  about  five  octavo  volumes  of  some  seven 
hundred  pages  each.  The  descendants  of  Aquila  would  fill  two  vol- 
umes, those  of  William  the  same  number,  and  those  of  Thomas,  the 
brother  of  Aquila,  and  other  lines  another  volume.  They  would  all 
be  separate,  one  from  another,  so  that  the  descendants  of  Aquila,  for 
example,  would  only  need  to  take  the  "Aquila  Chase"  volumes. 

General  Thomas  W.  Chace,  from  the  committee  on  nominations, 
reported  a  list  of  officers  as  follows,  and  on  motion  they  were  unani- 
mously elected  by  a  viva  voce  vote. : 

President  —  John  C.  Chase,  Deny,  N.  H. 

Vice  Presidents  —  Clinton  S.  Chase,  Detroit,  Mich.,  and  Thomas 
W.  Chace,  Providence,  R.  I. ;  William  M.  Chase,  Concord,  N.  H.; 
Charles  Estes,  Warren,  R.  I. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer  —  Omar  P.  Chase,  Andover,  Mass. 

Executive  Committee  —  Frank  A.  Chace,  Boston,  Mass;  Andrew 
J.  Chase,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Frederic  A.  Chase,  Providence,  R.  I. ;  Harry 
G.  Chase,  Tufts  College,  Mass.,  and  the  President  and  Secretary- 
Treasurer,  cx-officio. 

Historian  —  Mrs.  Mary  L.  C.  Smith,  Hartford,  Conn. 


The  President  :  The  hour  for  lunch  was  set  for  one  o'clock,  and 
there  are  a  few  minutes  yet  remaining  which  will  be  devoted  to  brief 
addresses.     The  Association   is  under    great   obligation   to   the   local 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  6  / 

members  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  I  am  going  to  call 
upon  the  very  efficient  Chairman,  General  Thomas  W.  Chace,  to  lead 
the  charge. 


Remarks  of  General  Thomas  W.  Chace. 

Mr.  President  : 

This  opportunity  of  addressing  the  present  assemblage  is  entirely 
unexpected  by  me.  I  have  never  before  had  the  honor  of  attending 
one  of  your  meetings.  Some  forty  years  ago  (I  was  quite  young,  then, 
although  I  am  not  even  yet  old)  I  was  solicited  by  a  good  sister  to 
contribute  five  dollars  towards  a  fund  to  obtain  legal  services  in  rela- 
tion to  securing  that  large  fortune  which  was  reported  to  be  located 
somewhere  in  England  (whether  it  was  in  the  Bank  of  England  or 
some  sand-bank,  I  cannot  say),  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  the 
Chace  family,  and  of  which  they  had  been  unjustly  deprived  for  three 
or  four  hundred  years,  more  or  less.  This  is  the  first  opportunity 
which  I  have  had  to  converse  with  the  members  of  our  dispersed- 
family  in  relation  to  our  affairs.  I  want  to  say  to  you  all  that  this 
large  meeting  here  today  is  a  very  happy  omen.  I  am  most  agreeably 
surprised  that  so  many  are  present.  The  day  is  a  beautiful  one,  and 
you  have  certainly  appreciated  it  and  have  turned  out  in  full  numbers. 

The  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  us  seem  to  have  fully  covered 
the  ground  of  appropriate  topics.  I  would  like  to  emphasize  one  re- 
mark of  the  reverend  gentleman  to  whom  we  first  listened.  It  is  now 
some  two  hundred  and  seventy  years  since  the  progenitors  of  our  family 
first  landed  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  or  of  some  portion  of 
New  England.  From  them  all  the  present  members  of  this  family 
have  descended.  It  is  a  matter  for  proud  reflection  that  they  have 
thus  grown  and  developed  with  the  country.  How  far  the  advantages 
of  civilization,  of  education,  of  the  Christian  religion,  have  ministered 
to  this  growth  and  upbuilding  it  is  not  for  me  to  state.  As  you  know, 
our  family  have  been  identified  with  every  worthy  interest  in  the 
Church,  the  State,  the  Bar,  in  commerce  and  in  education.  It  cer- 
tainly should  be  considered  a  matter  of  just  family  pride  that  we  have 
so  largely  and  actively  entered  into  all  that  has  concerned  the  growth 
of  this  nation,  from  its  foundation  to  the  present  time.  The  Chaces 
have  ever  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  every  community  where  they 
have  resided.     And  I  ought  further  to  say,  and  will  say,  that  it  is  not 


68  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

for  us  to  rely  upon  that  which  has  been  accomplished  by  our  ancestors. 
We  must  rely  upon  ourselves,  and  determine  that  our  lives  shall  be  of 
such  a  character  that  we  may  transmit  fully  to  others  those  qualities 
which  have  been  so  conspicuous  in  the  past.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  in 
all  the  affairs  of  life  and  business,  and  in  our  labors  for  the  uplifting  of 
humanity,  those  who  shall  come  after  us  may  rightfully  entertain  the 
same  pride  in  us  and  our  doings  that  we  entertain  in  what  has  been 
accomplished  by  those  who  have  preceded  us. 


Remarks  of  Charles  Estes. 
Mr.  President  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

Although  not  as  yet  a  member  of  this  Association,  I  am  a  Chace 
by  descent  and  can  trace  my  lineage  back  by  more  lines  than  I  can 
count  on  my  fingers.  I  thank  you,  Mr.  President,  for  the  opportunity 
of  saying  that  f  most  heartily  endorse  every  sentiment  expressed  here 
by  those  who  have  preceded  me. 


The  President  announced  that  the  sum  of  $25.88  had  been  real- 
ized from  the  collection  taken  up,  and  returned  his  thanks  for  the 
generous  response. 

The  customary  resolution  of  thanks  to  all  who  had  in  any  way 
assisted  to  make  the  occasion  such  a  marked  success  was  unanimously 
adopted;  the  audience  joined  in  singing  "America,"  and  the  bene- 
diction having  been  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Edward  A.  Chase,  the 
second  reunion  of  the  Association  was  brought  to  a  close. 

In  addition  to  the  musical  numbers  already  mentioned,  the  audi- 
ence was  further  entertained  with  a  volunteer  piano  and  mandolin 
duet  by  Miss  Olive  Bovvers  Eddy  and  Lloyd  C.  Eddy,  Jr.,  and  a  second 
saxophone  solo  by  Mr.  Kimball.  The  vocal  and  saxophone  solos  were 
accompanied  on  the  piano  by  Miss  Alice  Durgin  Chase  of  Derry,  N.  H. 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 


69 


ATTENDANCE  REGISTER. 


Mrs.  G.  F.  Albro       . 

Mrs.  Irene  A.  Albro 

Mrs.  Abbie  A.  Alger 

Mrs.  Edward  B.  Arnold     . 

Mrs.  Delia  Chace  Butler 

Mrs.  William  Anthony  Carlisle 

Alice  Durgin  Chase 

Mrs.  Amey  Chase 

Rev.  Amos  F.  Chase 

Amos  M.  Chace 

Anna  Harvey  Chace 

Anna  L.  Chase 

Arthur  Taft  Chase    . 

Mrs.  Artner  B.  Chace 

Baylies  R.  Chace 

Bertha  Allen  Chace 

Bertha  J.  Chace 

Caroline  Chase 

Celia  W.  Chace 

Mrs.  Charles  F.  Chase 

Mrs.  Charlotte  H.  Chace 

Clara  M.  Chace 

Mrs.  Daniel  B.  Chase 

Rev.  Edward  Abbott  Chase 

Emma  Esten  Chace 

Ethel  Shaw  Chase     . 

Florence  Ethel  Chace 

Frederic  A.  Chase    . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Allen  Chace 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  J.  Chase 

Geraldine  A.  Chace 

Grace  Izette  Chace 

Harriet  Rhoades  Chace 

Harry  Gray  Chase    . 

Mrs.  Harvey  N.  Chase 


Providence,  R.  I 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Dorchester,  Mass. 

Valley  Falls,  R.  I. 

Worcester,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

North  Attleboro,  Mass.- 

Providence,  R.  I. 

New  Bedford^  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

North  Attleboro,  Mass. 

East  Providence,  R.  I. 

Wollaston,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Newtonville,  Mass. 

South  Boston,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

West  Newbury,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 


7(1 


THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 


Helen  G.  Chase 

Henry  Chase 

Henry  Curtis  Chase 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herbert  F.  Chase 

Isaac  F.  Chace 

J.  Andrew  Chace 

James  F.  Chase 

Mrs.  Jane  Carr  Chace 

John  Alfred  Chase    . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  C.  Chase 

John  H.  Chase 

Jenny  Josephine  Chase 

Mrs.  Katherine  Knight  Chase 

Lavinia  Cynthia  Chase 

Lewis  Jenkins  Chace 

Lizzie  Ella  Chace 

Lydia  F.  Saunders  Chace 

Mary  Eaton  Chase 

Mary  Elizabeth  Chace 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Chace 

Mrs.  Nancy  D.  Chase 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Obadiah  Chace 

Omar  P.  Chase 

Mrs.  Oscar  F.  Chase 

Otis  Chace 

Phylander  Chase 

Reuben  A.  Chace 

Robert  Ames  Chace 

Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Chase 

Thomas  W.  Chace    . 

General  Thomas  W.  Chace 

Victoria  D.  Chase     . 

Waldo  Irving  Chase 

Walter  W.  Chase       . 

Mrs.  Ward  1).  Chase 

Mrs.  William  Chase 

Mrs.  Eliza  S.  Collins 

Mrs.  Charles  I.  Comfort    . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  J.  Cushinu 

Lloyd  C.  Eddy,  Jr. 


Providence,  R.  I. 

Watertown,  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Maiden,  Mass. 

Valley  Falls,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Nashua,  N.  H. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

Brattleboro,  Vt- 

Providence,  R.  L 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Swansea,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Brookline,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Somerset,  Mass. 

New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  1. 

Providence,  R.  1. 

Newport,  R.  I. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 


SECOND    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 


71 


Olive  Bowers  Eddy 

Mrs.  Olive  Chace  Eddy 

Cora  Eliza  Emmett 

Charles  Estes 

Mrs.  C.  W.  Fabyan 

S.  A.  Gibson    . 

Mrs.  John  W.  Greene 

Mrs.  Charles  W.  Harris 

James  M.  Kimball    . 

Mrs.  Lavinia  G.  C.  Knickerbocker 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Lindsey 

Mrs.  George  O.  Manchester 

Mrs.  Sophronia  Chace  Merrill   . 

Mrs.  George  A.  O'Neill    . 

Mrs.  I.  M.  C.  Pierce 

Mrs.  Mary  L.  C.  Smith      . 

Mrs.  Walter  N.  Smith 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  J.  Chase  Welch 

Mrs.  Abbie  Ann  White 

Mrs.  Ellen  L.  Wilson 


Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Warren,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

North  Swansea,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Woburn,  Mass. 

East  Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

South  Swansea,  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Hartford,  Conn. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Brattleboro,  Vt. 

Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


<L^&r%(T*&85*^> 


72  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 


"Well  know  we  our  birthright  may  serve  but  to  show 
How  the  meanest  of  weeds  in  the  richest  soil  grow ; 
But  we  need  not  disparage  the  good  which  we  hold  ; 
Though  the  vessels  be  earthen,  the  treasure  is  gold  ! ' 

"  Beyond  the  poet's  sweet  dream  lives 
The  eternal  epic  of  the  man. 
He  wisest  is  who  only  gives, 

True  to  himself,  the  best  he  can  ; 
Who  drifting  in  the  winds  of  praise, 
The  inward  monitor  obeys  ; 
And,  with  the  boldness  that  confesses  fear, 
Takes  in  the  crowded  sail  and  lets  his  conscience  steer." 

—  W It  it  tier. 


MAJ>4 


zS*& 


^iU^L 


THIRD 


Annual  Reunion    • 


OF 


The    Chase-Chace    Family 

Association 


THURSDAY,  SEPTEMBER  4,  1902 


AT 


Salem,  Mass. 


THE    CHASE    PRESS 
HAVERHILL,    MASSACHUSETTS 

1903 


OFFICERS  OF 

The  Chase-Chace  Family  Association. 


JOHN  C.  CHASE 


President. 


Derry,  N.  II. 


Vice-Presidents. 


WILLIAM  M.  CHASE 
CLINTON  S.  CHASE 
THOMAS  W.  CHACE 
CHARLES  ESTES 


OMAR  P.  CHASE 


FRANK  A.  CHACE 
ANDREW  J.  CHASE 
JAMES  F.  CHASE 
FREDERIC  A.  CHASE 
HARRY  G.  CHASE 


Secretary  and  Treasurer. 


Executive  Committee. 


Concord,  N.  H. 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Warren,  R.  I. 


Andover,  Mass. 


Newtonville,  Mass. 

Melrose,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Tufts  College,  Mass. 


And  the  PRESIDENT  and  SECRETARY,  ex-officio. 


Historian. 


MRS.  MARY  L.  C.  SMITH 


Hartford,  Conn. 


Reception  Committee. 

Thursday,  September  4,  J 902. 
JAMES  F.  CHASE,  Boston,  Mass. 

DR.  A.  J.  STEVENS,  Maiden,  Mass. 

HENRY  M.  CHASE.  Lawrence,  Mass. 

THOMAS  W.  CHACE,  Providence,  R.  I. 

HERBERT  F.  CHASF,  Andover,  Mass. 
MISS  CAROLYN   LOUISE  CHASE,  Derry,  N.  II. 

HARRY  G.  CHASE,  Tufts  College,  Mass. 
PERCY  CHASE,  Brookline,  Mass; 

FRANK  A.  CI  I  ACE,  Newtonville,  Mass. 

FREDERIC  A.  CHASE,  Providence,  R.  I. 

MISS  GEORGIANA.  CHASE,  Boston,  Mass. 
MRS.  M.  LESLIE  CHASE,  Andover,  Mass. 


THIRD  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


The  Chase -Chace  Family  Association. 

SALEM,  MASS.,  SEPTEMBER  4,  1902. 


The  third  annual  reunion  of  the  Chase-Chace  Family  Association 
was  held  in  the  North  Church  (Unitarian)  at  Salem,  Mass.,  Thursday, 
September  4,  1902. 

Unfortunately  the  weather  was  not  all  that  could  have  been  de- 
sired and  deterred  many  from  attending,  but  any  lack  in  numbers  was 
more  than  made  up  in  enthusiasm  and  interest. 

The  church  was  opened  at  an  early  hour,  and  the  Reception  Com- 
mittee were  soon  busily  engaged  in  welcoming,  registering  and  intro- 
ducing the  arrivals. 

After  an  hour  or  more  had  been  spent  in  the  interchange  of  greet- 
ings among  those  who  had  been  in  attendance  at  the  preceding  re- 
unions, and  the  making  of  new  acquaintances,  the  President  called  the 
meeting  to  .order  and  all  joined  in  singing  the  opening  hymn,  which 
had  been  written  for  the  occasion  by  our  kinswoman,  Mrs.  Ira  A. 
Eastman  of  Andover,  Mass.  It  was  sung  to  the  sweet  tune  of  "  Federal 
Street,"  the  best  known  work  of  the  famous  composer  of  church  music, 
Henry  Kemble  Oliver,  a  former  resident  of  Salem  and  at  one  time  its 
Mayor.  He  was  born  in  Beverly,  Mass.,  November  24,  1800,  and  died 
in  Boston  August  10,  1885,  the  tune  having  been  composed  in  1832.. 


76  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

OPENING  HYMN. 

A  gracious  gift,  an  honored  name, 

Dear  Lord,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  same  ; 

Let  us  our  grateful  voices  raise 

To  Thee,  dear  Lord,  in  tuneful  praise. 

A  gift  of  gifts,  this  lineage  old, 
More  precious  far  than  gifts  of  gold  ; 
To  God  who  made  these  lives  divine 
We  give  all  praise  —  'tis  wholly  thine. 

A  precious  gift,  these  links  that  bind 
The  lives  before  with  lives  behind, 
Uniting  both  to  God's  own  Son, 
Their  noble  life  work  ably  done. 

Then,  Father,  let  us  do  Thy  will, 
Into  our  hearts  thy  love  instill ; 
Let  us  a  nobler  life  begin 
'Till  through  the  gates  we  enter  in. 


Prayer  was  then  offered  by  the  Rev.  Piatt  N.  Chase,  Ph.  D.,  ot 
Woodstock,  New  York  : 

Our  God,  we  draw  near  to  Thee.  We  come  in  the  name  and 
through  the  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord,  and  would  join  our 
thanksgiving  with  our  petition  to  Him  who  has  created  us  and  pre- 
served us  and  redeemed  us.  We  rejoice  that  when  we  gather  at  such 
times  as  this  we  can  come  to  the  Mercy  Seat  and  can  ask  for,  and 
expect  to  receive,  the  blessings  of  our  Heavenly  Father  to  rest  upon 
us.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  past.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  present, 
and  we  rejoice  that  there  is  One  who  rules  in  Heaven  and  earth  and 
directs  the  footsteps  of  his  people.  And,  as  we  look  over  the  past  and 
study  its  history,  we  realize  that  Thy  hand  hath  guided  the  fulfilment 
of  Thy  ways. 

We  thank  "Thee,  our  Father,  for  this  Association,  into  which  these 
people  of  kindred  blood  have  banded  themselves  together  for  the 
opportunity  to  look  into  each  other's  faces  and  talk  together  of  the 
past  and  of  the  present.  We  thank  Thee  for  our  noble  ancestry.  We 
thank  Thee  that  they  have  toiled  so  well  on  the  farm  and  in  the  busy 
market  of  trade ;  that  some  have  stood  in  the  holy  places  making 
known  the  will  and  word  of  God.     And  we  pray  that  Thou  wilt  bless 


THIRD    REUNION,    PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.  77 

our  name,  and  we  pray  that  Thy  Spirit  may  call  for  any  that  may  have 
strayed  from  Thee.  We  pray  that  Thy  blessing  may  rest  upon  the 
deliberation  of  this  hour,  and  that  we  may  go  out  more  determined 
men.  We  thank  Thee,  our  Father,  that  Thou  didst  preserve  history 
and  preserve  from  sudden  death  the  life  of  our  beloved  President. 

O,  Heavenly  Father,  bless  the  members  of  this  Association  and 
bless  the  officers  of  this  Association ;  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord, 
we  ask  it.     Amen. 


The  audience  was  then  entertained  with  a  cornet  solo,  "  Robert 
II  Diavolo,"  by  Master  Alfred  W.  Banan  of  Lawrence,  Mass.,  after 
which  the  President  delivered  his  annual  address. 


ADDRESS  BY  THE  PRESIDENT. 

JOHN  C.  CHASE,  Deny,  N.  H. 


Members  of   the   Chase-Chace    Family  Association,   Kinsmen   and 

Friends  : 

For  the  third  time  I  have  the  honor  and  privilege  of  welcoming 
you  in  annual  reunion.  I  assure  you  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  see 
the  growing  interest  in  the  Association  as  evidenced  by  the  increased 
attendance  at  successive  meetings. 

Like  Newburyport,  the  place  of  our  first  reunion,  this  ancient  city 
is  of  interest  to  those  bearing  the  Chase  name,  for  it  was  here  that 
William  Chace,  the  progenitor  of  a  large  branch  of  the  family,  first  set 
foot  on  the  Western  continent  in  1630.  Unlike  Aquila,  who,  with  his 
descendants,  helped  make  the  history  of  the  locality  where  he  first 
appeared,  William  does  not  seem  to  have  been  identified  to  any  extent 
with  this  immediate  section.  A  few  years  later  the  church  records 
locate  him  at  Roxbury,  and  then  he  settled  in  Yarmouth,  from  whence 
his  descendants  have  spread  until  they  can  probably  be  found  in  every 
state  in  the  Union. 

While  it  is  naturally  expected  that  the  President  of  an  Association 
will  be  in  evidence  at  its  annual  gatherings,  it  is,  I  believe,  a  well 
settled  principle  that  he  is  a  law  unto  himself,  in  regard  to  the  amount 
of  time  he  may  appropriate.  Having  already  put  myself  on  record  as 
believing  that  these  reunions  should  be  largely  of  a  social  nature,  I  am 


78  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

not  intending  to  do  anything  today  that  will  convey  the  idea  that  I  do 
not,  in  a  moderate  way,  practice  what  I  preach. 

It  is  particularly  easy  to  "temper  justice  with  mercy"  at  this  time, 
for  we  are  favored  with  the  presence  of  a  noted  member  of  the  family, 
the  title  of  whose  address  promises  entertainment  and  instruction.  It 
is,  perhaps,  not  inappropriate  at  this  time  to  give  a  little  matter  of 
interest  in  connection  with  one  of  the  subjects  of  his  address,  Bishop 
Philander  Chase. 

Visiting  the  churchyard  of  old  St.  Michaels'  in  Charleston,  S.  C, 
some  years  ago,  I  discovered  a  tablet  erected  against  the  rear  of  the 
church,  which  contained  the  following  inscription  : 

Sacred  to  the  Memory 

of 

The  Rev.  Philander  Chase  Junior, 

Who  departed  this  life  in  this  City  of  Charleston,  S.  C. 

On  the  First  day  of  March  a.  d.  1824  je.  24. 

The  Sermon  at  his  Funeral,  Preached  by  his  Friend 

The  Rev.  Edward  Rutledge, 

Was  reprinted  in  England  and  instrumental 

In  turning  many  to  righteousness  : 

"  Some  glorify  God  by  their  lives 

He  by  his  death." 

His  Father,  once  of  Ohio, 

Now  the  Bishop  of  Illinois, 

Visiting  this  City  in  Feb.  1840, 

Caused  this  Stone  to  be  erected 

In  testimony  of  his  never  dying  love 

To  his  deceased  Son, 

And  of  his  gratitude  to  all  who 

By  their  Christian  Hospitality 

And  kindness 

Alleviated  his  sufferings  and  by 

Their  sympathy  and  prayers 

Smoothed  his  dying  pillow. 

Correspondence  with  inquiring  members  of  the  family  and  others 

interested  has  been  quite  extensive  the  past  year,  indicating  extending 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  79 

knowledge  of  the  Association  and  its  aims.  I  am  pleased  to  report 
that  there  appears  to  be  a  dying  interest  in  the  "Chase  Fortune,"  so 
called.  Possibly  my  immunity  from  inquiry  may  be  on  account  of  my 
well  known  non-belief  in  any  legitimate  foundation  for  the  chimera. 

Information  is  frequently  sought  in  relation  to  the  true  coat  of 
arms  of  one  or  the  other  Chase  lines.  To  such  queries  I  am  obliged 
to  reply  that,  excepting  the  Maryland  branch  of  the  family,  I  doubt  if 
any  of  the  name  in  this  country  are  entitled  to  the  use  of  such  device, 
basing  such  opinion  on  the  broad  ground  that,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
the  English  connection  of  William  Chace  and  the  brothers  Thomas 
and  Aquila  has  not  been  proven.  I  am  aware  that  there  are  in  print 
numerous  personal  biographies  giving  a  connected  line  in  detail  three 
generations  prior  to  the  first  appearance  of  Chases  in  Massachusetts, 
but  it  lacks  the  endorsement  of  genealogists  of  standing  who  have 
given  much  attention  to  the  subject. 

In  common  with  many  who  are  content  with  being  Americans 
first  of  all,  I  regret  the  growing  and  un-republican  tendency  of  the 
present  age  in  this  respect,  and  endorse  the  following  extract  from  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Heraldry  of  the  New  England  Historic- 
Genealogical  Society  : 

"  Not  for  one  hundred  years  past  has  there  been  a  time  when  false 
coats-of-arms  have  been  so  shamelessly  displayed  as  at  present.  The 
Committee  recommends  that  all  Americans  refuse  to  display  coats-of- 
arms,  whether  they  (the  Americans)  are  descendants  of  families  once 
entitled  to  bear  them  or  not,  since  the  Republic  provides  no  laws  to 
regulate  their  use,  and  an  indiscriminate  indulgence  of  the  fad  only 
serves  to  bring  the  whole  science  of  heraldry  into  contempt." 

Commenting  upon  this  report,  one  of  the  Boston  daily  papers  said  : 

"  Bravely  and  wisely  spoken.  It  describes  one  of  the  most  laugh- 
able exotics  in  this  democratic  garden  of  ours.  To  judge  by  all  we 
hear  of  coats-of-arms,  every  butcher,  baker  and  candlestick  maker  of  a 
few  generations  back  wore  some  honorable  device.  However,  we  read 
in  history  that  most  of  the  American  colonists,  especially  north  of 
Maryland,  were  people  of  the  unadorned  middle  class.  For  their 
independence  and  enterprise  in  the  circumstances,  historians  have 
praised  those  colonists.  How  inconsistent  with  this  praise  is  the  style 
of  digging  into  antiquity  for  armorial  bearings. 


80  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY   ASSOCIATION. 

"Some  men  of  this  country  are  unquestionably  privileged  to  dis- 
play coats-of-arms.  They  are  men  of  noble  lineage  —  men  whose  an- 
cestors romped  from  their  castles  at  the  head  of  knights  and  hangers- 
on,  men  who  can  open  an  encyclopaedia  and  say,  with  swelling  chests  : 
'See  those  shining  names  ;  who  wouldn't  be  proud  of  them?'  Respect- 
fully you  look.  'What  !  Is  this  Count  Pompom?  And  this  the  Duke 
of  Ipecac?  My  !  Glad  to  'meet  you  !  Have  a  glass  of  soda,  won't 
you?'  You  have  seen  the  faces  before.  Why,  of  course  !  The  Count 
has  shouldered  your  trunk  and  the  Duke  has  served  your  soup  and 
health  bread.  The  demand  for  tips  may  sometimes  be  found  to  be  a 
privilege  inherited  from  the  Robber  Barons." 

Since  our  last  reunion  four  of  our  members  have  gone 

"beneath  the  low  green  tent 
Whose  curtain  never  outward  swings," 

and  it  is  fitting  that  we  should  tarry  for  a  time  to  pay  a  proper  tribute 
of  respect  to  their  memory. 

Clinton  S.  Chase,  a  descendant  of  Aquila  through  his  son  Daniel, 
was  born  in  Springfield,  Vermont,  May  25,  1831,  and  died  in  Detroit, 
Michigan,  December  15,  1901.  He  was  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents 
of  our  Association,  and  those  who  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  at 
the  reunion  in  Newburyport  will  ever  cherish  the  memory  of  a  digni- 
fied, yet  genial  and  cultured  gentleman. 

George  Bigelow  Chase,  of  the  line  of  Aquila,  son  of  Aquila,  was 
born  in  Boston  October  1,  1835,  and  graduated  from  Harvard  College 
in  1856.  He  became  interested  in  genealogical  research  at  an  early 
age,  and  a  memoir  from  his  pen,  published  in  the  Heraldic  Journal 
and  later  reprinted  in  pamphlet  form,  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the 
family  history.  He  spent  several  seasons  in  England,  and  was  prob- 
ably better  posted  than  anyone  else  in  regard  to  our  English  progeni- 
tors. He  acquired  a  large  amount  of  genealogical  material  relating  to 
the  family,  by  collection  and  purchase,  and  expected  to  publish  the 
result  of  his  labors,  but  impaired  health  and  means  compelled  the 
relinquishment  of  his  purpose,  and  his  large  collection  was  deposited 
with  the  New  England  Historic-Genealogical  Society,  of  which  he  was 
a  life  member,  and  has  become  its  property  through  decease  of  the 
donor.  He  also  compiled  and  published  a  genealogy  of  the  Lowndes' 
family  of  South  Carolina.  He  married  Miss  Anne  Lowndes  of  South 
Carolina  in  1860,  who,  with  a  son  and  daughter,  mourn  his  decease,  at 
Dedham,  Mass.,  June  2,  1902. 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  81 

Stephen  F.  Chace,  of  the  line  of  William,  was  born  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  in  the  year  1844.  He  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  in  the  furniture  business,  but 
of  recent  years  has  been  interested  in  real  estate.  He  had  been  in 
poor  health  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  September,  1901,  he  gave 
up  active  business.  During  the  following  months  he  grew  perceptibly 
weaker  until  he  passed  to  the  better  life,  March  10,  1902,  after  a  few 
days  of  intense  suffering.  Much  to  his  regret,  absence  from  home  on 
account  of  his  health  prevented  his  attending  the  reunion  held  in  his 
city  one  year  ago.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Central  Baptist  Church 
and  had  been  prominently  identified  with  several  fraternal  societies, 
and  was  highly  respected  in  friendship  and  business.  He  married  Miss 
Susan  C.  Weld,  of  New  York  City,  who,  with  a  son,  survive. 

Russell  S.  Taft,  of  the  line  of  Moses,  son  of  Aquila,  was  born  in 
Williston,  Vermont,  January  28,  1835,  and  died  in  Burlington  March  22, 
1902,  after  a  brief  illness  preceded  by  a  year  of  ill  health.  He  had 
been  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Vermont  since  1899.  He 
was  in  full  accord  with  the  objects  for  which  this  Association  was 
formed,  and  served  on  its  executive  committee,  declining  further  offi- 
cial connection  on  account  of  the  pressure  of  other  duties,  and  in  his 
decease  we  have  lost  a  valued  and  valuable  member.  He  was  an 
earnest  and  indefatigable  worker,  it  being  stated  that  no  court  had 
ever  adjourned  its  session  by  reason  of  his  absence,  and  that  he  had 
never  missed  a  case  in  his  Supreme  Court  work.  An  honorable  and 
useful  life,  rounding  out  a  typical  American  career,  is  the  heritage  left 
his  widow  and  son. 

I  regret  that  the  lack  of  information  and  limitation  of  time  do  not 
admit  of  more  extended  mention  of  our  kinsmen,  and  trust  that  appro- 
priate memoirs  embellished  with  portraits  may  appear  in  our  printed 
proceedings. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  attention 
given  me  on  this  and  former  occasions,  and  for  the  honor  of  being 
continued  at  the  head  of  the  Association  for  these  many  years,  and  let 
me  express  the  hope  that  my  successor  may  have  your  hearty  coopera- 
tion in  furthering  the  objects  for  which  our  Association  was  formed. 


The  Rev.  Arthur  Chase  of  Ware,  Mass.,  was  presented  with  some 
appropriate  words  of  welcome  and  introduction  and  delivered  the  fol- 
lowing address,  which  was  listened  to  with  great  interest : 


82  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    VSSOCIATION. 


TWO  PIONEER  BISHOPS. 

REV.  ARTHUR  CHASE. 


When  Aquila  Chase,  together  with  his  wife,  soon  alter  their  arrival 
upon  this  soil  from  the  Mother  Country,  were  arrested  and  haled  before 
the  magistrate  for  picking  pease  on  Sunday,  the  scene  and  conversation 
might  have  been  somewhat  after  this  sort. 

There  was  the  magistrate,  with  beetling  brows  and  firm,  puritanical 
jaw,  stern,  with  the  responsibility  of  the  law  resting  upon  him,  and  the 
culprit,  with  strong,  large-featured  face  (such  as  so  many  of  his  family- 
have  worn),  pleasant  blue  eyes,  chin  clean  cut  and  honest,  indented 
with  the  Chase  dimple,  that  gives  it  kindly  expression,  and  hair  light 
rather  than  dark. 

The  magistrate  speak>  : 

"The  crime  is  against  the  law  of  the  land  and  the  law  of  Cod. 
The  punishment  of  such  is  severe." 

"May  it  please  your  worship,  we  be  so  lately  come  that  we  know 
not  the  laws  of  the  land.  As  for  the  law  of  God,  our  vicar  at  home 
never  said  to  pick  pease  on  Sunday  were  a  sin,  nor  did  we  so  learn  in 
the  Catechism." 

"Vicar!  Catechism!  This  be  no  priest-ridden  country!  No 
Lord  Bishop  drives  his  coach  and  six  over  this  soil  !  And  if  I  find 
among  thy  goods  a  Catechism  or  a  Prayer  Hook  or  any  other  idolatrous 
and  blasphemous  writing,  thy  ears  shall  be  cropped.  Thou  art  fined 
twenty  shillings.  Wert  thou  longer  upon  this  free  soil,  the  better  to 
know  the  law,  I'd  fine  thee  forty,  and  clap  thee  in  the  stocks." 

"God  fend  me  from  so  grim  a  godliness,"  said  our  amazed  an- 
cestor as  he  walked  slowly  away  with  his  wife.  "Methinks  1  could 
swallow  the  Bishop  and  his  coach,  his  mitre,  his  staff  and  his  palai  < 
better  than  yon  puritanic  scowler.     They'd  sit  easier  on  my  stomach  ! 

Had  Aquila  Chase  dreamed  that  night  that  two  of  his  own  direct 
descendants  would  become  bishops,  and  then,  remembering  the  grand 
state  in  which  he  had  seen  their  lordships  in  the  old  country,  had 
dreamed  further  that  the  Chase  bishops  would  have  neither  lands  nor 
titles,  chariots  nor  livery,  wigs  nor  gaiters,  nor  plate'  nor  mahogany,  he 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  83 

would  have  writhed  and  groaned  in  his  sleep  until  our  very  great- 
grandmother,  with  her  nightcap  awry,  had  pummeled  him  into  wake- 
fulness, declaring  that  those  pease  he  had  eaten  were  surely  bewitched 
and  accursed,  for  the  devil  had  been  riding  him  like  a  hobbyhorse  all 
night  long. 

For  four  generations,  without  a  single  exception  so  far  as  I  know, 
the  Chases  all  conformed  to  the  Church  which  was  planted  by  the 
Puritans  on  the  rocky  soil  of  New  England.  It  was  hardly  respectable 
to  be  anything  but  Calvinistic  in  doctrine  and  Congregational  in  polity. 
Or  if  in  some  cases  it  was  respectable,  it  certainly  was  not  comfortable. 
The  Church  of  England  seemed  to  stand  for  all  that  the  settlers  had 
fled  from  in  their  old  homes.  Nor  did  Governor  Andros,  with  his 
arrogant  ways,  tend  to  make  the  established  church  any  more  popular. 
William  Blaxton,  a  quiet  English  clergyman,  whose  farm  included  Bos- 
ton Common,  was  fain  to  move  on  to  the  less-bigoted  neighborhood 
of  Rhode  Island  ;  while  the  revellers  of  Merrymount  were  tormented 
for  their  prayer  books  no  less  than  for  their  May-poles,  their  dances 
and  their  Christmases. 

About  the  year  1763,  a  God-fearing  farmer  named  Dudley  Chase, 
of  the  fourth  generation  of  his  family  in  Massachusetts,  moved  with  his 
wife  Alice  and  their  seven  children  into  the  forest  primeval  of  Cornish, 
New  Hampshire.  Indians  were  to  be  met  there  in  every  direction. 
The  great  missionary  school  to  the  red  men,  founded  by  the  Earl  of 
Dartmouth,  was  a  few  miles  to  the  north.  The  log  walls  of  the  rude 
<  abin  that  housed  the  growing  Chase  family  were  raised  in  a  single 
day.  Seven  more  children  were  added  to  the  household  in  Cornish. 
The  youngest  of  them  all,  Philander,  was  born  on  the  fourteenth  of 
December  in  the  eventful  year  17  75. 

Philander  was  a  boy  of  the  woods  and  of  the  wilderness.  He 
loved,  as  his  entire  life  proved,  great  stretches  of  meadow  and  moun- 
tain, the  roughness  of  the  pioneer  life.  His  parents  desired  to  devote 
him,  their  little  Benjamin,  to  the  ministry  of  the  only  Church  they 
knew — the  Congregational.  It  appears  that  he  was  not  particularly 
drawn  to  the  career  laid  out  for  him.  He  may  not  have  been  espe- 
cially fond  of  books,  for  though  he  was  prepared  for  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, it  was  not  until  his  sixteenth  year,  an  age  at  which  in  those 
days  many  students  were  preparing  to  graduate.  I  fancy  he  loved  the 
woods  and  the  farm  better. 

It  is  strange  how  careless  the  bluest  of  the  Congregationalists 
were  about  the  books  that  found  lodgement  in  their  college  libraries. 


84  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

Yale  University  had  a  terrible  misfortune  somewhat  earlier  than  this, 
when  her  President,  Dr.  Timothy  Cutler,  and  three  professors  were 
converted  at  one  fell  swoop  to  the  Episcopal  Church  by  reading  an 
English  prayer  book  which  they  found  on  one  of  the  library  shelves. 
Like  carelessness  there  was  at  the  Dartmouth  library.  One  day  during 
his  Sophomore  year,  Philander  discovered  a  dusty  little  volume  on  a 
top  shelf,  which  he  opened  from  curiosity.  He  took  it  to  his  room  ; 
he  read  it ;  he  studied  it.  It  effected  in  him  what  his  parents  had 
been  unable  to  effect.  Now  he  would  enter  the  ministry  ;  but  not  the 
Congregational.  So  great  was  his  enthusiasm  and  so  contagious  that 
he  not  only  won  their  permission  to  enter  the  ministry  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  but  he  won  them  over  to  membership  in  the  same 
church.  His  aim  in  life  was  now  clear.  In  due  time  he  graduated 
from  Dartmouth,  and  in  the  following  year,  being  twenty-one  years  old, 
he  did  the  sensible,  old-fashioned  thing  —  got  married. 

It  seems  to  have  been  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  that  Philander 
formally  connected  himself  with  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  there  first 
received  the  communion  from  the  hands  of  Rev.  Bethuel  Chittenden, 
a  man  who  at  forty-nine  years  of  age,  and  at  great  pecuniary  sacrifice, 
had  entered  the  ministry. 

There  being  no  theological  seminaries  in  those  days,  Philander 
went  to  Albany  to  read  divinity  with  an  English  clergyman  who  was 
settled  there.     Already  his  face  was  set  toward  the  West. 

After  two  years,  in  1798,  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Provost, 
whereupon  (a  type  of  his  whole  life)  he  turned  into  the  wilderness  on 
a  missionary  tour  in  the  wild  regions  of  northwestern  New  York.  He 
visited  Indian  settlements  and  organized  parishes  —  one  at  Utica,  then 
a  rough  frontier  town  with  stumps  of  trees  still  in  the  streets.  After 
the  trip  was  over  he  settled  down  in  a  parish  for  a  few  years,  only 
to  rush  off  in  1805  to  New  Orleans,  where  there  was  much  chaotic 
material  for  a  church  and  parish,  needing  a  strong  man  to  bring 
strength  and  order  out  of  chaos.  To  eke  out  his  salary,  Chase  founded 
a  school  at  New  Orleans,  as  he  had  done  before  at  Poughkeepsie,  and 
as  he  kept  on  doing  wherever  he  tarried  for  any  length  of  time.  We 
cannot  too  much  emphasize  this  educational  element  of  Philander 
Chase's  life.  He  has  been  called  "the  great  Christian  educator  of 
the  frontier."  He  knew  what  college  had  done  for  him,  how  it  had 
opened  his  eyes  and  expanded  his  mind.  He  believed  in  meeting 
infidelity  with  sound  learning.  He  was  persuaded  of  the  prime  im- 
portance of  Christian   education  under   the   auspices  of   the  church. 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  85 

The  more   he  saw  of  frontier  conditions  the  more  was  he  persuaded 
that  they  were  to  be  bettered  only  through  institutions  of  learning. 

He  left  his  school  and  parish  in  New  Orleans  in  1811,  and  re- 
turned North  to  educate  his  growing  boys.  He  accepted  a  call  to 
Christ  Church,  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  sent  his  sons  to  the  Acad- 
emy at  Cheshire.  These  were  his  peaceful  years.  The  story  is  told 
of  how  he  kept  a  powerful  sermon,  setting  forth  the  advantages  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  as  contrasted  with  the  Congregational,  under  his 
pulpit-cushion,  and  any  Sunday  when  he  saw  a  particularly  large  num- 
ber of  Congregationalists  in  the  pews  he  pulled  it  out  and  fired  it  at 
them  like  a  volley  of  musketry. 

But  he  could  not  long  rest  content  amid  so  much  civilization. 
His  children  no  longer  needing  his  parental  care,  he  resigned  his 
charge,  and  without  prospect  of  support,  with  only  the  inward  call 
of  Cod  influencing  him,  he  started  for  the  wilderness,  and  in  1817 
preached  his  first  sermon  beyond  the  Alleghanies  in  the  territory  of 
Ohio.  Wherever  he  went  he  gathered  the  people  together  and  organ- 
ized parishes.  In  Cincinnati  one  of  those  interested  by  him  was  Cen- 
eral  Benjamin  Harrison,  father  of  a  president  and  great-grandfather  of 
another. 

Only  three  months  after  his  arrival  in  Ohio,  Chase  was  appointed 
principal  of  a  small  academy  at  Worthington,  and  he  characteristically 
bought  a  farm  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  But  he  was  not  still.  At 
leisure  times  he  made  missionary  tours,  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
territory  and  the  settlers.  He  was  so  able  and  prominent  in  organiz- 
ing Ohio  into  a  diocese  that  when  that  was  accomplished  and  a  con- 
vention was  held,  consisting  of  three  clergy  and  representatives  of 
ten  parishes,  for  the  election  of  a  Bishop  in  June,  1818,  he  was,  as  he 
relates  in  his  "  Reminiscences,"  "unanimously  elected."  The  query 
has  been  raised,  more  in  fun  than  in  spite,  whether  he  had  voted  for 
himself.      Let  us  not  be  unduly  impertinent  in  our  inquiry. 

The  seeming  restlessness  that  had  marked  Philander  Chase's  life 
not  unnaturally  aroused  suspicions  and  questionings.  For  a  middle- 
aged  man  to  have  lived  in  so  many  different  states  was  in  itself  a  justi- 
fication of  careful  investigation  into  his  character.  Was  he  a  fit  man 
to  receive  the  office  of  Bishop?  His  whole  career  was  passed  in  re- 
view. Investigations  were  instituted  in  every  place  where  he  had 
lived,  and  his  character  was  found  to  be  spotless.  In  1819  he  was 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Ohio. 


86  THl  IATION. 

Besides  the  care  oi  his  huge  diocese,  from  which  he  received 
no  salary,  he  took  the  oversight  of  three  parishes,  drawing  his  main 
support  at  the  same  time  from  his  farm,  lie  cut  wood,  built  fins, 
and  fed  his  live  stock  with  his  own  hands.  Wigs  and  coaches  and 
cathedrals  did  not  enter  into  consideration.  In  a  very  few  yi 
he  matured  plans  for  an  institution  of  learning.  He  felt  if  he  were 
to  have  clergy  he  must  make  them,  by  education  and  training,  out  of 
the  raw  material.  There  were  only  three  or  four  in  his  whole  jurisdic- 
tion, and  of  these,  two  abandoned  the  ministry,  to  the  ministry's  no 
small  advantage!  His  own  son,  just  graduated  from  Harvard,  on 
whose  help  he  depended,  died.  But  where  to  get  money  for  founding 
his  college?  It  was  not  forthcoming  in  America,  and  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  begging  it  in  England.  Insane  notion  !  Why,  the  war  of 
1812  was  but  just  over.  Its  bitterness  had  not  died  out.  Most  of  his 
friends  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  his  more  than  foolish  scheme,  but 
he  persevered  with  true  Chase  determination,  and  sailed  for  England 
in  1823,  without  money  enough  in  his  pocket  to  pay  his  passage  home 
if  he  failed.  He  knew  no  one,  and  had  few  letters  of  introduction. 
Then  it  was  that  his  unique  personality  manifested  itself.  No  bishop 
like  him  had  ever  been  seen  or  heard  of  in  the  Old  World  —  a  rug 
frontiersman  with  superb  mind.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  he  became 
the  fashion.  The  English  fell  over  themselves  to  do  him  honor,  and 
to  fill  his  pockets  with  money.  He  returned  home  with  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  dollars,  equivalent  to  many  times  that  sum 
in  purchasing  power  today. 

The   Bishop   found   himself   in   hot  water  when   he   proceeded  to 
select  a  site  for  his  new  institution.      No  one  in  Ohio  was  much  inter- 
ested unless  it  should  be  located  so  as  to  enhance  the  value  of  their 
particular  property.      And  his  idea  was  to  [dace   it  far  from  any  town. 
with    its   distractions    and    temptations.      It   was    unfortunate    that   he 
produced  an   impression  of  arbitrariness.      Men  of  his  stamp  are  not 
always  tactful.      He  was  outspoken  about  local  policy,  with  its  "selfish, 
mercenary  spirit."      At  last  he  secured  lands, —  eight  thousand  acres,— 
and  in  the  summer  of  1826  went  into  camp  with  his  family  on  Gambier 
hill,  and  in  the  following  year  laid  the   corner  stone  of   Kenyon  Col 
lege.      Bulfinch  was  the   architect,  and  a  stately  pile  of  masonry,  with 
walls  four  feet  thick,  rose  in  the  midst  of  the  forest  primeval,  its  cen 
tral  cupola  towering  above  the  tops  of  the  loftiest  tn  ■ 

The  rising  walls  appeared  so  thick  and  formidable  that  the  sus 
picion  arose  that  he  was  building  a  fort  with   British  gold,  and  that  the 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  87 

Bishop  was  a  base  intriguer,  aiming  to  reduce  the  country  again  to 
subjection  to  the  British  crown  !  Well,  the  college  opened  and  the 
students  poured  in.  They  supported  themselves  in  great  measure  by 
working  upon  the  college  farm.  Those  who  were  looking  toward  the 
ministry  gave  their  spare  time,  and  particularly  their  Sundays,  to  evan- 
gelical work  in  the  surrounding  country. 

Rising  early,  the  student  would  start  out  with  a  book  or  two,  and 
pass  beneath  the  lofty  trees  toward  some  log-house  half  a  dozen  miles 
away.  Unless  he  was  sure  of  his  route  and  his  welcome,  he  carried  a 
luncheon  in  his  pocket.  The  cabin  reached,  he  gathered  the  children 
and  gave  them  an  hour's  instruction,  then  proceeding  on  his  way. 
Reaching  a  group  of  homes,  near  a  mill,  perhaps,  he  proceeded  to  col- 
lect the  people  young  and  old.  A  familiar  hymn  was  sung.  Parts  of 
the  church  service  were  said  from  memory  (never  under  such  primi- 
tive conditions  "by  the  book"),  and  an  informal  talk  or  address  was 
given.  And  so  the  day  was  spent.  On  pleasant  days  the  services 
were  held  in  the  open  air.  A  description  is  extant  of  a  communion 
service  in  a  beautiful  orchard  at  blossoming  time.  The  white  of  the 
apples  mingled  with  the  pink  of  the  peaches.  The  hum  of  the  bees 
was  the  only  organ-tone,  the  birds  the  only  choir.  A  table  was  placed 
for  the  communion,  covered  with  a  snowy  cloth,  upon  the  green  grass. 
It  was  almost  like  a  vision  out  of  the  Apocalypse. 

But  all  was  not  smooth  and  easy.  Far  from  it.  Bishop  Chase 
liked  his  own  way  (who  does  n't?)  He  had  disagreements  with  nearly 
every  prominent  man  in  his  diocese.  He  became  involved  financially. 
He  quarreled  with  the  faculty  of  his  college,  claiming  the  right  to  veto 
any  action  of  theirs.  The  faculty  appealed  to  the  convention  of  the 
diocese,  the  members  of  which  wer,e  more  reasonable  than  kind,  and 
they  failed  to  support  their  Bishop.  In  a  frenzy  of  chagrin  and  regret 
he  resigned  both  the  presidency  of  his  college  and  his  diocese.  He 
wound  up  his  affairs  and  tied  away  from  so  much  civilization,  buying  a 
tract  of  land  in  Michigan.  Once  more  a  log  hut  in  the  woods  becomes 
an  "Episcopal  palace." 

The  law  of  the  Episcopal  Church  respecting  bishops  is  somewhat 
peculiar.  The  bishop  is  consecrated  for  a  particular  diocese,  and  he 
may  not,  under  any  circumstances,  leave  that  diocese  for  another  more 
congenial.  A  "Missionary  bishop,"  in  a  technical  sense,  may  be  called 
to  a  settled  diocese,  but  any  other,  if  he  resigns  his  jurisdiction,  retires 
from  public  life  perforce. 


88  THE    CHASE-CHACK    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

Philander  Chase  was  too  forceful  an  individual  to  drop  into  a  hole 
or  retire  into  a  shell.  The  church  at  large  was  in  a  quandary  as  to 
what  should  be  done  with  him.  He  was  as  active  and  energetic  as 
ever,  away  off  there  in  the  northwest.  The  perplexity  was  solved 
when,  in  1835,  a  handful  of  clergy  and  delegates  in  convention  at 
Peoria  chose  him  for  Bishop  of  Illinois.  He  accepted  as  providential 
the  unexpected  call,  though  his  new  diocese  contained  but  one  church 
building.     But  it  was  the  sort  of  a  diocese  he  loved  to  work  in. 

The  loss  of  Kenyon  College, —  that  child  of  his  love,  his  labor, 
and  his  determination  (I  was  about  to  say  his  "patience,"  but  fear  he 
had  given  it  too  little  of  that), —  must  have  been  a  sad  blow;  but  it 
was  a  loss  he  determined  to  make  good.  A  new  college  he'  would 
found,  five  hundred  miles  west  of  Kenyon.  Off  he  started,  in  the 
beginning  of  his  declining  years,  to  England,  again  to  solicit  funds. 
It  was  not  so  easy  this  time.  He  could  not  arouse  the  enthusiasm  he 
did  on  his  first  trip  ;  yet  he  was  not  unsuccessful.  He  came  home 
with  pledges  amounting  to  ten  thousand  dollars.  It  is  hardly  worth 
while  to  go  into  details  regarding  this  part  of  Philander  Chase's  life, 
or  to  tell  how  he  founded  Jubilee  College.  He  met  with  the  same 
difficulties  that  he  had  encountered  years  before  in  Ohio.  He  found 
"individual  cupidity,"  as  he  expressed  it,  in  conflict  with  and  defeat- 
ing "public  utility."  While  visiting  New  Orleans  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  subscriptions,  it  is  amusing  to  note  that  he  collected  the  arrears 
of  his  salary,  thirty  years  old,  due  him  when  he  resigned  the  rectorship 
to  go  to  Hartford. 

Frontier  conditions  never  fail  to  be  interesting,  though  they  are 
not  so  attractive  to  us  in  our  comfortable  New  England  homes  in 
practice  as  in  idea.  It  was  the  log-cabin  age.  The  ends  of  the  logs 
were  notched,  and  dovetailed  at  the  corners  of  the  house.  All  crev- 
ices were  chinked  with  clay.  The  chimney  was  placed  at  one  end. 
Windows  were  not  always  glazed,  but  were  closed  in  cold  weather  with 
board  shutters.  The  cabin  ordinarily  consisted  of  a  single  room  below 
and  a  rickety  loft  above.  It  was  a  grand  house  that  could  boast  two 
rooms  on  the  ground  floor. 

But  travelers  and  visitors  were  not  turned  away.  There  was 
plenty  of  such  cheer  as  could  be  had.  Corn  bread,  pork  and  chickens 
formed  the  staple  fare.  Pine  knots  and  tallow  candles,  together  with 
the  logs  in  the  fireplace,  gave  light  in  the  evening.  When  time  came 
to  retire,  modest  men-folks  would  step  outside  to  study  the  signs  of 
the  weather  and  the  prospect  for  tomorrow. 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  89 

All  sorts  of  eccentric  characters  were  about.  Religious  vagaries 
were  common,  from  the  ghastly,  hysterical,  "holy  laugh"  of  the  perfec- 
tionists to  the  polygamy  of  Mormonism.  Noise  was  in  many  minds 
synonymous  with  religion. 

Travel  was  on  horseback  or  in  clumsy,  lumbering  coaches  which 
jeopardized  the  lives  of  the  passengers.  Both  the  bishops,  our  kins- 
men, of  whom  I  speak  today,  suffered  serious  accidents.  Philander 
was  upset,  and  had  several  ribs  broken. 

Cloth  leggings  and  Buffalo-skin  moccasins  worn  over  heavy  boots, 
a  Buffalo-skin  great-coat,  and  cap  of  rabbit  or  coon  skin  pulled  well 
down  over  the  ears,  constituted  the  ordinary  winter  traveling  costume 
for  bishop  as  well  as  layman. 

Bishop  Chase  never  failed  of  finding  a  welcome  on  his  long,  hard 
trips,  at  the  very  humblest  cabins.  The  people  were  in  the  struggle 
of  making  a  beginning,  wresting  a  subsistence  for  their  families  from 
untamed  nature.  In  such  a  situation,  as  the  Bishop  firmly  held,  the 
duty  of  the  minister  was  to  go  and  seek  without  waiting  for  call  or 
salary.  He  was  a  true  Evangelical,  both  in  theology  and  in  practice. 
There  was  little  financial  support  to  be  had,  but  a  genuine  clergyman, 
a  man  known  to  be  godly,  and  not  an  impostor,  could  travel  upon  his 
sacred  business  for  weeks,  going  hundreds  of  miles,  without  its  costing 
him  one  single  penny. 

There  was  little  or  no  respect  for  titles  or  dignity ;  but  usefulness 
and  sterling  worth  were  valued  as  always.  But  even  when  the  West- 
erners began  to  make  money,  they  cared  little  about  spending  it  upon 
religion.  They  hired  their  pastors,  and  expected  them  to  be  popular 
or  get  out. 

Bishop  Chase  singled  out  wealth  as  the  popular  idol,  and  covet- 
ousness  as  the  besetting  sin  of  the  West.  "Yet  all,"  he  said,  "are 
very  jealous  of  the  affections  of  the  clergy  in  this  respect,  and  fain  will 
starve  their  bodies  to  save  their  souls." 

The  instability  of  the  population  was  a  great  drawback  to  effective 
work.  People  were  on  the  move,  drifting  from  one  place  to  another, 
forming  no  permanent  attachments.  It  has  been  often  noted  that 
people  who  go  to  church  regularly  at  home  from  force  of  habit,  attend 
but  seldom  when  the  home  influences  are  removed.  In  Chicago,  it 
was  said,  a  minister  was  pastor  of  a  procession. 

Philander  Chase,  by  the  time  Jubilee  College  was  in  running 
order,  was  getting  to  be  an  old  man.  After  but  ten  years  in  Illinois, 
he   had   the   pleasure   of  reporting  a  clergy-list  of  more   than    twenty 


"ii  THE    CHASE-CHACE    KAMII.N     ASSOCIATION. 

names,  and  he  was  training  men  under  his  own  eyes  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible.     By  L847  he  was  so  infirm  that  he  preached  seated   in  a  chair. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  was  bent  with  troubles,  physi- 
cal infirmity  and  financial  losses  connected  with  Jubilee.  A  flaw  in 
the  title  to  the  property  caused  no  end  of  trouble  and  expense.  He 
needed  an  assistant,  and  the  right  man  was  slow  in  turning  up.  The 
old  bickerings  were  renewed,  and  the  old  charges  of  arrogancy  and 
self-will.  It  is  not  likely  that  he  grew  any  more  yielding  as  his  sun 
went  down.  When  death  finally  came  it  cleared  the  vision  even  of  his 
enemies,  enabling  them  at  last  to  behold  him  in  his  historical  setting. 
He  died  in  September,  just  lift)  years  ago  this  very  month,  leaving  an 
imperishable  name  alongside  the  names  of  Kemper  and  Muhlenberg 
in  the  annals  of  American  Christianity. 

The  body  of  the  old  hero  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  burying  ground 
of  his  beloved  Jubilee,  and  upon  the  monument  that  marks  his  grave 
is  carved  a  great  cross,  and  the  motto  of  his  life  —  "Jehovah  Jireh" 
("The  Lord  will  provide"). 

My  very  earliest  recollection  is  of  being  led  by  the  hand  —  a  little 
child  between  two  and  three  years  of  age  —  to  my  grandfather's  study. 
Voices  were  hushed.  A  solemnity,  so  impressive  to  childhood,  filled 
me  with  awe.  Upon  the  great  study  table,  which  Carlton  Chase  him- 
self had  made  years  before,  rested  a  long  black  box.  That  box  was  a 
coffin,  and  in  it  lay  the  mortal  remains  of  the  first  Bishop  of  New 
I  Hampshire. 

My  recently  deceased  uncle,  Frederick  Carlton  Chase,  used  to 
relate  that  when  he  resided  in  Washington  he  was  several  times  intro- 
duced  as  "the  eldest  son  of  the  late  Bishop  Chase."  "Ah!"  came 
the  interested  reply:  "Of  the  great  Bishop  Chase!"  Whereupon, 
feeling  that  his  game  was  up,  he  desperately  exclaimed,  "No,  my 
father  was  the  Bishop  of  New  Hampshire 

But  though  in  ancient  days  Moses  blessed  Cod  for  the  precious 
things  put  forth  by  the  sun,  he  thanked  him  also  for  the  precious 
things  given  by  the  moon.  And  it  Philander  was  the  greater  light, 
Carlton  by  no  means  lacked  distinction.  And  his  light  was  his  own  — 
not  reflected  from  his  more  celebrated  cousin. 

Aquila  Chase's  grandson,  who  was  Carlton  Chase's  great  grand- 
father, settled  at  an  early  date  in  our  colonial  history  at  Concord,  New 
Hampshire.  His  son  Jonathan  married  and  moved  on  to  ;i  farm  in 
tin:  neighboring  town  of  Hopkinton.  Here  his  children  were  born, 
and  here  Charles,  his  son,  lived  upon  the  family  estate.      He  married 


IHIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  91 

Sarah  Currier,  and   their  oldest  son,  Carlton,  was   born   in   February 
1794.      As   the   homestead  was  afterwards  purchased  by  the  town  for 
use  as  a  charitable  institution,  Carlton  used  to  remark  in  after  years 
that  he  was  born  in  a  poorhouse. 

From  his  earliest  years  Carlton  was  a  delicate  child  —  one  of  those 
of  whom  mothers  are  wont  to  say,  "It  is  a  miracle  that  he  ever  was 
raised."  His  delicate  constitution  was  due  to  an  attack  of  scarlet 
fever  when  he  was  an  infant.  This  delicacy  unfitted  him  tor  work 
upon  the  farm,  and  perhaps  for  that  reason  he  was  kept  at  school  until 
he  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  when,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  was 
sought  as  teacher  of  a  small  family  school.  By  this  his  future  was 
directed.  He  taught  and  studied  at  the  same  time,  fitting  himself  for 
Dartmouth  College  in  1813.  At  college  he  won  high  distinction  as  a 
student.  Being  older  than  most  of  the  members  of  his  class,  his  mind 
was  mature,  and  he  found  no  difficulty  in  standing  well.  It  was  always 
a  question  whether  he  was  first  or  second.  Opinions  were  divided 
between  him  and  James  Marsh,  afterwards  President  of  the  University 
of  Vermont.  Fach  one  claimed  that  the  other  had  the  better  right  to 
the  honor. 

Carlton  Chase's  father  was  a  Congregationalist,  and  his  mother 
was  a  Baptist.  He  himself  seems  to  have  received  no  special  religious 
impression  during  his  early  years.  While  at  college  he  intended  to 
study  law.  But  in  1815,  the  middle  of  his  college  course,  Dartmouth 
was  distinguished  by  a  great  religious  revival,  which  was  not  without 
its  effect  upon  Carlton's  character.  He  did  not  as  yet  connect  himself 
with  any  church,  but  he  was  thinking. 

In  the  following  winter,  that  of  1816-1817,  he  taught  school  in 
his  native  town,  where  there  was,  and  still  is,  an  Episcopal  Church. 
His  attention  was  attracted  by  its  solemn  forms  and  regular  ministra- 
tions. He  had  found  a  church  which  appealed  to  his  judgment  ;  and 
giving  up  the  idea  of  the  bar,  he  resolved  to  enter  the  ministry.  After 
receiving  his  college  degree  he  proceeded  at  once  to  Bristol,  Rhode 
Island,  where  he  studied  theology  under  the  direction  and  eye  of  the 
venerable  Bishop  Alexander  V.  Griswold. 

In  1819  Mr.  Chase  took  charge  of  the  parish  at  Bellows  Falls, 
Vermont,  together  with  the  church  at  Drewsville.  Dr.  Samuel  Cutler, 
a  physician  ami  a  staunch  Episcopalian,  was  the  founder  of  the  Bellows 
Falls  Church.      Mr.  Chase  boarded  with  -  tor,  and   soon   fell    in 

love  with  his  daughter  Harriet.     The  request  lor  her  hand  was  m; 
in   writing,   and    the    letter,    together   with    Harriet's   reply,   have    been 


92  THE    CHASE-CHACE    KA.MI1.V    ASSOCIATION. 

preserved  in  the  family  archives.     The  stateliness,  courtesy  and  high- 
toned  formality  of  these  letters  surprise  the  impetuous  lover  of  today  : 

"Miss  Harriet,  your  virtues  and  your  merits  are  not  unobserved, 
nor  is  their  force  lost.  They  have  given  an  impression  —  I  shall  not 
at  present  say  how  favorable  —  to  yourself."  Thus  this  self-restrained 
young  clergyman  began  his  note.  Nor  is  the  young  lady's  reply  less 
admirably  expressed  : 

"Mr.  Chase  :  I  should  be  unjust  to  your  merits,  as  well  as  to  my 
own  feelings,  if  I  did  not  answer  you  with  that  truth  and  sincerity 
which  your  candor  entitles  you,  that  I  am  gratified  by  the  favorable 
opinion  you  express  for  me." 

They  were  married  in  September,  1820. 

For  quarter  of  a  century  Carlton  Chase  ministered  to  the  people 
of  Bellows  Falls  with  faithfulness  and  ability.  His  scholarship  was 
recognized  by  the  University  of  Vermont  in  the  bestowal  of  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  peculiarly  gratifying  as  coming  from  President 
Marsh,  his  old  friend  and  classmate. 

After  Bishop  Griswold's  death,  in  1842,  New  Hampshire  was 
formed  into  a  diocese,  and  in  the  following  year  Dr.  Chase  was  unani- 
mously elected  Bishop;  and  to  make  his  acceptance  possible  (for  the 
salary  was  only  three  hundred  dollars),  he  was  offered  the  parish  at 
Claremont,  New  Hampshire. 

Dr.  Chase  was  consecrated  to  the  Fpiscopate  in  the  historic 
Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  the  parish  church  of  George  Washington, 
his  kinsman.  Philander  Chase  was  the  chief  consecrator.  This  was 
one  of  the  few  occasions  when  the  lives  of  these  two  pioneer  church- 
men touched  each  other. 

Bishop  Chase's  ability  and  tact  became  widely  known  and  admired 
during  a  period  of  three  years  when  the  large  and  important  diocese  of 
New  York  was  placed  under  his  Episcopal  oversight.  The  acquaint 
ances  and  friends  that  he  made  during  this  time  were  numerous. 
Again  and  again  I  have  met  people  who  learned  to  know  and  admire 
him  there. 

But  these  details  of  Bishop  Chase's  life  are  not  specirlly  inter- 
esting. He  was  by  no  means  a  showy  man  in  any  respect,  if  wc 
except  his  personal  appearance,  which  was  unusually  striking;  but  his 
judgment  was  valued  as  sound  and  well  balanced.  He  was  a  man  of 
few  words  ;  but  on  the  occasions  when  he  spoke,  in  conventions  and 
other  bodies  of  which  he  was  a  member,  he  commanded  the  pro- 
foundest  attention  and  his  words  carried  the  greatest  weight.     When 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  93 

he  entered  the  hall  of  the  last  General  Convention  which  he  attended, 
the  entire  convention  with  one  accord  rose  and  remained  standing 
until  he  had  taken  his  seat. 

He  had,  together  with  a  gravity  that  might  at  times  have  been 
oppressive,  a  sense  of  humor  that  was  truly  a  saving  grace.  He  told 
many  good  stories,  appreciating  those  at  his  own  expense  quite  as 
much  as  any  others.  One  time  a  couple  of  laborers  had  been  at  work 
for  him.  It  was  at  the  time  when  treating  with  hard  liquor  was  the 
rule  in  New  England  ;  but  for  some  reason  or  other,  he  did  not  offer 
the  usual  glasses  of  rum  when  he  paid  off  his  men.  The  men  stood 
about,  talking  upon  indifferent  subjects  instead  of  going  away.  Finally 
one  of  them,  unable  longer  to  bear  the  suspense,  said,  "Dr.  Chase,  has 
your  liquor  got  any  bad  taste  to  it?" 

Dr.  Chase  was  an  extremely  methodical  man.  He  did  many 
things  by  rule.  His  sermons  were  always  just  twelve  pages  long.  He 
wrote  upon  large  sheets,  in  a  fine,  distinct  hand.  He  never  would 
write  more  than  one  page  an  hour.  If  the  page  was  completed  in  less 
time  he  would  walk  in  the  garden  or  work  in  his  shop  (he  was  well 
skilled  in  the  use  of  carpenter's  tools)  until  it  was  time  to  begin  the 
next  page.  Thus,  no  sermon  took  him  less  than  twelve  hours  in 
preparation.  It  is  needless  to  say  that,  measured  by  the  ponderous 
standard  of  his  day,  his  sermons  were  excellent.  On  all  special  occa- 
sions his  church  at  Claremont  would  be  packed  from  door  to  chancel 
steps. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  the  town  sexton,  not  much  of  a  "go- 
to-meeting"  man,  was  present  and  was  very  much  impressed.  He 
took  occasion  afterwards  to  tell  the  Bishop  how  grand  the  sermon  was ; 
and  then,  reminiscencing  as  sextons  of  those  old  days  were  wont  to  do, 
he  told  of  an  inferior  sermon  that  he  had  heard  somewhere  by  a  young 
preacher  whose  name  he  did  not  know.  Time  and  place  were  given 
with  such  accuracy  that  the  Bishop  recognized  one  of  his  own  early 
pulpit  efforts.  "  He  compared  me  with  myself  to  my  own  great  disad- 
vantage ! " 

Bishop  Chase  was  in  Baltimore  at  the  time  when  the  first  tele- 
graph line  was  completed  between  that  city  and  Washington.  He  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  experiment,  and  Morse,  the  inventor,  turning 
to  him,  asked  him  to  dictate  the  first  telegraphic  message.  He  re- 
plied with  those  words  that  every  schoolboy  reads  today  in  his  Ameri- 
can history,  "What  has  God  wrought?" 


94  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

I   mentioned   that  both   the  Chase  bishops  were   injured   by  the 
overturning  of  heavy  coaches  in  which  they  were   traveling  in   those 

ante-railroad  days.  Carlton  Chase  was  as  effectually  scalped  as  though 
he  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  He  was  one  night  cross 
ing  the  Green  Mountains  in  company  with  Judge  Hubbard,  when  the 
coach  in  which  they  rode  was  overturned  and  fell  down  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  rolling  completely  Over.  His  head  coming  in  contact  with 
the  sharp  corner  of  a  rib  in  the  roof  of  the  vehicle,  his  scalp  was  torn 
up  and  turned  forward  nearly  over  his  eyes.  He  supposed  himself 
fatally  injured,  but  the  skin  being  replaced,  it  grew  on  again  perfectly, 
the  scar  remaining  through  life. 

Another  stagecoach  incident  shows  how  deep  and  thorough  his 
scholarship  was.  Though  his  favorite  study  was  philosophy,  Coleridge 
interesting  him  more  than  any  other  writer,  he  was  an  admirable  lin- 
guist. Several  years  after  leaving  college  he  found  himself  in  a  sta 
coach  with  an  educated  Pole,  who,  nevertheless,  knew  no  word  oi 
English,  and  found  great  difficulty  in  understanding  or  making  himself 
understood.  In  a  few  minutes  they  found  that  both  knew  Latin,  and 
in  that  language  they  conversed  until  their  ways  parted. 

A  third  stagecoach  story,  related  to  me  this  summer  by  the  vener- 
able bishop  Huntington,  illustrates  bishop  Chase's  humor,  and  also 
the  wisdom  of  the  biblical  precept  to  answer  a  fool  according  to  his 
folly.  The  coach  was  well  filled  with  people,  bishop  Chase  sat  in 
one  corner  muffled  to  the  eyes  in  a  heavy  cloak,  apparently  paying  no 
attention  to  the  chatter  of  the  other  passengers.  Presently  a  rather 
noisy  infidel  began  to  express  his  opinion  of  the  early  chapters  of 
Genesis,  declaring  that  it  was  all  tom-foolery.  Presently  the  Bishop 
stirred  himself.  "Have  you  heard,"  he  asked,  "of  a  recently  discov 
ered  book,  the  book  of  Jaazaniah,  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  which 
your  views  are  refuted?"  "O  yes,"  replied  the  infidel,  "I've  seen  it 
and  read  it  through.  There's  nothing  in  it."  The  Bishop  retired 
into  his  cloak,  and  the  long-suffering  passengers  howled,  to  at  1< 
one  man's  complete  discomfiture. 

When  Carlton  Chase  became   Bishop  of  New  Hampshire   there 
were   but  eleven   clergymen   of   the    Episcopal   Church   in   the  entire 
state.      The  present  bishop,  in  a  convention  address  a  few  years  sin 
aptly  characterized  the  diocese  as  a  lean  one.      But  if  it  is  lean  now,  it 
was   doubly  so   fifty  years  ago.      Episcopalian  ept   in   a  very  few 

towns,   were    few  and    scattered   and   far   from   wealthy.     The    care   of 
these  scattered  sheep  was  ever  close  to  his  heart,  and  as  he  gave  of 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS  95 

his  own  time  and  strength  in  ministering  to  them,  he  expected  his 
clergymen  to  do  likewise.  He  once  drove  out  to  some  rather  remote 
regions  in  search  of  some  church  member  of  whom  he  had  heard 
rumors.  At  the  country  inn  he  asked  whether  they  knew  of  any 
Episcopalians  in  those  parts.  A  shake  of  the  head  was  the  reply.  He 
didn't  know  what  they  were.  The  Bishop  explained,  and  elicited  the 
information  that  there  was  a  family  down  the  street  that  moved  in 
about  a  year  ago  ;  that  they  were  honest,  civil  people,  but  that  they 
had  some  queer  ways ;  that  the  man  gathered  his  family  together  on 
Sunday,  read  the  Bible  and  sung  a  hymn.  This  was  all  reasonable 
enough  ;  but  the  next  thing  they  did  was  to  get  down  on  their  knees 
and  read  prayers  out  of  a  book.  "That's  my  man,"  said  the  Bishop, 
and  away  he  drove. 

During  most  of  his  life  Bishop  Chase,  as  I  have  indicated,  traveled 
in  the  old,  laborious  style.  The  trips  between  his  childhood's  home  at 
Hopkinton  and  Dartmouth  College  were  generally  made  upon  horse- 
back.  As  Bishop  he  went  back  and  forth  between  Claremont  and 
Concord  —  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  and  a  toilsome  journey, —  several 
times  in  the  course  of  each  year.  One  had  to  rise  long  before  light  in 
order  to  make  the  journey  in  a  single  day.  Hardships,  especially  in 
winter,  may  easily  be  imagined.  The  railroad  between  Claremont  and 
Concord  was  completed  the  year  of  the  Bishop's  death.  Yet  it  was  on 
the  occasion  of  a  change  of  can  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  not 
by  stage  travel,  that,  aged  and  infirm,  he  underwent  a  painful  accident. 

"I  had  the  misfortune,"  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  "to  fall  on  an  icy 
platform  to  the  serious  injury  and  pain  of  several  parts  of  my  person." 

During  these  last  years  he  more  and  more  depended  upon  his 
friends,  particularly  upon  his  sons  —  at  first,  Francis;  later,  Arthur,  the 
last  one  of  his  boys  remaining  at  home.  For  five  or  six  years  it  was 
felt  that  he  might  pass  away  at  -any  time,  and  he  was  watched  and 
cared  for  with  great  tenderness. 

The  loss  of  his  wife  in  L86  1  was  a  great  blow,  and  though  he  bore 
it  with  outward  calm,  it  was  the  calm  of  a  strongly  disciplined  nature. 
The  Puritan  was  strong  in  him,  bidding  him  conceal  the  emotion  that 
stirred  him  to  the  bottom  of  his  soul.  The  last  entry  in  his  diary  bore 
the  date  of  January  1st,  1870.  A  week  later  his  last  illness  began,  and 
he  died  peacefully  and  happily  on  the  twelfth  of  the  month.  It  was, 
indeed,  the  passing  of  the  righteous. 

In  the  midst  of  a  winter  of  almost  unexampled  mildness  and 
beauty,  and  after  a  week  unsurpassed   even  under  the  bright  skies  of 


96  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

New  England,  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  January  opened  dis- 
mal, with  cloud  and  storm.  For  a  time  the  fleecy  snow,  pure  and 
white  as  the  robes  of  the  righteous,  fell  lightly  upon  the  earth  ;  but 
soon  followed  the  dropping  rain,  —  symbol  of  sorrow,  although  God's 
instrument  of  life,  —  and  filled  the  house  with  gloom.  Such  was  the 
burial  day  of  the  first  Bishop  of  New  Hampshire. 

In  the  presence  of  a  great  concourse  of  notable  men,  of  devoted 
parishioners,  and  of  loving  friends,  the  solemn  and  stately  burial  ser- 
vice of  his  beloved  church  was  read  over  his  peaceful  clay  ;  and  as  the 
hymn  was  sung, 

"O  sweet  and  blessed  country, 

The  home  of  God's  elect  ! 
O  sweet  and  blessed  country, 

That  eager  hearts  expect ! 
Jesu,  in  mercy  bring  us 

To  that  dear  land  of  rest ; 
Who  art  with  God  the  Father, 

And  Spirit,  ever  blest." 

no  one  was  there  present  who  heard,  but  felt  in  his  heart  the  assurance 
that,  lor  him  who  was  gone,  the  prayer  was  indeed  answered. 


The  next  number  on  the  programme  was  another  cornet  solo, 
"The  Swiss  Boy,"  by  Master  Banan  ;  and  then  a  poem,  written  for  the 
occasion,  was  read  by  Miss  Carolyn  Louise  Chase  of  Derry,  N.  H.,  the 
author,  unfortunately,  being  unable  to  be  present. 


<$s=s*t0&r%<r^5**J> 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  97 


HEREDITY. 


By  MRS.  LILLIE  A.  FOLSOM,  Oldtown,  Me. 

Fitful  circumstance  coy  and  environment  stern 

Are  powerful  factors  in  life ; 
They  pelt  us  with  roses  of  subtle  perfume 

Or  make  us  the  subjects  of  strife. 

While  heredity  potent  throws  round  us  her  spell  — 

Makes  the  fibre  of  life  coarse  or  fine  ; 
And  we  cannot  break  loose  from  her  circling  arms 

That  fold  like  the  close  clinging  vine. 

So  whenever  my  eyes  on  the  old  patchwork  quilt 

Flit  from  sombre  to  brilliant  hues  gay, 
Swiftly  noting  how  each  tiny  bit  makes  the  whole 

As  moments  make  up  the  long  day  — 

Analogous,  then,  seem  our  own  mortal  lives, 

Of  which  some  wiseacre  has  said, 
That  the  structural  parts  which  compose  the  grand  whole 

Are  but  bits  of  ancestors,  long  dead,  — 

That  inherent,  innate,  are  old  family  traits, 

Transmitted  through  cycles  of  years  ; 
Some  shining  like  gems ;   some,  alas,  grimly  dark, 

Allied  to  distrust  and  dark  fears. 

Erstwhile,  when  my  soul  was  tumultuous  with  hate, 

Defiant  like  murderous  elf, 
Perhaps  some  old  ancestor,  long  ages  dead, 

Was  reigning  just  then  o'er  myself. 

Again,  when  keen  wit  and  the  bright  repartee 

Flash  out  with  a  scintillant  fire  — 
That  sparkle  of  thought  effervescent  perhaps 

Descended  from  good  old  grandsire. 


98  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

And  when  sweet  Hope  near  me  her  dulcet  song  sings, 
When  love  shall  my  quick  pulses  haunt, 

The  weft  of  this  golden  hued  texture  may  be 
Transfused  from  some  saintly  old  aunt. 

Are  we  not,  after  all,  like  the  old  patchwork  quilt, 

With  colors  of  dun  and  of  flame? 
And  for  all  our  caprices  and  foibles,  may  be 

Our  ancestors  old  are  to  blame. 


The  Treasurer's  report  showed  the  total  receipts  of  the  year  to 
have  been  $121.22  and  the  disbursements  $95.38,  leaving  a  cash  bal- 
ance of  $25.84.  As  this  sum  would  not  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  cur- 
rent expenses,  the  usual  collection  was  lifted  and  the  audience  duly 
thanked  by  the  President  for  a  contribution  of  $19.58. 


The  Secretary  stated  that  he  had  received  letters  from  the  fol- 
lowing-named persons,  extracts  from  some  of  the  letters  being  read  : 
Judge  William  M.  Chase,  Concord,  N.  H. ;  Judge  Emory  A.  Chase, 
Catskill,  N.  Y.  ;  Harry  Cray  Chase,  West  Newbury,  Mass.;  Mrs. 
Hannah  S.  Chase,  Salisbury,  Mass. ;  Alice  Louise  Chase,  Medina, 
N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Atkinson,  Royalston,  Mass. ;  Emma  E. 
Peirce,  New  Bedford,  Mass. ;  Mrs.  Harriett  Chase  Runyon,  Plainfield, 
N.  J.;  Annie  Chase  Riggin,  Crisfield,  Md. ;  Mrs.  Lucia  R.  L.  Arnold, 
Omaha,  Neb. 

A  nominating  committee,  which,  on  motion,  had  been  previously 
appointed,  reported  a  list  of  officers  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  they 
were  unanimously  elected  as  follows  : 

President  —  John  C.  Chase,  Derry,  N.  H. 

Vice  Presidents  —  Hon.  William  M.  Chase,  Concord,  N.  H. ; 
Thomas  W.  Chace,  Providence,  R.  I.;  Charles  Estes,  Warren,  R.  I.; 
Rev.  Arthur  Chase,  Ware,  Mass. ;   Herbert   F.  Chase,  Andover,  Mass. 

Secretary-Treasurer  —  Omar  P.  Chase,  Andover,  Mass. 

Executive  Committee  —  James  F.  Chase,  Boston,  Mass.;  Harry 
Gray  Chase,  Tufts  College,  Mass. ;  Frederic  A.  Chase,  Providence, 
R.  I.  :  Andrew  J.  Chase,  Melrose,  Mass.  ;  Larkin  E.  Bennett,  Wake- 
field, Mass. ;  Georgianna  Chase,  Boston,  Mass. 

Historian — Mrs.  Mary  L.  C.  Smith,  Hartford,  Conn. 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  99 

The  President  :  We  are  fortunate  in  having  with  us  today  a 
widely  known  member  of  our  family,  and  if  I  characterize  him  as  a 
typical  New  Englander,  it  is  because  the  Chases  are,  I  believe,  true 
representatives  of  that  sectional  type.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  hear 
him  in  New  York  City  in  a  political  campaign  nearly  a  quarter-century 
ago,  and  his  voice  gave  no  uncertain  sound  in  the  interests  of  the 
agricultural  class  to  which  he  is  proud  to  belong.  The  "steers"  of 
which  he  made  such  an  important  object  lesson,  have  long  ere  this,  it 
is  presumed,  gone  the  way  of  all  edible  flesh,  but  their  driver  and 
exhibitor  is  still  vigorous,  and  I  have  the  pleasure  of  presenting  to  you 
Solon  Chase*  of  Maine. 


Remarks  of  Solon  Chase. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Men  and  Women  of  My  Kith  and  Kin: 

As  I  live  some  ways  down  East,  I  didn't  get  here  quite  as  early  as 
I  wanted  to,  but  I  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  North  Church,  and 
I  am  glad  to  see  you.  Now  we  Chases  are  a  peculiar  lot.  We  don't 
raise  a  great  many  bishops,  or  a  great  many  congressmen  or  a  great 
many  presidents  of  the  United  States,  but,  nevertheless,  we  are  a  race 
that  have  as  much  influence  in  this  country  as  any  you  can  find. 

In  our  country  public  opinion  is  the  power  behind  the  throne,  and 
the  Chases  have  as  much  to  do  with  that  as  anybody.  I  believe  that 
there  is  no  race  in  the  country  that  has  more  influence  over  public 
opinion  than  the  name  of  Chase  and  the  descendants  of  Chase.  They 
are  all  through  the  country,  and  wherever  you  find  them  you  will  find 
them  as  men  with  minds  of  their  own. 

I  have  lived  an  uneventful  life  on  the  farm  for  more  than  seventy 
years.  I  have  been  of  some  use  to  myself  and  of  some  to  the  world. 
So  vve  all  have  been  right  along,  not  unambitious,  but  surely  and 
steadily  doing  the  work  of  the  country.  Public  opinion,  perhaps,  may 
not  always  be  right,  but  it  is  the  power  that  rules  this  country. 

While  the  President  has  been  with  us  he  has  been  telling  us  about 
the  evils  of  trusts  and  what  the  remedies  are,  and  he  has  made  one 
grand  epigram,  and  that  is  :  "That  which  is  good  for  the  crops  is  good 
for  the  weeds";  and  he  says  that  so  long  as  we  have  prosperity,  and 
more  prosperity  growing  up,  we  are  going  to  find  obstacles  in  the  way. 

*  Solon  Chase,7  Isaac,''1  Isaac,'  Elcazer, '  Moses,1  Moses,-  Aquila.1 


100  THE    CHASE-CHACF.    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

He  has  talked  on  trusts,  but  he  hasn't  offered  the  remedy  ;  yet  he  has 
set  the  people  to  thinking,  and  that  is  all  he  has  been  trying  to  do. 
He  has  come  before  the  people  of  the  country,  and  he  has  gone  away 
simply  asking  the  people  to  think,  and  he  is  endeavoring  to  point  the 
way. 

We  have  a  coal  strike  before  us  at  this  time,  and  the  people  of 
this  country  are  not  going  to  stand  coal  at  ten  dollars  a  ton,  for  public 
opinion  is  going  to  point  the  way  out,  and  we  Chases  are  going  to 
help.  We  go  forward  to  remain  there  and  stand  there  and  be  equal 
to  any  of  them. 

I  don't  know  quite  where  I  come  from,  but  they  say  I  am  a  de- 
scendant of  Aquila  Chase.  My  father  and  mother  were  both  Chases, 
and  my  two  grandfathers  were  half  brothers.  That  is  how  they  stood. 
I  have  in  me  a  streak  of  barbarian  blood,  and  perhaps  that  is  not  the 
worst  thing  in  the  world.  The  barbarian  blood  doesn't  come  from  my 
mother's  side,  but  from  my  father's.  My  grandmother  was  a  quarter- 
born  Indian,  and  her  father  sailed  away  from  Salem  over  the  seas  and 
was  never  heard  from  afterwards ;  and  his  wife  was  left  on  Cape  Cod 
with  her  little  girl,  who  afterwards  married  and  went  east. 

My  grandfather  moved  into  a  log  house,  and  everything  my  grand- 
mother had  for  housekeeping  was  a  cast-iron  pot,  and  she  boiled  the 
tea  in  that  pot  and  got  along  with  that  pot  for  everything.  After  the 
second  year  my  grandmother  thought  that  they  ought  to  have  more 
housekeeping  stuff,  —  more  kitchen  furniture,  —  and  she  kept  talking 
to  my  grandfather  about  it,  and  he  would  say,  "We  have  got  the  Cape 
Cod  pot  and  don't  need  anything  else."  And  it  went  on  that  way  for 
a  year  or  so.  Finally,  one  morning  when  he  said,  "  We  have  got  the 
Cape  Cod  pot  and  don't  need  anything  else,"  she  said,  "We  haven't 
got  the  Cape  Cod  pot,  for  it  has  been  smashed  to  pieces."  Then 
there  had  to  be  something  provided,  and  there  was  something  pro- 
vided. Her  standard  of  living  was  lifted  up,  and  she  had  a  teakettle 
and  a  frying-pan  and  all  sorts  of  things.  So  you  see  sometimes  in 
order  to  get  justice,  you  have  got  to  tear  things  down.  Now  I  would 
like  that  Cape  Cod  pot  today,  but  as  much  as  I  want  it,  I  think  more 
of  my  convictions  that  I  inherited  from  my  Indian  grandmother  than  I 
do  of  the  Cape  Cod  pot. 

But  I  have  just  come  here  to  get  in  touch  with  my  kith  and  kin 
and  to  see  what  manner  of  folk  they  are,  and  I  guess  I  have  taken 
quite  enough  of  your  time  and  won't  say  anything  more  just  now. 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  101 

The  President  :  One  of  our  kinsmen  of  the  line  of  Aquila  is  the 
honored  President  of  the  Emery  Family  Association.  I  am  glad  to 
greet  him  officially,  and  I  know  you  will  be  pleased  to  listen  to  him, 
particularly  as  he  is  somewhat  elated  at  having  his  genealogy  proven,  it 
having  been  an  uncertain  matter  until  recently.  I  present  to  you  the 
Rev.  Rufus  Emery  of  Newburyport. 


Remarks  of  Rev.  Rufus  Emery. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

First  of  all  I  wish,  in  my  office  as  President  of  the  Emery  family, 
to  present  to  you  and  your  body  our  congratulations  and  good  wishes, 
and  to  say  that  we  hold  during  this  month,  at  Hotel  Berkeley,  our 
twentieth  anniversary,  and  would  be  very  glad  to  see  any  of  you  who 
may  be  twisted  in  and  out  of  the  Emery  family. 

When  I  was  at  the  meeting  at  Newburyport  I  knew  that  my  great 
great-grandmother  was  a  Chase,  and  upon  the  strength  of  that  I  went 
to  the  Chase  meeting ;  and  I  met,  naturally,  the  esteemed  President 
and  the  esteemed  Historian,  but  did  not  succeed  in  getting  any  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  Abigail  Chase.  When  I  met  your  President  in 
liy field  a  few  weeks  ago,  I  asked  him  to  hunt  it  up,  and  in  a  few  days 
I  got  word  from  him  and  he  said,  "  Your  genealogy  is  as  easy  as  rolling 
off  a  log." 

Now  this  morning  my  esteemed  friend  has  given  us  some  reason- 
able advice  on  the  matter  of  heraldry.  I  believe  that  the  Chase  family 
have  a  right  to  a  coat-of-arms  to  denote  their  descendants,  and  I  don't 
know  why  I  shouldn't  have  a  shield  of  arms  as  well  as  anybody  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  It  doesn't  belong  to  a  family  ;  it  belongs  to  a  name. 
In  our  family  there  are  half  a  dozen,  and  I  am  going  to  take  one  of 
them  some  one  of  these  days  because  I  like  it.  I  wouldn't  use  it  to 
the  detriment  or  disgrace  of  my  friends,  or  anything  of  that  kind,  but 
I  think  that  the  Chase  family  have  a  right  to  a  coat-of-arms,  and  per- 
haps a  half  a  dozen.  It  is  a  pretty  thing  to  hang  up  in  one's  parlor, 
because  it  always  looks  well ;  and  I  take  great  pride  in  it  because  I 
think  it  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  have,  as  it  shows  descension.  I  believe 
that  the  more  we  honor  and  cherish  the  good  deeds  of  our  ancestors, 
the  more  eager  we  are  to  know  and  to  follow  their  examples  and  their 
ways  of  doing  things  which  may  be  contrary  to  our  own. 


102  THE    CHASK-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

The  time  for  adjournment  having  arrived,  the  audience  joined  in 
singing  America ;  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Arthur 
Chase,  and  the  cars  taken  to  Salem  Willows,  where  a  genuine  shore 
dinner  was  heartily  enjoyed  at  the  restaurant  of  kinsman  Nathaniel  S. 
Chase. 

After  a  local  photographer  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  group  pic- 
ture, the  company  dispersed,  with  the  intention  of  visiting  the  historic 
sights  of  the  ancient  city  in  which  the  third  reunion  had  been  held, 
their  departure  being  hastened  by  a  heavy  shower,  which  came  as  a 
climax  to  the  threatening  weather  that  had  been  an  undesirable  feature 
of  the  day. 

Shortly  after  adjournment  a  telegram  was  received  from  Philip 
Brown  Chase  of  Philadelphia.  The  sender  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
eldest  member  of  the  Association,  having  been  born  in  Salem  in  1809. 
The  President  wired  a  reply  in  behalf  of  the  Association,  and  both 
messages  follow  : 

Philadelphia,  Penn.,  September  4,  1902. 
John  C.  Chase,  President, 

North  Church,  Salem,  Mass. 
My  compliments  and  best  wishes  for  a  bright  and  happy  day. 

Philip  Brown  Chase. 


Salem,  Mass.,  September  4,  1902. 
Philip  Brown  Chase, 

Philadelphia,  Penn. 
The  Chase  Family  Association  sends  cordial  greetings,  with  thanks 
for  your  kindly  remembrance. 

John  C.  Chase,  President. 


T^^U^ 


&»  <^£^% 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  103 


RUSSELL  SMITH  TAFT,  LL.D. 


Russell  Smith  Taft,  late  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Vermont,  was  the  seventh  in  line  from  Robert  Taft,  a  housewright, 
who  came  to  this  country  from  England  and  was  in  Braintree,  Mass., 
as  early  as  1675.  He  was  the  seventh  of  the  ten  children  of  Elijah 
and  Orinda  (Kimball)*  Taft,  and  was  born  in  Williston,  Vt.,  Janu- 
ary 28,  1835,  and  died  in  Burlington,  after  a  brief  illness,  March  22, 
1902. 

He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  and  academies  of  his 
native  state,  and  began  the  study  of  law  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen 
with  Hon.  George  F.  Edmunds,  afterwards  U.  S.  Senator.  Admitted 
to  the  bar  November  12,  1856,  on  New  Year's  day,  1857,  he  entered 
into  partnership  with  Torrey  E.  Wales,  in  whose  office  he  had  con- 
cluded his  preparation.  This  association  lasted  for  twenty-one  years, 
and  as  his  partner  was  for  thirty-six  years  Judge  of  the  Probate  Court 
of  Chittenden  County,  Mr.  Taft  filled  the  position  of  register  of  the 
court  from  1863  to  1880. 

He  was  honored  by  frequent  elections  to  public  office,  and  was 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State  in  1872-4.  Elected  Assistant  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1880,  he  was  re-elected  biennially  until  1899, 
when  he  became  Chief  Judge,  which  position  he  held  at  the  time  of 
his  decease.  It  is  said  that  in  his  twenty-two  years  of  service  on  the 
bench  no  session  was  ever  adjourned  on  account  of  his  absence,  and 
that  he  never  missed  a  case  in  the  Supreme  Court.  Of  nearly  seven 
hundred  cases  he  tried,  less  than  one  in  ten  were  reversed,  the  small- 
ness  of  the  number  being  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  he  always  in- 
tended to  solve  the  doubt  in  favor  of  the  respondent.  His  law 
writings  have  been  widely  copied,  one,  an  essay  on  the  common  law 
of  England,  gaining  him  a  membership  in  the  Selden  Club  of  Eng- 
land. He  contributed  an  invaluable  series  of  historical  papers  on  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Vermont,  to  the  Green  Bag,  a  law  magazine  pub- 

*Orinda  Kimball,7  Edith  Chase,'1  Lieutenant  Henry,"'  Timothy,1  Isaac,' 
Daniel,-   Aquila.1 


HI4  THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 

lished  in  Boston.  In  all  that  he  wrote  he  was  scrupulously  exact,  and 
was  intolerant  of  the  slightest  inaccuracy  in  the  work  of  others.  He 
was  greatly  interested  in  genealogical  research,  and  contributed  many 
interesting  and  valuable  articles  to  the  publications  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Historic-Genealogical  Society,  of  which  organization  he  was  Vice 
President  at  the  time  of  his  decease. 

On  May  5,  1858,  Mr.  Taft  married  Maria  L.  Carlisle,  a  native  of 
Malone,  New  York,  who  died  September  23/1873,  leaving  no  children. 
June  27,  1876,  he  married  Mrs.  Jane  (Marlett)  Wyatt,  who  survived 
him,  with  a  son,  Russell  Wales  Taft,  born  May  4,  1878. 

A  remarkable  memory  was  largely  an  inheritance  from  his  father, 
and  his  faculty  of  remembering  names  and  dates  was  almost  phe- 
nomenal. By  some  method  of  association  he  was  able  to  recall  the 
date  of  birth  of  every  acquaintance  or  distinguished  man,  and  it  was 
one  of  his  favorite  amusements  to  surprise  those  whom  he  happened 
to  meet,  by  giving  their  age  in  years,  months,  days  and  hours. 

It  may  easily  be  conjectured  that  Judge  Taft's  opinions  had  un- 
mistakable earmarks.  He  was  fond  of  putting  things  as  tersely  as 
possible,  having  the  Greek's  love  for  laconic  expression.  He  knew 
that,  other  things  being  equal,  a  short  opinion  is  the  most  useful  to  the 
profession  and  to  the  public,  and  he  would  often  rewrite  his  opinions 
at  great  pains,  for  the  mere  sake  of  condensation.  His  style  was 
singularly  lucid,  and,  as  Macaulay  wrote  of  John  Bunyan,  "  nobody 
ever  read  a  sentence  of  his  twice  to  find  out  what  it  meant."  Once, 
when  sending  to  the  reporter  of  decisions  an  opinion  which  he  had 
been  unable  to  make  as  short  and  as  clear  as  he  wished,  he  said,  "  I 
can't  seem  to  get  the  right  twist  on  this  one."  He  had  his  own  twist 
about  everything.  Although  he  often  wrote  very  brief  opinions,  and 
always  preferred  to  do  so,  he  could  also,  when  occasion  required,  elab- 
orate his  views  with  the  utmost  fullness  of  illustration  and  minuteness 
of  reasoning. 

He  had  that  prime  quality  of  a  good  judge  —  an  intense  love  of 
justice.  The  fundamental  question  with  him  always  was,  What  is 
right?  Sometimes  in  closing  a  decision  he  would  remark,  "That  is 
the  religion  of  the  thing,  and  it  ought  to  be  the  law  !  "  Judged  by 
ethical  standards,  he  was  a  profoundly  religious  man,  yet  he  called 
himself  a  materialist,  and  there  is.no  doubt  that  he  died  fully  believing 
that  for  him,  and  for  all  others,  individual  existence  ceases  at  death. 

He  had  a  quaint  and  delightful  vein  of  humor,  and  his  manner, 
always  dignified  and  sometimes  almost  gruff,  was  only  a  mask  to  the 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    MASS.  105 

warmest  heart  and  the  keenest  sense  of  fun.  Once  in  a  criminal  case 
he  called  the  prosecuting  officer  to  the  bench  and  asked  him  what  he 
thought  about  his  ordering  a  verdict  for  the  State.  The  astonished 
attorney  replied  that  he  had  never  known  such  a  thing  done.  "Well, 
then,"  said  Judge  Taft,  "you  hang  around  here  a  little  while  and  you 
will."  He  did  it,  too,  basing  his  decision  upon  the  ground  that  the 
question  was  res  judicata. 

In  personal  appearance  he  was  a  man  of  men  —  full  bearded,  with 
a  shock  of  curly  hair,  black  until  late  in  life  ;  brow  large  and  fine  ;  eyes 
deep  blue,  changeful  in  expression,  but  always  full  of  thought  and  often 
full  of  fun ;  massive  in  proportions  and  gifted  with  a  great,  deep  voice 
of  wonderful  sympathy  and  charm,  and  a  laugh'  that  was  as  silvery  as  a 
child's. 

He  died  of  a  disease  of  the  heart  which  had  been  upon  him  with- 
out his  appreciation  for  some  years.  And  yet  he  must  have  had  a 
presentiment  that  the  end  was  near,  for  not  a  year  before  his  death  he 
had  printed  for  each  of  his  associates  upon  the  bench  a  copy  of  the 
Rules  of  Practice,  elegantly  bound,  and  inserted  beneath  the  cover  of 
each,  quotations  from  the  Rubiayat  of  Omar  Khayyam,  translated  by 
Fitzgerald,  —  a  poem  of  which  he  was  especially  fond.  One  such 
reads  : 

"Open  thou  the  door  ! 

You  know  how  little  time  we  have  to  stay, 
And  once  departed  may  return  no  more." 

In  one  of  the  others  a  mandatory  injunction  was  issued  which  will 
never  be  disobeyed  by  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

"And  when  thyself  with  shining  foot  shall  pass 
Among  the  guests  star-scatter'd  on  the  grass, 

And  in  thy  joyous  errand  reach  the  spot 
Where  I  made  one  —  turn  down  an  empty  glass." 

(The  foregoing  is  largely  taken  from  an  extended  memorial  by  Hon.  Wendell 
P.  Stafford,  which  appeared  in  the  New  England  Historic  and  Genealogical  Register.) 


106 


THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 


ATTENDANCE  REGISTER. 


Helen  L.  Archer 
Alfred  W.  Banan 
Frederic  Banan 
Everett  M.  Bartlett   . 
Larkin  E.  Bennett    . 
Nathaniel  Chase  Bousley 
Bernice  Boutwell 
Mrs.  Edward  Boutwell 
Mrs.  W.  B.  Buckminster 
Mrs.  Mercy  S.  Bouton 
Abbie  A.  Chase 
Albion  C.  Chase 
Andrew  J.  Chase 
Anna  Ellen  Chase     . 
Annie  J.  Chase 
Mrs.  Annie  M.  Chase 
Rev.  Arthur  Chase    . 
Arthur  Woods  Chase 
Celia  W.  Chace 
Charles  Dyer  Chase 
Charles  Francis  Chase 
Mrs.  Charles  F.  Chase 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  M. 
Clarence  A.  Chase    . 
Daniel  E.  Chase 
Mrs.  Daniel  E.  Chase,  Jr. 
Elizabeth  Chase 
Kthel  Walcott  Chase 
Mrs.  Francis  A.  Chase 
Mrs.  Frank  Jay  Chase 
Fred  J.  Chase  . 
Mrs.  Frederic  B.  Chace 


Chase 


Salem,  Mass. 

Lawrence,  Mass. 

Lawrence,  Mass. 

Newton,  N.  H. 

Wakefield,  Mass. 

Middleton,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Maiden,  Mass. 

Salem,  Mass. 

Salem,  Mass. 

Pelham,  N.  H. 

Melrose,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Beverly,  Mass. 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

Ware,  Mass. 

Manchester,  N.  H. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

New  Britain,  Conn. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

Auburn,  Me. 

Somerville,  Mass. 

Somerville,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

Newtonville,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

South  Boston,  Mass. 

Waverly,  Mass. 

Winthrop,  Mass 


THIRD    REUNION,    SALEM,    .MASS. 


107 


George  F.  Chace 

Georgiana  Chase 

Mrs.  Gara  D.  Chase 

Hannah  G.  Chase 

Mrs.  H.  H.  Chase     . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Chase 

Herbert  Appleton  Chase   . 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herbert  F.  Chase 

Isaac  Chase 

James  F.  Chase 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  C.  Chase 

Joseph  S.  Chase 

Josiah  G.  Chase 

j.  Harlan  Chase 

Mrs.  Katherine  Knight  Chase 

Lizzie  Chase 

Lnra  Abbie  Chase     . 

Mary  Elizabeth  Chace 

Mary  E.  Chace 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Chase 

Myrtie  L.  Chase 

Nellie  C.  Chase 

Omar  P.  Chase 

Percy  Chase 

Rev.  Piatt  N.  Chase,  Ph.D. 

Robert  R.  Chase 

Sara  Chase 

S.  Carrie  Chace 

Stephen  F.  Chase 

Thos.  W.  Chace         .  . 

Mrs.  W.  P.  Clark       . 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Cleaveland      . 

I'M  ward  E.  Davies     . 

Mrs.  Augustus  W.  Doyle    . 

Cynthia  Doyle 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ira  A.  Eastman 

Charles  Estes  . 

Rev.  Rufus  Emery    . 

Mrs.  Addie  I.  Everett 

Elizabeth  M.  Gray    . 


Taunton,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Ware,  Mass. 

Salem,  Mass. 

Maiden,  Mass. 

Watertown,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

Maiden,  Mass. 

Derry,  N.  H. 

Maiden,  Mass. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

Bradford,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

Brookline,  Mass. 

South  Boston,  Mass. 

New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

Salem,  Mass. 

Pelham,  N.  H. 

Waverly,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Brookline,  Mass. 

Woodstock,  N.  V. 

Manchester,  N.  H. 

New  York  City 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Peabody,  Mass. 

Haverhill,  Mass. 

Lawrence,  Mass. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

Andover,  Mass. 

Warren,  R.  I. 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

Dan  vers,  Mass. 

Nashua,  N.  H. 


108 


THE    CHASE-CHACE    FAMILY    ASSOCIATION. 


Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Gray  . 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Fogg  • 

Mrs.  Richard  L.  Gove 

Mrs.  Sarah  S.  Griffin 

Mrs.  Mabel  W.  King 

A 1  van  Loring    . 

Mrs.  Sophronia  Chace  Merrill 

Mrs.  D.  Henry  Morrison  . 

Florence  Chase  Pevear 

Mrs.  George  K.  Pevear 

G.  Brainard  Smith    . 

Mrs.  Mary  L.  C.  Smith 

Mrs.  Joshua  Stetson 

Mrs.  Prudence  H.  Stokes  . 

Emma  Sophia  Taylor 

Ellen  Cabot  Torrey  . 

Bertha  Chase  Vincent 

Mrs.  Bertha  Chase  Wheaton 

Mrs.  George  B.  Willis 


Nashua,  N.  H. 

Seabrook,  N.  H. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

Salem,  Mass. 

Peabody,  Mass. 

West  Newbury,  Mass. 

Taunton,  Mass. 

Somerville,  Mass. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

Hartford,  Conn. 

Hartford,  Conn. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Wollaston,  Mass. 

Worcester,  Mass. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Maiden,  Mass. 

Maiden,  Mass- 

Medford,  Mass. 


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