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Note from the Chronicles- July 1928
Coming of the 1st Chase to Mass.
** Punctuation and spelling, verbatim, as appeared in the article.
THE TERCENTENARY OF MASSACHUSETTS
AND THE COMING OF THE FIRST CHASE
Address Given by the Rev. Glenn Tilley Morse, B.D.
Chaplain of the Society of the Governor and Company of
Massachusetts Bay in New England
We hear a great deal now about American tercentenaries and it is natural
that we should: for the permanent settlement of our country began in the
seventeenth century.
Virginia settled in 1607, was almost a generation ahead of New England.
Of course there had been explorers in New England from time to time for
several centuries and, from the beginning of the sixteenth century, there
had been a number of attempts at settlement by individuals and small groups.
But no permanent settlement had been made nor government established.
The year 1930 has been set as the tercentenary of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. Of course the Plymouth Colony was settled in 1620. Before
1627, there may have been fifty white, of both sexes and all ages, dwelling
in seven separate settlements on the shores of Boston Bay, according to the
estimate of Charles Francis Adams. The heads of the various plantations
held a counsel for common safety against Indians and outlaws; but there was
no settled government.
The world was ready for great migrations. It was a time of great national
movement and of change in the life and government of the people. The
century 1528 to 1628 was one of marked transition and advancement. A new
spirit of liberty was abroad and would not be subdued. Great elements of
learning, aspiration, individuality, and independence were at work. The
Bible in English was read and studied everywhere and by people of all
classes. It gave rise to new theories of government, of religion, and of
social duty: it invested man himself with a new dignity and power. It
instructed and directed the condition, government, and personal life of all,
from the king to the humblest peasant, and, while making demands, it also
held out blessed promises.
Knowledge was spread as never before, through the perfecting of the
printing-press, and brought self-confidence, the love of adventure, and
interest in trade and colonization. England was the leading land of
freedom. Common schools spread learning everywhere. The greatest ancient
authors were translated into English and published before 1600. Classical
learning was general. English youths traveled abroad for study and culture.
It was a period of great English literature.. Shakespeare, Bacon, and their
contemporaries, writers in every field flourished.
Bloody Mary's persecutions scattered non-romanists abroad into every
protestant centre and they brought back protestant ideas.
As the literature of the age was the fruit of the time, so were the men,
who, in 1628, determined, in the service of civil and religious freedom, to
reform England beyond the Atlantic. The struggle was to determine whether
the English people should live under an absolute or a liberal monarchy.
English kings still claimed the right to tax without Parliament, to
persecute non-conformity, to force loans, to determine the franchise, and
unlawfully to imprison. But in the third Parliament of Charles I., March
1628, the king was startled by the courageous spirit of the people. He was
obliged to give assent to the famous Bill of Rights, the second greater
charter of English liberty.
And it was at this time that the first grant was given to Massachusetts.
The "Great Patent of New England" had been granted by James I., on Nov. 3,
1620, to the Council established at Plymouth in Devonshire, incorporated for
planting, ruling, ordering, and governing of New England. Other grants had
been given as well. Several attempts had been made for settlements.
In 1622, Edward Winslow was sent by the Pilgrims at Plymouth to England to
report about the colony and the procure supplies. In London, he conferred
with Robert Cushman, who had been at Plymouth. They aroused interest in
England. Among those interested were Rev. John White of Dorchester,
England, and Edmond, Lord Sheffield, a prominent member of the Council of
New England.
A charter, made Jan. 1, 1623, between Lord Sheffield and Robert Cushman and
Edmond Winslow for themselves and their Associates at Plymouth in New
England gave them a certain "Tract of Ground commonly called Cape Anne" and
free liberty to fish, fowle, &c. and trade thereabout and in all other
places in New England "whereof the said Lord Sheffield is or hath been
possessed", to be allotted for every person that shall come and dwell there
within seven years. After seven years, they are to pay a rental of twelve
pence for every thirty acres.
The Rev. John White saw the advantages of such a settlement and he was a
leader in forming the Dorchester Fishing Company in England. They resolved
to make the experiment of planting a small colony on the coast of New
England; so that fishing vessels might leave there the spare men not
requires to navigate their vessels home, who might employ themselves in
building, planting, &c. and be ready to join the ships on their return next
year. They had felt the need of it in their fishing ventures, as the
slow-going vessels had been late in arriving on the fishing grounds in the
spring and had reached the markets of England and Spain too late in the
season, on their return, to sell their fish to advantage. The colony of
fisherman settled in New England might get the early spring catch and have
it ready.
Cape Anne was selected as the site of this experiment. The company sent
over a band of men in the winter 1623-1624, who settled at Stage Point,
which is now Gloucester. John Smith, in his "General History", written in
1624, says, "by Cape Anne, there is a plantation by the Dorchester men,
which they hold of those at New Plymouth, who have set up a fishing work."
We have undoubted evidence that the Cape Anne planters settled there by
right of the charter granted by Lord Sheffield to Winslow and Cushman.
They immediately organized, with Mr. Thomas Gardner overseer of the
plantation, who was thus the first man in authority on the territory which
later became the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Mr. John Tilley had charge of
the fisheries. Gardner and Tilley had the title of Mr. and were evidently
not used to pioneer work. The lack of fertility of the soil made the
plantation unsuccessful. In 1625, Roger Conant, having been recommended,
was invited to come from Nantucket "for the management and government of all
affairs at Cape Anne." He was engaged by the officers of the company and
informed "that they had chosen him to be their governor in that place."
Roger Conant found out the cause of the failure was poor soil. He explored
and discovered a more commodious place, on the other side of the creek,
called Naumkeag.
The settlement broke up in 1626 and most of the men returned to England.
The Rev. John White wrote to Conant that. if he would induce John Woodbury,
John Balch, and Peter Palfrey to stay with him and send him whatever he
needed "either men or provisions of goods wherewith to trade with the
Indians."
Conant, with a few men, went to work at Naumkeag (Salem), erected houses,
and tilled the soil, using fish as fertilizer. He conferred with the
Indians and received from them "free leave to build and plant, where we have
taken up their lands." He sent John Woodbury back to England to appeal for
more men and supplies.
In England things were progressing. The Council, established at Plymouth,
England, "for the planting, ruling, ordering, and governing of New England,"
sold to Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Humphrey, John Endicott, and Silas
Whitcomb that part of New England, three miles north of the Merrimac and
three miles south of the Charles River, in "the Bottom of Massachusetts
Bay," from the Atlantic Ocean to the "South Sea."
The Council that sold the land had been incorporated the third of November,
1620, under the patent of King James. The men mentioned in the new grant
formed the "Company of Massachusetts Bay." They chose Mr. Matthew Craddock
for Governor in England. The Great Council of Plymouth, on March 19, 1628,
thus granted the land to those five men, in a patent which is not known to
be in existence now, but the substance of which is recited in the charter
obtained the following year. This grant extinguished the claim of the
Council of Plymouth to this territory and enabled the patentees, if their
enterprise proved successful, to procure the Royal Charter of 1629.
The patentees were in earnest and at once organized an expedition. John
Endicott. who was the only one of the patentees to come over to America at
that time, manifested such willingness to embark that he gave great
encouragement to all interested. He was selected to be governor in
Massachusetts. Endicott and about fifty men sailed on the ship Abigail from
Weymouth, June 20, 1628, and landed at Salem, September 18, 1628.
Dr. Palfrey, the Historian, thus describes the landing: "When the vessel
which bore the first Governor of Massachusetts was entering the harbor of
Salem, she was anxiously watched from the beach by four individuals, styled
in the quaint chronicles of the time as 'Roger Conant and three sober men' .
The vessel swung to her moorings and flung the red cross of St. George to
the breeze, a boat put off for the shore, and, that the Governor might land
dry shod, Roger Conant and 'his three sober men' rolled up their pantaloons,
waded into the water, and bore him on their shoulders to the dry land." In
behalf of the patentees, Endicott took possession of the territory described
in the Patent.
Thus the permanent settlement was established legally and effectively. The
Colony of Massachusetts then and there began her career and a firm and
settled authority has ever since existed here. This settlement was made
under the authority of the Company of Massachusetts Bay in London, which had
bought out the right of the Dorchester Company in New England. So Endicott
and his companions had the authority to take all possessions of all the
rights of the old planters under the Dorchester Company.
These former planters were not altogether satisfied with the advent of a new
company in which they had no part. But the new company was careful to give
the old planters equal rights with themselves. They confirmed to the old
planters their cultivated lands and gave them every privilege enjoyed by
themselves, even a place in the government. The old planters were requested
to name from their own number two members of the Governing Council. All
differences were adjusted and, as if to commemorate the happy settlement and
as typical of the peace that followed, the Indian name of Naumkeag was
changed to Salem. They were careful to give the Indians fair dealings and
purchased land from them if there was any question.
The first year was one of hardship and many died. But Endicott and his band
kept up their courage and perseverance, He sent back home reports that
encouraged others to come.
In April, 1629, six vessels sailed from England for Salem. John Smith,
writing that same year, calls those who came in them " a great company of
people of good rank, zeal, means, and quality. He gives the following lists
of the ships' names and armament: "The George Bonaventure, of 20 pieces of
ordnance, the Talbot 19, the Lion's Whelp 8, the Mayflower 14, the Four
Sisters 14, the Pilgrim 4, with 350 men, women, and children; also an
hundred and fifteen head of cattle, as horse, mares, and neat beast, 140
goats, some conies, with all provision for household and apparell; 6 pieces
of great ordnance for a fort, with muskets, pikes, corslets, drums, colours,
with all provisions necessary for a plantation, for the good of men."
Among the colonists who came in 1629 were four ministers, Rev. Francis
Higginson and Rev. John Skelton, who became leaders in Salem, and the Rev.
Francis Bright and Rev. Ralph Smith, who soon went to Charlestown. Other
prominent men were Mr. Samuel Sharp, "by us entertained to be master-gunner
of our ordnance"; Mr. Thomas Graves, an engineer; Lambert Wilson, a
surgeon; there were carpenters, shipwrights, wheelwrights, shoemakers,
hunters, and others especially valuable in establishing a permanent
settlement. There were 60 women and 26 children.
The Rev. Francis Higginson wrote an account of the voyage in a daily
journal, which is most interesting: "Previous to this embarkment, a charter
was granted. It was dated March 4, 1629, and granted and confirmed to the
former patentees, named in the patent, and twenty associates the same
territory, to hold by the same tenure and made them 'a body corporate and
politic, in fact and in name', by the name of the Governor and Company of
Massachusetts Bay in New England. That this government was at the time
intended to be permanent, there seems to be no doubt. This large grant of
power to a subordinate government shows the purpose of establishing a state
independent and complete in itself, owing no duty to the crown of England,
except so far as the Charter compelled it to pay one-fifth part of all
precious metals found in the soil to the King and forbade them to make laws
repugnant to England." This was the construction put upon the Charter by
the founders of Massachusetts.
These people were churchmen. They were puritans, but not separatists. In
the year 1628-29, the puritans expected to remain in the Communion of the
Church of England and to reform, within the Church, what they considered
faults.
The Rev. Francis Higginson said, on leaving England, "We will not say, as
the separatists were won't to say at their leaving England, 'Farewell
Babylon, farewell Rome', but we will say, farewell dear England, farewell
the Church of God in England, and all our Christian friends there! We do
not go to New England as separatists from the Church of England; though we
cannot but separate from the corruptions in it; but we go to practice the
positive part of Church reformation and propagate the Gospel in America".
And so he concluded with a fervent prayer for the King and Church and State
in England.
At the meeting of the Company in England on April 30, 1629, John Endicott
was confirmed as Governor, with Mess'rs Higginson, Skelton, Bright, John and
Samuel Brown, Thomas Graves, and Samuel Sharp as members of the Council.
The Governor and Council were to choose three more and the Planters (former
settlers) two in addition. The official name of this governing body of
thirteen men was the "Governor and Council of London's Plantation in the
Massachusetts Bay in New England".
It appears that Endicott's administration held courts, councils, and
elections, decided who were to have the franchise, granted lands, made laws,
and regulated the civil and religious affairs of the Colony, under his
appointment by the Company, until he was superseded by Winthrop in 1630.
His administration, in spite of perplexities and hardships, was successful.
The removal of the Charter of New England was repeatedly advocated. Several
meetings of the Court of Proprietors were held in London and at one on Oct.
16, 1629, it was thought "fit that Captain Endicott continue the government
there, unless just cause to the contrary." Four days later, however, they
decided to erect a new Governor, Deputy, and Assistants, and John Winthrop
was chosen Governor, John Humphrey, Deputy Governor, and Sir Richard
Saltonstall, Matthew Craddock, John Endicott, and fifteen others as a board
of Assistants. The home governor, Matthew Craddock, had given way when the
new governor, who was to take the Charter and the whole government to New
England, was elected. The last meeting of the Great and General Court in
England was held Feb. 10, 1630.
Great preparations were made. Seventeen vessels, bearing Winthrop and more
than a thousand passengers, sailed from England. Winthrop sailed March 29,
in the Arbella, and arrived in Salem, June 12, 1630, with the new government
and Charter.
When Winthrop arrived in Salem harbor, Endicott, with full knowledge that he
was to be superseded, went on board the Arbella to welcome him and offered
the hospitalities of his own house to the new governor and his friends.
The transfer of the Charter and government from London to New England made
the colony of Massachusetts Bay practically independent of English control.
The first meeting on American soil of the Massachusetts Bay Company was that
of the Court of Assistants at Charlestown on Aug. 13, 1630. The next Court
of Assistants, held at Charlestown on Sept. 7, 1630, "ordered that
Trimountain shall be called Boston". Governor Winthrop summoned the meeting
of the Great and General Court at Boston on Oct. 19, 1630.
Now the Tercentenary Committee and many historians consider 1930 the
tercentenary of Massachusetts. But I cannot help feeling that this colony
and government were established when John Endicott came in 1628.
Dr. Frank A. Gardner, President of the Old Planters Society, who does not
agree with me in regard to the date of the tercentenary, has written an
excellent essay on the "Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony". At the
end he gives a summary of conclusions from his study of the beginnings of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1. That this colony in 1630 was made up of
several sets of men who came at various times during the preceding decade.
2. That some of these men of each of the separate parties which came, and
some who came independently, lived many years in the colony and became
powerful in making the laws of the Commonwealth. 3. That of all these men
who shared in the glory of laying this foundation, the individuals who were
first connected with any orderly government in the district which later
became Massachusetts Bay Colony were the Cape Anne men of 1623-24, who had
Thomas Gardner at their head as overseer of the plantation until 1625, with
John Tilley in charge of the fisheries. 4. That the first man in charge
of the entire enterprise there was Roger Conant, who was variously styled
Governor and Superintendent at Cape Anne, 1625-26, and at Salem, 1626-28.
5. That in 1628, Roger Conant was supplanted by John Endicott, who had been
chosen by the "Company of the Massachusetts Bay', to take charge of affairs
on this side of the water, the company sending him having "bought out the
rights of the Dorchester Company" in England. 6. That in 1629, John
Endicott was informed, in a letter from the home company, written April 17,
that a government called "The Council of the Massachusetts Bay' had been
authorized and formed and that he had been confirmed "Governor of the
Plantations". 7. That John Endicott held this office until John Winthrop
came in 1630.
So 1930 will be a great Tercentenary anyway; for the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, which was conceived and developed in England, the mother
country, came forth then a separate and complete, and, we trust, a
creditable offspring.
But there is absolutely no question about 1930 as the tercentenary of the
coming of the Chases to New England. For William Chase, his wife Mary, and
his son William were among those who came with Governor Winthrop in 1630.
John Carroll Chase says he can find no certain authority for William Chase's
ancestry or his relationship to Thomas and Aquila.
All agree, however, that William Chase was the first of the Chases to come
to New England. He was one of that company who came with Governor Winthrop
in 1630 and landed at Salem.
He did not remain in Salem long. He is found at Roxbury in 1634. He
applied for admission as a freeman on Oct. 19, 1630 and took the oath May
14, 1634. On the records of the First Church of Roxbury, in the
hand-writing of the pastor, Rev. John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, we
find: "William Chase, he came with the first Company, 1630, he brought one
child, his son William, a child of ill qualities, and a sore affliction to
his parents: he was much afflicted by the long and tedious affliction of his
wife; after his wife's recovery, she bare him a daughter, which they named
Mary, born about the middle of the third month, 1637, he did after that
remove (intending) to Situate, but after went with a company who made a new
plantation at Yarmouth."
William Chase was one of the Stephen Bachilor's company who spent the winter
of 1637-38 at Mattacheese (Yarmouth) and was the only one who remained
there after that unfortunate incident was abandoned. He was made constable
in Yarmouth in 1639 and resided there until his death in 1659.
The Roxbury Church records give an account of the affliction of William's
wife: "Mary Chase, the wife of William Chase, she had a paralytic humor
which fell into her back-bone, so that she could not stir her body, but as
she was lifted, and filled her with great torture, and caused her back-bone
to go out of joint, and bunch out from the beginning to the end, of which
infirmity she lay four years and a half, and a great part of the time a sad
spectacle of misery. But it pleased God to raise her again and she bore
children after it."
At a meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Association in Boston, June 1881,
the Rev. George E. Ellis read the foregoing extract from the church records,
stating that he had submitted the case professionally to Dr. Oliver Wendall
Holmes and had received the following reply: "My dear Dr. Ellis; A
consultation without seeing the patient is like a murder trial without the
corpus delicti being in evidence..... So I should say, carry us to the
bedside of Mary Chase; but she has been under green bedclothes so long I am
afraid 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 at all....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 them rest paralysis. The body of a hysteric patient will
take on the look of all sorts of more serious affections. 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 subjects 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 so 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 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!
it is not unlikely that she would have jumped out of bed, as many other
paralytics have done under such circumstances. She could have moves,
probably enough, if anyone could have made her believe that she had the
power of doing it. She had played possum so long that at last it become non
possum. Yours very truly, O.W. Holmes, M.D."
The William Line had their trials and the territory where they lived abounds
in the history of hideous warfare. Almost every town has its story of
Indian and outlaw outrages, the most brutal, and of defense, the most
heroic.
In 1645, William Chase enlisted as a drummer in the expedition against the
Narragansett Indians and received five shillings extra pay. Swift's
history of old Yarmouth has some accounts of William Chase. There is one
record of him that parallels the arrest of Aquila for picking pease on the
Lord's Day. "He was presented by the grand jury in 1654 for driving a yoke
of oxen five miles on the Lord's day, during the time of service." He was a
carpenter by trade. He had trouble and was censured by the court for
opposing and criticizing the minister, Mr. Matthews. He seems to have been
too broad-minded to accord with the sentiments of the time.
William and Mary Chase died in Yarmouth in 1659 and are buried there. They
had three children. The oldest, William, was born in England in 1622 and
came to New England with his parents. He lived in Yarmouth and died there
Feb. 27, 1685. He left eight children. The second child, Mary, born in
1637, died in 1652.
The youngest child, Benjamin, was born in Yarmouth in 1639 and was baptized
there April 18, 1652. He became a freeman at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in
1674. He married Phillippa Sherman, daughter of Philip and Sarah (Odding)
Sherman, in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He removed to Freetown in 1685, was
selectman that year and, also, in 1698, 1699, and 1705, was constable in
1688, and assessor in 1691. He had six children: Mary, who married Thomas
Makepeace, Sarah, who married a Hathaway, Phillippa, who married Jacob
Hathaway, Benjamin, who married Mercy Simmons, Walter, who married
Deliverance Simmons, and Barthiah, who married Joseph Dunham.
Benjamin Chase's will is dated Sept. 6, 1730, and proved July 20, 1731,
which indicates that he lived to be over ninety. Some of his descendants
are very long-lived. Whenever I feel that I am growing old, I console
myself that I am descended from two of Benjamin Chase's children, Philippa
Chase Hathaway and Walter Chase, and hope to live to the traditional old age
and be able to accomplish some of the tasks before me and to enjoy many more
reunions of the Chase Family.
***By Rev. Glenn Tilley Morse, B.D.
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Note from the Chronicles- Jan. 1910 & Oct. 1912
Judge Samuel Chase
Arthur Chase of Claremont. N.H.
JUDGE SAMUEL CHASE
It is almost impossible not to size up our ancestors and to say to ourselves
that a certain man or women was pre-eminent in the strength of a great
character. The peculiar thing is that a big man
seems to spring into prominence and not only makes but holds a big name
without apparently much preparation. We have before us a man who had but
slight education in schools and yet he came to the front equipped for any
responsibility. Samuel Chase (4), Daniel (3), Ensign Moses (2), and Aquila
(1), was such a man. His father was a miller in Sutton; his grandfather a
weaver in Newbury. Born 1707; married Mary Dudley - good stock- in 1728;
died 1800. He left a fine record in Sutton and as a full grown man he
migrated with his family to Cornish, N.H. He became at once the leading man
of the region. He was Moderator, Justice of the Peace; and the principal
agent in all controversies; Judge of the Superior Court of what is now
Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, state agent for boundaries. At about
seventy years of age he joins the regiment of his son Col. Jonathan Chase
and went to Saratoga and Bennington in 1777. He kept the vigor of his mind
and of his body to the end and died at about ninety years of age, Buried in
Cornish, New Hampshire.
*****************
ARTHUR CHASE OF CLAREMONT, N.H.
Members of the "Theta Chi" fraternity will be interested to know that we
expect to publish in a future number of "The Chronicle" a biographical
sketch of the late Arthur Chase of Claremont, N.H., who was a graduate of
Norwich University, and one of the original founders of the "Theta Chi"
society.
This sketch will be from the pen of his son, Rev. Arthur Chase, of Ware,
Mass., the accomplished author of "A History of Ware, Mass.", prepared by
him to commemorate last year the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the
founding of that town, and presenting a picture of the conditions of the
social, domestic, business and religious life of the first pioneers,
together with their subsequent development into a typical New England
community.
"The early history of Ware" says the prospectus, "is far from commonplace.
Unlike most New England settlements, made up of groups of men of like minds
and traditions, the first settlers of Ware were immigrants pure and simple,
who came to this country not so much to secure liberty of thought and
opinion, as to better the untoward conditions which surrounded the poorer
classes under the social institutions of the old world. Bringing with them
all the racial instincts and prejudices of their old world environment they
made their pitch in the pleasant Ware River Valley then known as the 'Manor
of Peace.' Here the Hon. John Read, the most eminent jurist of his day,
called John Adams "That Great Gamaliel", had conceived the unique idea of
founding a settlement after the model of an English manor, and to that end
had purchased most of the land now included in the town of Ware. Not an
acre was sold while Mr. Read lived, so at the time of his death in 1749,
nearly the whole territory was settled and occupied by peasant tenants.
Too poor to purchase land in the freehold from the wealthy syndicates of
that day, the opportunity to obtain a leasehold on favorable terms was
undoubtedly the attraction which brought the first families to Ware.
"No history of the 'Manor of Peace' has hitherto been written, nor have the
documents throwing light upon the subject been available until the last few
years. These vividly portray the life conditions of the town in its early
days.
The chapters on church and parish are extremely interesting, particularly
the parts dealing with the period of Shay's Rebellion, whose storm centre
was in this neighborhood, while those dealing with the various wars are
unusually complete. The text is no bare recital of dull facts, but is
lightened by a multitude of well authenticated traditions and anecdotes and
makes interesting reading from beginning to end. Illustrations and maps
have been carefully selected and every one is of historic value.
This history, in whose preparation Rev. Mr. Chase spend the greater part of
two years, is a fine volume of about 325 pages, issued by the University
Press of Cambridge, Mass., and is one more testimony to the ability of the
family of Chase, in which we may all take pride.
***Remember, this article was written in 1912, so the only place you might
be able to find this book would be the Public Library.
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Note from the Chronicles- April- 1912
SOME OLD HOUSES IN WEST NEWBURY
Without doubt the oldest house now standing is at the south-eastern end of
the Training Field, a short distance from the Town House. It was probably
erected by John (3) not far from 1699, and is still in good repair and not
much changed inside. The old ovens and fireplaces are intact, and the heavy
projecting beams in the ceilings. A claim is made that the house was built
by John (2) in his later days when he moved up from the river.
Daniel (2) son of Aquila (2) his brother, the lot next the Town House and
adjoining John. A nice house stands upon the lot. The property about 1708
passed into the Carr line, who had married into the Chases.
The old brick house having a patch of cement upon it, in the upper part of
the village, standing almost by itself on the left as you come from
Haverhill, (with a lot of windows) was built by Samuel, son of Ensign Moses,
probably about 1728-9, and it is said that Hannah Emery his wife, carried
the bricks in her apron from nearer the river, where today there are
evidences of a brick clay.
Ensign Moses lived a little above Prospect and Bridge Streets. He owned a
large tract running from the main road back to the river. His house is not
now standing but was in the rear of two famous houses now in good condition.
The lower or eastern half of the frontage now has upon it the well-kept
house built by Moses Jr. (3), in 1736, and is now occupied by Miss Caroline
Carr, a lineal descendent. This is the house with a long, sloping roof with
ever-green trees nearby.
Upon the upper part of the Moses (2) lot, his son, Lieut. Joseph (3) built
the fine and well preserved house painted white , having a covered well near
the upper street corner. This was built in 1755.
It was claimed at one time that nearly every house and lot on Ferry Lane,
(Bridge Street) down to the river was owned by a Chase. Across the river,
at Rocks Village, in East Haverhill, other well known Chase houses can be
pointed out, and not far away a well kept residence built by Anthony Chase
(4) a prosperous manufacturer.
Back of the Training Field on the corner of Bailey Lane where you see the
broken windmill, lived Samuel Sewall Chase (6), the subject of an article in
the January issue.
Our Chase lines are so interwoven with other leading names in the town that
we have to resist a great temptation to speak of other families and famous
houses and more famous people.
******
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
A Note from the Chase Chronicle - April 1913
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CHASE FAMILY ASSOCIATION, JUNE 27, 1913
"The Fourteenth Annual Meeting of our Association will be held on Friday,
June 27, 1913. Departing from the usual custom of holding the meeting at
some place especially connected with the early settlement by ancestors of
the Chase family, the Executive committee, recognizing the very general
desire among members to combine a pleasant excursion with the gathering of
the family, have chosen Nantasket Beach as the place for our annual reunion,
and the Atlantic House, high up upon the bluff at the end of the beach will
provide the annual banquet.
The location of this beach is delightful. From its broad piazzas the seaward
outlook is bounded only by the horizon, for the nearest land in that
direction is the coast of Europe. Below is the beautiful beach stretching
northward for three miles and ending at Point Allerton, and upon this broad
expanse of water, steamers and sailing vessels bound to or from Europe or
coastwise ports, are constantly passing, and the beach near at hand, which
has now been purchased by the state, and is conducted as a State reservation
with ample bathing houses will, after the meeting, afford opportunity for
enjoyable strolls or refreshing sea baths.
The ample parlors will furnish a delightful place for our literary exercises
and mine host Damon of the family that for more than a quarter of a century
has been the proprietors of this hotel, will provide a dinner in his usual
appetizing style, and the whole occasion will be a most enjoyable one.
Nantasket beach is reached by a delightful sail of an hour from Rowe's Warf,
Boston, on the unsurpassed steamers of the Nantasket Beach Steamboat
Company, which at that time leave Boston at 8:20 A.M., and every hour
thereafter until late in the evening, and return to Boston each hour until
10 o'clock at night, and passengers have the option of going all the way by
boat, or upon reaching the Pemberton Landing, to leave the steamer and
complete the trip by a delightful ride along the three mile beach.
Boat tickets are only 25 cents each way, making the excursion a very
inexpensive one. Band concerts at the beach during the day and evening, and
the varied performances at Paragon Park give additional entertainment after
our meeting is over, and make the day's outing, a long or short one as may
be preferred.
The President, Rev. Jason F. Chase, will preside at the meeting, and the
general exercises, which will include music, speaking, etc, will be in
charge of a special committee, consisting of Hon. Wm. H. Gove of Salem,
chairman; Joshua H. Chase of Brockton; Chas. Dyer Chase of Boston; Albert H.
Lamson of Elkins, N. H.; Mrs. Emma Chase Thwing of Boston, who, later on,
will issue a circular giving fuller details."
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Note from the Chronicles- Oct. - 1912
"Our Maine Cousins"
A letter from Margaretta Chase Higgins
"OUR MAINE COUSINS"
Dear Editor and Readers of the Chronicle:
>From this distant city, I send you a most cordial greeting. Though a
stranger to most of you, I call you friends, because I know you through the
medium of the Chronicle.
Perhaps some of you would like to know a little bit about your Maine
cousins. Our great grandfather, Eleazer Chase, came from Newbury, Mass., to
Windham, Maine, to aid in defense against the Indians. He did not return to
Newbury, but settled in Windham, and married Jeanette Elder.
Eight children were born of this union. The fourth, Isaac, born December
12, 1757, was our grandfather. He married Lois Smith, the daughter of a
white father and Indian mother, names unknown.
The father of Lois went to sea and never returned and the mother, taking the
baby, went back to her tribe. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, not wanting the child
brought up by the Indians, adopted her, gave her their name and brought her
to Maine, where my grandfather met and married her.
They settled in Standish, Maine, when the country was a wilderness and there
was but one family beside themselves within miles. They built them a log
cabin in which their nine children were born. By thrift and economy, they
prospered and later built a substantial frame house where they spent the
rest of their lives. The old home has always been kept in the family, and
now belongs to a grandson.
We, in our age of comforts and advantages, can hardly realize the hardships
they endured, and the struggles for existence of those early days. Yet they
were happy and contented, bringing up their sturdy boys and girls to become
useful citizens. They were given all the advantages of education that the
times afforded.
I never saw my grandparents, but have heard my older brothers and sisters
say that the only thing that they remembered of our grandmother was her
sitting with her open Bible upon her knees.
Our father was David Chase, the fifth child of Isaac and Lois. He married
Hannah Phinney, a descendant of one of the first settlers of Gorham, and
they settled in Standish about a mile from the home of grandfather.
Of the nine children born to them, who grew to man and womanhood, five are
now living. These, with one cousin, John Chase, are the last of our
generation.
A pleasant memory of my childhood days is frequent visits to my aunts and
uncles who lived at the old homestead. In the kitchen was a large
fireplace, which they used for cooking for many years. There was the old
high-backed, red settle made by my father and now owned by my brother.
We used to sit there and listen to the interesting stories of their early
lives, encounters with wild cats and many exciting tales told by the old
folks.
There was a "tin-kitchen"* so called, in which they used to bake biscuits
before the fire. Never were such biscuits.
My father was full of life and energy and was a young man when he died.
I was born in Standish, Sept. 6, 1842. I married Henry A. Higgins of
Standish, who has been in the Treasury Department in Washington for many
years.
My married life has been spent in this city. We have had two sons, one
dying in infancy. The other, Reginald H. HIggins, went to Boston at the age
of 22 and practiced law there for ten years. His health failing, he
returned to Washington, married and now lives here.
We have an association of the descendants of Isaac and Lois, numbering 343
members. We have yearly reunions, when we renew old friendships, and make
new ones among the younger members of the association. We hope at some time
to join hands with you in your reunions, and we wish you all prosperity and
happiness.
Your loyal kinswoman,
Margaretta Chase Higgins
* Should be "yankee baker" - "Tin kitchens" were for roasting meat or fowls
on a spit.
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Can any one tell me about @home.com
is good or bad? I want to be able to get
on line, do genealogy, but I hear it is
down a lot. Can anyone help me on this?
Will Chase
Please note I will be unsubbing 27, 28th & resub, using
hatchase(a)uswest.net
Found in "The Village Cemetery", Essex Jct. VT
George J. Chase 1815-1907; his wife Sarah, 1817-1889
Who appears to be number 1548 in the "Seven Generations......."
notes they were in Essex Jct. Vt, 1872.
Other data from cemetery listing:
Matilda Chase 1862-1960; Baby; Ruth H ; Mother;Herbert W Chase
1864-1914; John J Chase 8th Reg. VT Vol, 1843-1909,
Ezra (could it be?; Mary; Betsy; Claude G 1872-1954; Polina
S 1847-1933; Charles H (Baby)
Dare I hope? Harriet
-----
Sent using MailStart.com ( http://MailStart.Com/welcome.html )
The FREE way to access your mailbox via any web browser, anywhere!
Sheila, the following is from the January 1931 issue of the Chase Chronicle.
**********************************
A wondering ancestor is a very special nuisance. How, for example, can you
prove that the John Smith who was in Cambridge one year is the same John
Smith who was in Springfield the next? There is one pretty good way. The
old-time New England towns had an institution of "warnings" which became
public records. Any newcomer who didn't by real estate was likely to be
"warned" out of town lest, eventually, he became a town charge.
The ancestor of many an illustrious person today was warned from some of our
best communities. A great-great-grandfather (or maybe it was
great-great-great-) of Calvin Coolidge was thus asked to leave a town in
Worcester County. But that's nothing against the man. and it did help the
genealogist."
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Sorry if you receive duplicate messages from me on some information that I
have received in the past few weeks. I hope that they make it though. This
is like a test to see if they do make it to the site.
Sheila
Researching Family surnames: STRATTON, WHITNEY,
RUGG, INGRAHAM, CORWIN, BROCKWAY,
and, of course, PEEL and many more.
Take a look at my family history file!
http://www.my-ged.com/peel/
Administrator for the following mailing lists:
RUGG-L(a)rootsweb.com
FENTON-L(a)rootsweb.com
WYMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com
LABARR-L(a)rootsweb.com
PACKHAM-L(a)rootsweb.com
This entry is from the NEH&GR, July 1916 page 283.
Northbridge (Mass.) Records -
The following entries were found in the town records of Northbridge, Mass.:
November 24, 1775. This day was warned out of the Town of Northbridge as
the Law Directs Nathaniel Chase and Rachel Chase his wife and Ruben Chase
and Nathaniel Chase, Children of the said Nathaniel and Rachel Chase, said
Nathaniel, Rachel, Ruben and Nathaniel Chase all came from the Town of
Sutton on the tenth Day of December Last.
The same Day was warned out of the town of Northbridge as the Law Directs
Jacob Chaise and Mary Chaise, wife of the said Jacob Chaise and Jonathan
Chaise, Child of the said Jacob and Mary Chaise, all of which came from the
Town of Sutton in the month of January Last to reside in the Town of
Northbridge; the aforesaid persons all warned out by Samuel Baldwin,
Constable of Northbridge.
I am not sure what warned out of town means. Maybe someone could enlighten
me.
Thanks,
Sheila Stratton-Peel
Researching Family surnames: STRATTON, WHITNEY,
RUGG, INGRAHAM, CORWIN, BROCKWAY,
and, of course, PEEL and many more.
Take a look at my family history file!
http://www.my-ged.com/peel/
Administrator for the following mailing lists:
RUGG-L(a)rootsweb.com
FENTON-L(a)rootsweb.com
WYMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com
LABARR-L(a)rootsweb.com
PACKHAM-L(a)rootsweb.com
From: "Sheila A. Stratton-Peel" <heritage(a)usadatanet.net>
To: "Chase Research Group" <CHASE-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2000 1:14 PM
Subject: American Ancestry, Volume V., 1890.
I bought a few volumes of these books that were in the Wyoming Historical
and Geological Society. This one that I am citing from was owned by Sidney
R. Miner, and dated 1890.
There are two citations about the Chase family within this volume. The
first is:
CHASE, William Thomas of Boston, Mass., b. at Hollowell, Me., July 11,
1839,
chaplain 4th U S volunteers 1863-64, grad. Waterville Coll. 1865. A. M.
Colby University 1868, grad. Newton Theolog. Inst. 1869, pastor Dover, NH,
1869-74, Lewiston, Me., 1874-79, Cambridge, Mass., 1879-84, D. D. Chicago
University 1884, Minneapolis, Minn., 1884-89, Boston, Mass. since 1889
(married October 5, 1869, Hannah Marstin) son of William of North Berwick,
Me., b. there May 21, 1809, d. there Jam. 9, 1852 (mar. Mary H. Roberts);
son of John of North Berwick, b. there Aug. 7, 1781 (mar. Jan. 4, 1807,
Margaret Brock); son of John of North Berwick, b. at Kittery, Me., 1749 (m.
Hannah Dennett); son of Josiah of Kittery, Me., b. Newbury, NH., Nov. 30,
1713, d. at Kittery, Me., Dec. 17, 1778, grad Harvard Coll. 1738 (m. Apr.
5,
1743, Sarah Tufts); son of Thomas of Newbury, NH, b. there Sept. 15,1680
(marr. Sarah Dutton); son of Thomas, b. at Newbury July 25, 1654 (marr.
Nov.
22, 1671, Rebecca Follonsby); son of Aquila, b. in England 1618 was amount
the first settlers of Hampton, NH, 1640 (marr. Anne Wheeler)
{{{{This is going to be controversial, I am sure but I am writing it
verbatim}}}}
continued: Aquila, son of Sir Richard b. Chesham, England,
1537 (marr. Lady Elizabeth Bowchier); son of Sir William of Chesham, d.
1544, high steward to household of King Henry VIII of England.
Although the last of this entry is controversial, I hope that the beginning
has some merit for someone looking for this particular line.
Sheila Stratton-Peel
Researching Family surnames: STRATTON, WHITNEY,
RUGG, INGRAHAM, CORWIN, BROCKWAY,
and, of course, PEEL and many more.
Take a look at my family history file!
http://www.my-ged.com/peel/
Administrator for the following mailing lists:
RUGG-L(a)rootsweb.com
FENTON-L(a)rootsweb.com
WYMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com
LABARR-L(a)rootsweb.com
PACKHAM-L(a)rootsweb.com
A note from the Chase Chronicles - Jan. 1921
A SOUTHERN BRANCH OF CHASES
"William Craycraft Chase was born in West Finley Township, Washington
County, Pennsylvania. When about twenty-one years of age he left
Pennsylvania and traveled down into Arkansas and Tennessee buying land in
both states and finally settling in Memphis, Tennessee, where he married,
lived and died.
William was the son of Abraham Chase and Elizabeth Cracraft, daughter of
Major Charles Cracraft of Virginia and Pennsylvania (a Revolutionary soldier
of some distinction) and of Eleanor Atkinson, whose father also took part in
the Revolution.
Abraham Chase was the oldest son of Abner Chase (Wm 1, Wm 2, Wm 3, Nathaniel
4, Barnabas5. ) and Abigail Scranton who was married in Dartmouth. Abner
emigrated with his family to Washington, County, Pennsylvania in the fall of
1802. Abraham was just twenty-one and he and Elizabeth Cracraft were married
December 19, 1803. Ruth Chase the sister of Abraham married Joseph Cracraft,
brother of Elizabeth, a few months later. Abraham Chase and Elizabeth
Cracraft had sixteen children all born in Washington, County, Pennsylvania.
In 1833 when his youngest living child was nearly five years old, Abraham
moved with most of his family and his mother, Abigail Chase, to Illinois. He
had made several trips out there and with two of the older sons had built a
log house to receive the family. He settled in Adams County, not far from
Quincy, Illinois and near the present site of the town of Fowler which was
afterwards built on part of his land.
Two of Abraham's sons married and remained in Pennsylvania. William Cracraft
Chase and Isaac Chase settled in Memphis before the family exodus to
Illinois. His other children married and settled near him in Adams county,
later moving to Ohio and Kansas. Abraham died at the old Chase homestead in
Adams County in 1868, aged 87. Dr. Isaac Chase died in Memphis in 1858,
unmarried. William Cracraft Chase died in Memphis of yellow fever. He
married Mary Ann Joiner of Memphis, daughter of Zacheus Joiner (born in Pitt
County, North Carolina) and Annie Bowen (born in White County, Tennessee).
Their children were all born in Memphis."
Same Issue
"Daniel Chase, son of Eber and Mary Knowles Chase, of Swansea, Mass.,
(William 3, William 2, William 1). He inherited of his father by a deed of
gift eighty acres of land adjoining the homestead farm. In 1747, he was
fined $67.76, for refusing to bear arms and Apr. 2, 1750 was in prison for
being a conscientious objector. He and his wife were members of the Friends
Church at South Somerset, Mass., They were both under discipline for not
marrying after the custom of friends and after making an acknowledgement
they were both restored to full membership. He was appointed on a committee
with Jonathan Luther and Philip Chase, to take care of the meeting house and
yard, Nov. 1752, he with Benjamin Buffington, was a committee to attend the
marriage ceremony of Samuel Fowler and Hannah Bowen, to see that it was
properly consummated."
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
I bought a few volumes of these books that were in the Wyoming Historical
and Geological Society. This one that I am citing from was owned by Sidney
R. Miner, and dated 1890.
There are two citations about the Chase family within this volume. The
first is:
CHASE, William Thomas of Boston, Mass., b. at Hollowell, Me., July 11, 1839,
chaplain 4th U S volunteers 1863-64, grad. Waterville Coll. 1865. A. M.
Colby University 1868, grad. Newton Theolog. Inst. 1869, pastor Dover, NH,
1869-74, Lewiston, Me., 1874-79, Cambridge, Mass., 1879-84, D. D. Chicago
University 1884, Minneapolis, Minn., 1884-89, Boston, Mass. since 1889
(married October 5, 1869, Hannah Marstin) son of William of North Berwick,
Me., b. there May 21, 1809, d. there Jam. 9, 1852 (mar. Mary H. Roberts);
son of John of North Berwick, b. there Aug. 7, 1781 (mar. Jan. 4, 1807,
Margaret Brock); son of John of North Berwick, b. at Kittery, Me., 1749 (m.
Hannah Dennett); son of Josiah of Kittery, Me., b. Newbury, NH., Nov. 30,
1713, d. at Kittery, Me., Dec. 17, 1778, grad Harvard Coll. 1738 (m. Apr. 5,
1743, Sarah Tufts); son of Thomas of Newbury, NH, b. there Sept. 15,1680
(marr. Sarah Dutton); son of Thomas, b. at Newbury July 25, 1654 (marr. Nov.
22, 1671, Rebecca Follonsby); son of Aquila, b. in England 1618 was amount
the first settlers of Hampton, NH, 1640 (marr. Anne Wheeler)
{{{{This is going to be controversial, I am sure but I am writing it
verbatim}}}} continued: Aquila, son of Sir Richard b. Chesham, England,
1537 (marr. Lady Elizabeth Bowchier); son of Sir William of Chesham, d.
1544, high steward to household of King Henry VIII of England.
Although the last of this entry is controversial, I hope that the beginning
has some merit for someone looking for this particular line.
Sheila Stratton-Peel
Researching Family surnames: STRATTON, WHITNEY,
RUGG, INGRAHAM, CORWIN, BROCKWAY,
and, of course, PEEL and many more.
Take a look at my family history file!
http://www.my-ged.com/peel/
Administrator for the following mailing lists:
RUGG-L(a)rootsweb.com
FENTON-L(a)rootsweb.com
WYMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com
LABARR-L(a)rootsweb.com
PACKHAM-L(a)rootsweb.com
Ed, I gave you everything that the book has about Benjamin.
I did, however, make one teeny, tiny mistake - Benjamin descends from Thomas
Chase, not Aquila! I just discovered that while looking again.
Sandy
This entry is from the NEH&GR, July 1916 page 283.
Northbridge (Mass.) Records -
The following entries were found in the town records of Northbridge, Mass.:
November 24, 1775. This day was warned out of the Town of Northbridge as
the Law Directs Nathaniel Chase and Rachel Chase his wife and Ruben Chase
and Nathaniel Chase, Children of the said Nathaniel and Rachel Chase, said
Nathaniel, Rachel, Ruben and Nathaniel Chase all came from the Town of
Sutton on the tenth Day of December Last.
The same Day was warned out of the town of Northbridge as the Law Directs
Jacob Chaise and Mary Chaise, wife of the said Jacob Chaise and Jonathan
Chaise, Child of the said Jacob and Mary Chaise, all of which came from the
Town of Sutton in the month of January Last to reside in the Town of
Northbridge; the aforesaid persons all warned out by Samuel Baldwin,
Constable of Northbridge.
I am not sure what warned out of town means. Maybe someone could enlighten
me.
Thanks,
Sheila Stratton-Peel
Researching Family surnames: STRATTON, WHITNEY,
RUGG, INGRAHAM, CORWIN, BROCKWAY,
and, of course, PEEL and many more.
Take a look at my family history file!
http://www.my-ged.com/peel/
Administrator for the following mailing lists:
RUGG-L(a)rootsweb.com
FENTON-L(a)rootsweb.com
WYMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com
LABARR-L(a)rootsweb.com
PACKHAM-L(a)rootsweb.com
Benjamin "Chace" appears as "Chase" in the "Seven Generations" book as family
87, 6th generation (Timothy5, Abraham4, Abraham3, Lt. Isaac2, Aquila1). The
book gives that he was born in Tisbury 2 Mar 1779, married on 20 Feb 1805
Alice Fosset Spalding, b. 29 Feb 1788 in Brooklyn, CT, d. of Dr. Rufus and
Lydia Spalding. No children are recorded in Tisbury.
Sandy Chase
Mary Jean - We have it on CD at our local FHC. If you get no other answers,
I'll take a look at it for you on next Tuesday. Jeanne T. Lane
>
>______________________________
Hi Mary Jean,
You wanted to know if the family of Ichabod Chase ( Job, Joseph, William,
William) was continued in Vol. 88. Volume 87 (of NEHGS) ends with the
children of Ichabod Chase and his wife Phebe Slade. Also included are the
grandchildren- children of each child of Ichabod and Phebe.
More descendants of William Chase are listed in the next volume, starting
with Benjamin Chase (of Stephen, Joseph, William, William). The Chase
Family is listed through the 6th generation from William the Immigrant, and
in some cases, the seventh - as it does with Ichabod and his family.
Sometimes the most difficult thing is to connect the seventh generation to
the eighth. In my own case, I knew the eighth generation and the
descendants, but had a difficult time connecting to the listed seventh.
Is Ichabod your family?
Judy Chace Needham
jcneedham1(a)home.com