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by Laura Chase Smith, Dutton Press, 1903
Chapter XXVII To Michigan and Back
It was Easter Day, 1832, that the Bishop administered the Holy Communion for
the last time in Ohio. This was in an unconsecrated building five miles from
the Valley of Peace. The occasion was very solemn, and the congregation
large and attentive.
Upon returning home the Bishop found an unexpected guest in Mr. Bezaleel
Well of Ohio, a very dear friend, the father of his son's Dudley's wife in
after years. At this time the plan was formed for the Bishop to accompany
Mr. Well on a visit to his son, who had just settled on Prairie Ronde in the
then Territory of Michigan. This was a long journey, more than three hundred
miles, and the road lay through the Black Swamp. Deep anxiety was depicted
on the faces of his family as this subject was discussed; but it was finally
decided that the father should go, although he would be absent for five or
six weeks; and meantime the family must be left in the Ohio woods.
The country to which the friends were bound was the St. Joseph country, well
known now as the most beautiful part of southern and western Michigan.
Early on Monday morning the big white horse, "Sod" was shod by the
neighboring blacksmith and all things were set in order. The Bishop was
mounted and, in the company of Mr. Wells and his son, was on his way to
Michigan. A long and tedious journey ensued over bridgeless rivers and
through the deep mud of the Maumee Swamp.
The Rev. Dudley Chase tells this story of the Bishop's journey through the
swamp:
"Five miles with loaded wagon was considered a good day's journey through
this region. To horsemen it was not so bad. But imagine two dignified
gentlemen in broadcloth surmounting this obstacle. They must have been
greatly altered in appearance, with perhaps unshaven beards and muddy
garments,for they were arrested and detained a day or two as suspected
characters by some pursuing Sheriff."
It was Friday night when they reached the place called Adams Mill, on one of
the streams of the St. Joseph river, where the landlord of a log-cabin
tavern told the Bishop of some better land that he could find miles of this
place, and went on to say that "Within eight miles of this place, to the
southeast, there is a charming limpid lake surrounded with high burr oak and
prairie land interspersed with portions of lofty timber for building. The
streams are of clear and running water, and like the lake, abound, in the
finest kind of fish.These lands are now open for market and may be entered
by any one going to White Pigeon, where the land office is kept."
The Bishop replied by asking a question, "Will you show me these lands if I
stay with you a day or two?" To which the landlord replied, "If I do not,
Mr. Adams, the owner of the sawmill, will. I will furnish him with a horse;
and a man who lives near us shall go along with you on foot with his rifle,
to kill game and keep off the wolves."
The prospect seemed very inviting to the Bishop, and he could not resist the
temptation to visit this beautiful land. Mr. Well and his son proceeded on
their journey. Notice was given to the few settlers at these mills that
divine service would be held and a sermon preached on the morrow. The day
proved fine and nearly all the inhabitants attended. This was the first time
the Prayer Book had ever been use for public worship in all the St. Joseph
country.
On Monday Mr. Judson's pony was made ready, Mr. Adams and Thomas Holmes were
in waiting.The weather was mild and the streams of water were soon crossed.
The party took the Indian trial leading from the Notowassipi tribe of
aborigines to another tribe. On this trail they had travelled through grassy
land, studded with trees, when they came in sight of a lake of pure
water and sloping banks, thinly covered with trees. the lake itself was of
an irregular shape and about a mile an half long. It had a promontory
running into it, covered with trees of peculiar, majestic grace, in the
manner of the fine rookeries of England.
The new verdue was like thrifty wheat on newly rolled land, when it has
attained enough of height to cover the ground, waving in the breeze and
glistening in the sunbeams. In short, the Bishop was delighted with this
beautiful country; even its loneliness was an added charm to him. Here he
decided to make his home; he spent the next day in riding about, looking the
land over, and giving it the name of Gilead, which it still bears.
(Remember his father naming the land near Bethel, VT; Gilead?)
Before night a family was discovered already on the ground. A few logs had
been rolled together around a space of nine or ten feet square, a covering
put over it, six feet high on one side, five on the other; in this was Mr.
John Croy with his wife and three or four children. This obliging family at
once recognized the need of giving lodging to three stout men; though they
were obliged to sleep on the ground, there being no floor to the dwelling.
Mr. Croy gave them a hearty welcome and a breakfast of fresh fish, caught
the evening before, in that same beautiful sheet of water, now called Gilead
Lake.
The Bishop soon after this went to the land office thirty miles away, and
entered and paid for the farm in this Land of Gilead. The price was one
dollar and a quarter an acre. As he returned from White Pigeom, he engaged a
carpenter to find materials and draw them to the newly named place. Gilead,
and put up a cabin fourteen feet square for a poughman and his family.
The poughman was hired at the same time to break up fifty acres of prairie
land; all this was done very quickly, to allow of a crop of sod-corn and
potatoes the same year. This was done with great difficulty, because the
Sauk War had called all the neighbors in the surrounding settlements to bear
arms against the Indian army with the famous Black Hawk as its head; thus
most of the work was done by himself.
On his own exertions and God's blessings in them, the Bishop says, he looks
back with amazement. The sound of war was nothing to his ears, compared with
the wants of his dear family and children left in the Valley of Peace. They
must be moved on this summer, and with the general want of provisions which
the war must occasion, nothing could save them from starving but the
blessing of God on his exertions to raise a crop.
The view of things gave him energy, both of body an mind. In this labor he
spent several weeks, each day "following the ploughman with abase of Indian
corn, depositing three or four kernels every two feet in every third
farrow,close to the land side so that the seed will come up between the
interstices and need no tillage until ripe for harvest; and thus he
ministered to his own necessities in the week-days, while every Sunday he
sought a field of spiritual labor in neighboring settlements ten to twelve
miles off. During this period he had no bed in Gilead, but a rough board,
yet he caught no cold nor suffered otherwise in health.
As soon as the seed for his crop was in, he returned to Ohio. The big white
horse, "Sol" was put on board a steamer at Detroit and landed at Sandusky
Bay at night, and before day he a had proceeded far on his way toward the
Valley of Peace. One day more brought him to that lonely spot.
END Chapter XXVII
Harriet M. Chase hatchase(a)uswest.net
We are now making a more careful search of the Chase Chronicles for articles
that may have been skipped over before, probably because they were not as
interesting to us as the ones that we posted. There are approximately 1,000
pages in our chronicles collection and we will "scrape the bottom of the
barrel", so to speak, if you would like to see a few articles such as those
below.
Another note from the Chase Chronicles - Jan. 1910
CHASE CHARACTERISTICS
"A composite photograph of fifty faces brings out one which combines the
features of many. Let us take some of the earlier generations and see what
can be called leading tendencies.
They were Godly.
There is no exception in any records at our disposal. Our ancestors were
deacons and the leading people in the churches. They brought up their
families in the practice of religion as it was interpreted in their days. In
a great many cases the stones show the title of deacon; and though grave
stones are not always the best witnesses, still the tone is right. Nor do we
find any breach of morals or any bad man among the early Chases. Still we
must own up to one terrible example; Aquila and Ann did pick peas on a
Sunday; but they paid their fines.
They were prudent.
There is no record of any Chase being aided by the town. Nearly all left
good estates; some of them running up into the thousands. They were a
thrifty lot. How they did it with such big families to support and to
educate is a problem that this generation had better be studying.
They were loyal.
We had occasion recently to go over the early records of Massachusetts, to
see where the Chase family in Newbury stood in relation to enlistments. We
found that nearly every member of the family of proper age was at some time
a soldier and that some enlisted several times. While none held high rank,
all were loyal. They left their farms or their trades promptly and could
always be counted. We have a full record of this and it is very gratifying.
They were enterprising.
Aquila's sons made new homes for themselves at an early age. They had good
farms and good buildings. There was no loafing among any of the early
generations. The places are well known today. They show thrift and good
judgement. The sons of Thomas (1) were also men of good standing and bore an
excellent record.
They had strong minds.
Look at the children of the second and third generation. Several college
men, some finely educated who have made their mark in the world. The parents
transmitting good strong intellect and the children did credit to their
parents. Senators, bishops, judges."
Same issue.
CHASE CLAIMS
"It seems almost ridiculous to warn any of our kin not to get mixed up with
any adventurer who proposes to bring great riches to any Chase if they will
only contribute towards the expenses of collection. This nonsense has been
ventilated so many times that it would seem as if no one could be fooled.
But within a few months a firm in Pennsylvania has been sending out
circulars with the same old yarn. Now, Chase, kinsmen, don't get fooled!
Save your money and don't support a lot of sharpers; there's nothing in it."
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Part quote from previous posting;<<<Mr. Caswall's narrative of the
Bishop's withdrawal from Kenyon is
exceedingly touching. .............................
......................
Yet, before parting I took the liberty of assuring the Bishop of my firm
belief that posterity, at least would do him justice.<<<<
Indeed! Philander's succeeding generations have been doing this man justice.
Direct family members look to him with "humbled" pride, diocese in which he
was once Bishop use his work as examples of "how to do it", universities
have collections of his communications, "most" Chases look to him with
admiration, albeit some feel they have been "Philandered to death".
Several states "claim him": Vermont, New Hampshire, Ohio and Illinois to
name just a few.
For this writer I can look at this man (and don't forget his wives) who
worked right along side him, and say: "Oh, sounds like typical Chase and
Yankee forth rightness, tenacity, perseverance and maybe just a "weee" bit
of stubbornness. A man who worked and sacrificed for those things which he
believed he was called to do.
Harriet Chase
by Laura Chase Smith, Dutton Press. 1903
Chapter XXVI AN END AND A BEGINNING
(Please note in this chapter as in the others, the quotes are "rather
difficult" to follow. It would seem that is was common to start a quotation
with the ", but not necessarily end it with a "
Also as in this day's writings; a quote within a quote is marked with a '
quote '
As the saying goes in some parts of the world: Clear? as mud")
Harriet
This history would not be complete without some word on what proved to be
the great crisis of Bishop Chase's life. It is difficult to think a public
service in which there were greater sacrifices, and the sacrifice this
chapter deals with is unique in the history of our Church.
For reasons that readers will readily understand, this chapter is given into
the hands of one perfectly unbiased, who has gone over the history with
great care, and who, born and educated in another land, has weighed the
facts disinterestedly yet sympathetically. He says:
"A controversy sprang up out of the darkness, involving all for which them
Bishop had lived and labored and sacrificed. The history of this controversy
is pathetic beyond words. There has been nothing quite like in the American
Church, and please God, there will not be again. The element of romance runs
all through the Bishop's handling of the questions at issue.
He never forsakes his own high ground, and, in entire accord with his whole
career, his greatest concern is that the work given him to do shall not
suffer. Sacrifice had threaded, as the wolf the warp, the Bishop's whole
life. No man ever faced trail with a finer courage or met disappointment
with a sublimer confidence in God. When the national legislature denied his
petition for a grant of land for the support of Kenyon, after he spent one
part of one winter in Washington, his hopes buoyed up by the support of the
Legislature of Ohio and by the strong advocacy of the ablest men in
Congress, he writes of this bitter disappointment: 'God, I trust has heard
my prayer, composed my mind, strengthened my faith, elevated my hopes,
directed my thoughts. Blessed His Name, He hath done, doth now, and always
will do all things well.'
The Bishop controversy with the faculty of Kenyon and his diocese developed
with amazing rapidity, and the issue of it was drawn on sharply and suddenly
by his own supreme sacrifice. 'He had nourished and brought up children and
they rebelled against him.'
He had accomplished the seemingly impossible, by his own gigantic faith and
energy had brought Kenyon on to a degree of prosperity and efficiency that
made the control and management of it an object that stimulated the ambition
of the covetous and designing. One reads the sad story with wide-open eyes,
and wonders that this great missionary of the West could have been so
treated by his own children in the faith.
The crux of the controversy was the Bishop's supremacy in the management of
the theological seminary. His great aim was the maintenance of a seminary of
learning where men might be trained for the sacred ministry, that the
scattered sheep of his vast diocese might be shepherded. The East neither
could nor would supply him with men. He was thrown upon the necessity of
training his own men, and this he saw with the vision of a statesman and
prophet when he first touched the soil of Ohio.
Kenyon now, with its preparatory, collegiate, and theological
departments,had gown into an institution of the largest promise for the
Western world. The Bishop was the ruling head necessarily, as well as
"ex-efficio"president of the faculty and the Board of Trustees.
The movement against the Bishop took the form of a plan to depose him from
his actual supramacy and to make him a mere figure-head, depriving him of a
vote even in reference to all questions coming before the faculty except in
the case of a tie. This movement was tied up with an organized plan to merge
the theological department into the collegiate, and so practically balk and
render ineffective the Bishop's greater motive in founding Kenyon.
The attack centered on the Bishop's supremacy. As a matter of fact arbitrary
power was not possible. His own control was controlled by the powers vested
in the Board of Trustees. But he was dominant, supreme in his moral
influence; and it could not be other wise, for he was the very breath of the
life to Kenyon.
The real gist of the controversy is thus defined in his own clear words:
'The great principle on which all donations to Ohio were asked and given,
was that there should be a theological seminary, and the Bishop, for the
time being should be the head of it, that is have a controlling influence,
according to the canons, over the whole. This was the foundation laid at the
bottom, antecedent to all legislation on the subject. It was the first idea
struck the mind of every donor. It formed the basis of his motives of
giving, and the conditions of his gift. It was the heart and soul of the
contract between the donor and the donee; a contract which neither the
Legislature, nor the Diocese of Ohio, nor any human power could righteously
annul.
Yet this plain and fundamental principle was set aside by the Diocese of
Ohio. A college(it was alleged) had been annexed to the seminary; into this
college the seminary had been merged and lost so as to dismiss the principle
above named. The institution, they affirmed, must be government by a
president having no espiscopal character.'
"Again, he says: Kenyon College is like other colleges in some respects, and
unlike all in many other respects. One fundamental principle in which it
differs from all others, is that the whole institution is patriarchal. Like
Abraham on the plains of Mamre, it hath pitched its tent under the trees of
Gambier Hill; it hath its flocks and its herds, and its different families
of teachers, scholars, mechanics, and laborers; all united under one
head,pursuing one common interests, and receiving their maintenance and food
from
one common source, the funds and farms of the college.
This patriarchal establishment, it is obvious, must have a father, and that
father must be clothed with authority to seek the common good. ______ Gaurd
his power against abuses; but, for the common interests, preserve its entire
_____ So long as the trustees, who possess the power of correcting abuses,
are elected every three years, and can meet whenever they please to
investigate all subjects of complaint, there is safety. _____If here be not
safety, I know not where it is' (blanks are in the book)
<Vol ii p. 122 , "Reminiscences">
The Rev. Henry Caswell in his "America and the American Church," himself at
this time a student in Kenyon, and very familiar with all the details of the
controversy and the spirit in which it was carried on, says:
'The patriarchal authority of the Bishop appeared to the professors
undefinable, and therefore absolute in its very nature. And as Gambier was a
secluded place in the midst of deep woods, the Bishop and professors
resembled the captain and officers of a solitary ship at sea, meeting few
persons but one another. Hence little irritations were aggravated, while the
chances of collision were greatly aggravated, by the manifold relations in
which the Bishop stood to every individual connected with the institution.He
was not only Bishop of the Diocese, and Rector of the parish; but President
of the Convention, of the Board of Trustees, of the Professors,and of the
little societies formed by the residents at Gambier. He had the appointment
of professors, tutors, headmen and clerks.
He was the postmaster, and had the management of the mill, the farms, the
printing office, the tailors, the shoemakers, and the laborers.'
The economic headship of the Bishop was inevitable. Kenyon was the outgrowth
of his own genius and energy; but the opportunity for friction and
controversy was consequently increased.
These questions the Bishop brought before the Convention in his address,
with the frankness, straight-forwardness, and courage with which he always
faced both difficulty and opposition. His enemies had done an enormous
amount of work in the dark, and when the Convention met both their plan of
attack and their workers were well in hand. Just before the convention an
accident happened to the Bishop while going through the unfinished Rosse
Chapel, and he was so disabled that he was compelled to give his Convention
address seated and withdrew immediately afterwards.
It was strange Providence, for, had he been able to preside during the
deliberations of the Convention his great personality would undoubtedly have
place an enormous restraint upon his enemies. In his absence they wrought
their own will. And that will was practically to dethrone the Bishop as
President of the institution into which he had poured all the energies of
his life.
The history of the notable Convention is by no means agreeable reading. It
compels one to think very poorly of some qualities in human nature. The
Presidency of Kenyon College had become a prize worth coveting. If the
Bishop's hands could be tied and he would consent to the process, the hands
that had controlled Kenyon hitherto would no longer be effective. This was
the last thing he would consent to do.
He had all the temperament and qualities of a born general. He could not be
Bishop and head and voluntarily consent to be manacled. But he could make a
great sacrifice, and this he did.
His own words have a strange, holy passion in them as he faced this tragedy.
He says,
'Dark and mysterious as the cloud of Divine Providence was, he found
himself wrapped in its awful folds, and from it there was no escape. The
only hope that glimmered in the horizon was that the Seminary itself, the
child of his first love and best affections, might be saved by the sacrifice
of its Parent and Founder; and by the choice of a successor all things might
be brought back to the righteous course designed by the donors.'
< Reminiscences, vol ii, p. 107
The history of this period would be not be complete without the Bishop's own
letter of resignation to the Convention as follows:
' To the Clergy and Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese
of Ohio, assembled, on this 9th day of September, 1831.
BRETHERAN: We have heard this day a sermon preached by the Rev. Ethan Allen
from God's Word, which I desire him to publish, that we MUST LIVE IN
PEACE,or cannot be Christians; that to secure peace, especially that of
God's Church, great sacrifices must sometimes be made. Influenced by these
principles, I am willing, in order to secure the peace of God's Church and
that of our beloved Seminary, in addition to the sacrifices which, by the
grace of God, have already been made, to resign; and I do hereby resign the
Episcopate of this Diocese, and with it, what I consider constitutionally
identified, the Presidency of the Theological Seminary of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Ohio. The convention will make this known
to the Trustees, whom I am no longer to meet in my official capacity.
Philander Chase'
It looked as though the sacrifice the Bishop was making was too great,that
neither Kenyon,nor the Diocese of Ohio, nor the general Church ought to have
permitted this great servant of the people to cut himself off from the work
that he had nourished and brought on to such strength. Alas! The general
Church knew nothing about it until it was done. Ohio was then in the
wilderness; there was neither railroad nor telegraph to tell the greater
world of the tragedy which meant so much for the Bishop, for the Diocese,
for his friends both in American and England, his family, for the general
church at large, and for the spiritual needs of future generations.
This deed was done. God grant that never more shall there be such another!
The story goes on sadly enough, and after all, when the facts of the whole
proceedings are looked squarely in the face, and when it is considered what
they meant, one can but regret that more time had not been taken before the
great decision was made. However, events have since been so ordered that
another great diocese has been founded, hundred miles to the West, by the
same indomitable man; hundreds of churches have been built, and for many
years, another school lived and prospered and sent out workers for the
Church at large. Just now, however, we are to go on with the Bishop and his
young son to the only home open to them.
Mr. Caswall's narrative of the Bishop's withdrawal from Kenyon is
exceedingly touching. "The feelings of Bishop Chase," he says, in parting
from Kenyon College soon after the adjournment of the Convention, I had an
opportunity of observing the intensity of his indignation at what he deemed
the heartless course adopted by the Diocesan Convention. He had thought it
possible that its members would make almost any sacrifice rather than
consent to a severance of their connection with their ecclesiastical head.
The vehicle which was to convey him and his family to their new abode was
soon in readiness, Before quitting the College the Bishop pointed
significantly to a picture of King Lear, which for some time had decorated
his own apartment. In a few words he expressed to me his sense of the
applicability of the subject to his own circumstances. I accompanied the
Bishop part of the way on horseback ______ The builders, the mechanics, and
the workmen had ranged themselves in file, to say farewell, and to ask a
parting blessing ______This mark of respect visibly affected the Bishop
_______Soon after we came to a cross-road, where we departed, the Bishop
proceeding on to the Valley of Peace. Yet, before parting I took the liberty
of assuring the Bishop of my firm belief that posterity, at least would do
him justice.
The journey to the Valley of Peace was like an exploring expedition.It took
a long time to find the cabin in the dark woods and when it was fond, how
wretched was the prospect, how woe-be gone was the face of his son, when he
said: "Is this the place where you, dear father, and mother and the rest of
us are to live?" "Yes, my son, this is the place, and yet perhaps it is no
worse than our blessed Saviour once inhabited. Go back to Gambier and bring
your mother and Mrs. Russell and the children."
The Bishop was left alone to examine his new home. The timbers of the cabin
had given away, the floor was unsafe, the roof also, the windows were gone,
and the fences down.
It was a happy circumstances that, for two or three days, the Bishop's
family were delayed in separating their personal effects from the property
of the college, and like dying persons, putting everything into its proper
place. This was no small task. The duty of arraigning every thing belonging
to so large an establishment in such manner that it could be taken up
intelligently by new hands, including books exhibiting receipts, and
expenditures, required the labor of several days, giving the Bishop time to
hire hands and
to do much work in repairing the cabin.
The sleepers were replaced and the floor was re-laid with newly hewn
puncheons. The chimney hearth was repaired with rough stones and the chimney
itself rebuilt and replastered with fresh clay. But before the roof could be
touched Mr. Douglas, the Bishop's man, came with a Quaker wagon and in it
the Bishop's family. It was just at night and they were all weary and
waysore with bad roads and dismal weather.
Could any one had seen the countenance of her who was to be the chief
sufferer with,in the future, as she had always been the chief supporter in
the past of her husband, as she came out of the coach and I looked around
upon the scene before her, tears of pity would have been shed for her.
Not a word from her however,of complaint; everything needed for lodging the
family was ordered from the wagon; a cheerful fire soon blazed upon the
hearth; and the children as they lay in their new-made couches on the floor
were soon employed in counting the stars which shoon through the unfinished
roof, from between the clouds which began to fly swiftly over the cabin just
as sorrow passes over the heads of innocence.
Many things were necessary in finishing and furnishing even such a cabin, so
that father was obliged to go to the next town to purchase nails,
glass,crockery, etc.
He was often asked where he lived, and as often replied: "I live at he end
of the road in the Valley of Peace."
All the Bishop's papers from this time until his second visit to England
were destroyed in a fire,which consumed his house in Michigan in 1835.
Consequently he had no guide but his memory to recall the events of this
interim.
He remembers how hard and cold the winter months were in miserable cabin,
whither he and his family had fled, how difficult to provide the fuel, how
constantly he had Divine service in that cabin, poor as it was, and how
crowded were the assemblies to hear the Word of God on every Sunday. The
settlers came from far and near to join in the simple services that told the
poor pioneer of a great hope in the future which was for him, his wife, and
children; that ,in spite of their lives of toil and deprivation, there was
something higher and better in another world than this.
Hymns were sung, the plain truths of the Bible were taught, and the exiles
in the dismal home were comforted by ministering to those poorer than
themselves in all that make life tolerable. None but those who have known by
actual experience what life in the forests or prairies of the far West was
at that time can understand what it really means.
There were no neighbors for miles, no schools, no churches,no social
life,the plainest food, salt meat,if any, except when wild game from the
woods could be had, no fruit, the plainest clothing, cut and made by the
mother.
When the winter night shut down upon the little cabin, it was made bright by
firelight, but how difficult for her to keep "a bright heart and hearth
swept clean" for her little brood of three boys and one little girl, and for
the father to keep such a home warm enough during the night! All the
intervals of moderate weather in the winter was improved by the father and
sons in cleaning of the dead trees, and in the spring in repairing old
fences and making new one. These were probably rail fences, such as made by
Abraham Lincoln made famous.
They also put up log shelters for cattle, and drained the ground. In the
spring they sowed grass seed; and thus every day there was some improvement
to be seen. What a blessed thing it was that the father had been trained as
a farmer, for he says: "If the weather was too cold to work on the frozen
ground,the wood-pile was sure to grow high and the logs heaps in the woods
were consumed by fire"!
As the spring came on, "the lengthening of every day and the opening of the
early flowers brought with them the assurance that God had not 'forgotten to
be gracious' to them in their desolate home; and as the sun with His genial
beams had caused the flowers to grow and out forth their fragrance after
the days of moral rigor which he and his family had passed, the Sun of
Righteousness might rise with the healing on His wings."
END Chapter XXVI Harriet M. Chase
hatchase(a)uswest.net
Another note from the Chase Chronicles - Jan. 1910
ONLY A LITTLE "PECULIAR"
"Can anyone say why it is that if a person gets interested in genealogy he
is singled out as a crank; his relatives apologize for him by saying he is
all right but is peculiar on that one thing; or someone will say he has
"wheels?" Of course, if a person really studies into these older subjects
and looks up dates and people of a former time there must be a certain
abstraction about it; one must get himself into the spirit of it and dwell
in it to some degree; but why should one be called a crank?
Not long ago the editor discovered an old grave. The sunken stone when
washed and set upright proved a fact by its date that had long been in
dispute. It connected some facts in history where authors differed. The
editor grew quite happy over what he found but was chilled by the remark of
a prosaic friend who said; "What's the use of disturbing these old fellows?
They are all right as they are - better let them alone, they will be no harm
and besides that they don't want to be disturbed."
But think you, is it any but a kindly act for a descendant to go to the old
Plains Burying ground on Sawyer's Hill and dig up a sunken stone and to put
it upright, to mark the proper grave where Aquila (4) was buried in 1789
instead of having the grave forgotten and the ground neglected? We do not
quite know yet just how these old saints feel about such things. Some of us
think that in some way those of our departed in whom we are interested are
alive in a world that is not very far away and are not unconscious of the
tender ministrations of those who are bone of their bone and flesh of their
flesh."
From the chronicles - April 1910
BAMBOOZLED
"That's exactly what happened to several of the original members of our
association. While doing everything in their power to help things along,
they were simply fooled; the money they put into some worthy plans
evaporated. They were lied to even if they were not sawn asunder.
The object of parading this hard word "bamboozle" is to warn our present kin
not to get caught in a similar trap. If you are solicited by strangers to
loan relics, to copy from the family bible, to spend your time in writing
out grandchildren's dates, marriages, etc., in short to do a lot of hard
work for a perfect stranger on the promise of a valuable book in the sweet
by and by, to see your name in print, don't get fooled. No one can afford to
give away a five dollar book for a little local history. There is a scheme;
a trick somewhere; don't get fooled. The best way for you is to write at
once to either of the accredited officers of the association and ask their
advice. You will get a clear statement of facts and then you won't be
fooled. Don't lend anything; things evaporate. Deal only with parties who
have the endorsement of our association. Otherwise, you will be bamboozled!"
Same issue:
THE WHY OF IT
"We mailed to each member of the Chase family a copy of the first number of
the chronicle. Reasons: we want you all to see what we are doing, and how.
We want to bind you a little closer together as kinsmen. We want you to
subscribe for your own paper. Fifty cents for four numbers is not a hard
proposition. We do not make one cent and shall be lucky if we don't loose
some cents; but for all that we shall leave it to you to be a fair Chase,
just as Aquila and Thomas and William were fair men and everybody said so.
Aquila was picking his own peas when arrested. Thomas gave liberally to the
Quakers to help them build a meeting house. William like a good man that he
was, was a member in good standing of John Eliot's church in Roxbury.
But there is another reason; we want every one to send us their ancestral
line. Who were your ancestors? Dates? Residence? Give us facts please. Say
who you married and about the children. You see what we want to add to our
already large amount of information on genealogical lines. The exact story
of all of our members. It will be taken good care of. Some day it all may
blossom out into a Chase-Tree-Book. Please write us right away and if you do
not know all you want to about your line, say so, and if you are a member of
the Family Association we will give you free any help that we can from what
is in our possession. Let us get together; see who we are; and please don't
forget to do this one little thing."
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Please note Two Chase entries; one at the very beginning, second 2/3 rds
down.
----- Original Message -----
From: <mlabbe3(a)juno.com>
To: <MAWORCES-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 10:15 AM
Subject: [MAWORCES] The Puritan Recorder
| The Puritan Recorder, Thursday, Jan. 29, 1852, continued...
| Marriages
| In this city, 22d inst., Mr. Lucius C. CHASE, of Boston, to Miss Abby
MOORE, of Hancock, NH; on the 21st inst., Mr. A. D. SHAW to Miss Mary
S.GRAY, both of Boston.
|
| In Newburyport, 22d inst., Mr. Jacob B. MERRILL, of N., to Miss Elizabeth
M. DONE, of West Newbury.
| In West Newbury, by Rev. Mr. EDGELL, Mr. John E. BARTLETT, JR. to Miss
Eliza A. FOLLANSBEE, all of W. Newbury.
| In Concord, 28th ult., by Rev. L. H. ANGIER, Mr. Orin COOLIDGE, JR to
Miss Ann M. P. FLETCHER, both of Westford.
|In Rowley, 13th inst., by Rev. Mr. PIKE, Mr. George A. TODD to Miss Ruth
PAYSON.
In Stoneham, 20th inst., by Rev. Wm. C. WHITCOMB, Mr. Charles NICHOLS, of
Woburn, to Miss Sarah GERRY of Stoneham; also by the same 22d inst., Mr.Arad
GERRY to Miss Eliza Jane GERRY, both of Stoneham.
In South Reading, 14th inst., by Rev. Reuben EMERSON, Mr. Daniel G. WALTON,
to Miss E. Jeanette ABORN.
|In Salem, 22d inst., by Rev. Mr. MILLS, Mr. Geo. CabotWARD, of Boston,to
Miss Mary Ann SOUTHWICK, of S.
| In Attleboro, at the Second Congregational Church, by Rev. J. CRANE,
Dr.John R. BRONSON, of Pawtucket, to Miss Catherine F. WHEELOCK, of
Attleboro.
|
| In Worcester, 22d inst., by Rev. E. SMALLEY, Mr. Thomas LEADWORTH to Miss
Martha GEORGE, both of W.
|
| In Middleboro, 22d inst., by Rev. Mr. THACHER, Mr. Laban P. FOBES, of
Bridgewater, to Miss Hannah S., only daughter of Dr. John PERKINS, of M.
n Newport, RI, 21st inst., Mr. Joseph G. PECKHAM to Miss Sarah F. MUNRO,both
of N.; 22d inst., Mr. William H. TOWNSEND, of New Orleans, to Miss Martha
G., daughter of the late Mr. Isaac C. PECKHAM, of Newport.
| In Syracuse, at Onondaga Female Seminary, Oct. 28, by Rev. G. HYDE, Rev.
O. W. COOLEY, of LaSalle, IL, to Miss S. A. ADAMS, late Principal of that
Seminary, and daughter of the late John ADAMS, Esq. of Hopkinton, MA.
|In Gavelston, TX, 31st ult., by Rev. Mr. EATON, Capt. Charles R. COLBURN,
(of bark Trinity) to Miss Annie M. DOWNS, formerly of Boston.
|
| Deaths
| In the City, 10th inst., Mr. Joseph NEWELL, 23; 17th inst., Mr. William
LAWSON, 45.
|
| In South Boston, 20th inst., of apoplexy, Mr. Francis HALL, 73y7m.
|In Lynn, 18th inst., Mr. James MUDGE, 67.
|In Salem, 23d inst., Mrs. Beulah, widow of the late Mr. Stephen B.DOCKHAM,
70.
|In Beverly, Mr. George Herrick HANNA, 82. He was of the fourth
| generation of the descendants of George HERRICK, anemigrant from England,
who came to Salem in 1685.
|In Beverly Farms, 20th inst., Phillis, the well known faithful and
| laborious colored woman, who for half a century or more served so large a
number of families in that town as washerwoman, and in other service. Many
have supposed her to be over 100 years of age, but as according to| her own
recollection she was only about a dozen years old when the Battle| of
Lexington took place, her age was probably 90 at her decease.
|
| In Weston, 24th inst., Capt. Nathan FISKE, 91yrs 6m--a revolutionary
pensioner.
|In Falmouth, 19th inst., Hon. E. SWIFT, 77. He represented his native town
in the Legislature for several successive years, and for two years was a
member of the Executive Council.
|In Attleboro, 22d inst., Capt. Caleb PARMENTER, 93 yrs. last August. Mr.
P. leaves a widow of the same age, having lived together, in the marriage
relation, seventy-two years. He was a revolutionary pensioner, having
served his country two years in the revolution, and was present at three
engagements--on Dorchester Heights, in Rhode Island, and at Rowland's|
Ferry, near Fall River.
| In Stockbridge, 10th inst., Mrs. Elizabeth, mother of Rev. Dr. Chester
DEWEY, of Rochester, NY, 93.
|In Cummington, 18th inst., Mr. Sylvanus SHAW, 87,--a revolutionary
pensioner.
| In Hartford, 21st inst., Charles SEYMOUR, Esq., 75; 15th inst., Mrs. Mary,
wife of Mr. Elisha ARNOLD, 36.
|In Litchfield, CT, 19th inst., Miss Sarah PIERCE, 84--for a long time at
the head of a celebrated Female School in that place.
|In Providence, RI, 15th inst., Mrs. Abby W., wife of Mr. Otis T. STANLEY,
36; 18th inst., Mr. Robert C. WOODBURY, 24.
|In East Lyman, NH, Mr. Isaac PARKER, 88--one of the first settlers of the
town.
|In Portland, ME, 21st inst., Dr. Warren E. CHASE, 45--formerly of Boscawen,
NH.
|In Frankfort, ME, 16th inst., Capt. Lemuel KEMPTON, 73.
|In Augusta, ME, 15th inst., Capt. David WALL, 78. He died in the house
where he was born, and where he had always resided.
| ______________________________
|
| We learn that the Congregational Church in Manchester, MA, have give a
call to Rev. Mr. Taylor, of Shrewsbury, NJ, who is a brother of their late
pastor.
| Decease of Aged Persons
| The following are the names and ages of persons, of seventy years and
upward, who died in Providence, RI, during the year 1851.
| William Barnes 96 Sarah Taylor 77
| Mary Boker 95 Neal McElroy 77
| Mina Rogers 94 Mary Temple 77
| Anna Sprague 91 Peter Swan 77
| Levi Wheaton 90 Ezekiel Carpenter 76
| Alice Eddy 89 Anna Hunt 76
| Naomi Bacon 89 Mary Peck 76
| Sarah Bentley 88 Patrick Marion 75
| John Taylor 88 Patrick Masterson 75
| Esther Abbott 88 Sarah Grinnell 75
| Mehitable Ingraham 86 Patrick Foy 75
| Elizabeth Warner 85 John G. Burns 75
| Ann Mename 85 Patrick Early 75
| Dolly Malcom 84 William Tillinghast 75
| Benjamin Aborn 83 Celinda Scott 75
| Martha Wardwell 83 Mary Luther 75
| William McGowan 82 Charity Easton 75
| John Snow 82 Judith Paul 74
| Lydia Branch 81 John Gladding 74
| Nancy Kimball 81 Henry Mathewson 74
| Nathaniel Pearce 81 Charles Annis 74
| Sophia Jackson 81 Mary D. Wheeler 74
| Isaac Burdick 81 Sarah Bly 73
| Betsey La Roach 81 Margaret Beverly 73
| Sally Warner 80 Sally Knight 72
| Mary Foster 80 Mary B. Lindsay 72
| Galen Pond 80 Ann Bradley 72
| James Dillaber 80 Nathaniel Lang 71
| Hannah Axum 80 Cyrus Wood 71
| Coleman Hatch 80 Mary B. Munroe 71
| Caleb Earle 80 John Potter 71
| Morris Deming 80 Shubael Crowell 71
| Philey Anderson 80 Roxana P. Hall 70
| Martha Howell 79 Olive Lyon 70
| Mary Brownell 79 Susan King 70
| Alpheus Billings 78 William McIntosh 70
| Elizabeth Farnum 78 Joseph Whipple 70
| Hannah Cornell 78 Catharine McKenna 70
| Benjamin Merrick 77 John McManus 70
|
| This is the end of this issue of the paper. More to follow.
|
| Here is the URL where you can find the ones I am sending out.
| http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ma/state/main/tidbits2.html
|
| Marilyn Labbe
|
|
| ==== MAWORCES Mailing List ====
| Need to UNsub for vacation or summer??
| Forget How to UN sub???
| http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/usa/MA/worcester.html
|
|
BUYER BEWARE
A website called Family Discovery is charging $43.00 to 59.00 for
"unlimited access to their
website. The only problem is that their website is a conglomoration
of links to OTHER PEOPLE'S free websites. Links include peoples personal
web pages, GenWEb pages[ like cemeteries, census], and other free genealogy
pages.
They don't really have any data of their own although they claim to. All
of what they have you can find FREE.
LOOK-UP PEOPLE AND THEIR SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Alice Leonard - Source: "The Descendants of Philander Chase"
jewels4u(a)nvbell.net
Ann Chase - Source: "History of the Town of Cornish, New Hampshire with
Genealogical Record 1763 - 1910 Vol. II". annchase(a)webtv.net
Derek Chase - Sources: "Early Loyalist Saint John"; "Early New Brunswick
Marriages"; "The Old United Empire Loyalist List"; "The Loyalists of New
Brunswick". chasede(a)nbnet.nb.ca
Joyce Chase Jarvis - Source: "Seven Generations of the Descendants of Aquila
and Thomas Chase". JCHASJ(a)aol.com
Lisa R. Cleversey - Source: "Seven Generations of the Descendants of Aquila
and Thomas Chase". "The Descendants of Aquila and Ann Chase"
lclevers(a)bellsouth.net
Lonnie Chase - Sources: "Seven Generations of the Descendants of Aquila and
Thomas Chase".
"The Chase Chronicles." "Some of the Descendants of William Chase of
Roxbury and Yarmouth, Mass." chase1858(a)bwn.net
Robert Fillerup - Source: "Descendants of Samuel Chase of New Brunswick".
rcf(a)code-co.com
Lynn Chase - Sources: "Genealogy of a Portion of the Descendants of
William Chase, Who came to America in 1630, and died in Yarmouth
Massachusetts, May, 1659." - "The Winthrop Fleet of 1630" (A little about
William Chase) - "Seven Generations of the Descendants of Aquila and Thomas
Chase". JLynn112(a)aol.com
Lonnie Chase
chase1858(a)bwn.net
Hello,
I recently purchased a Chase/Phillips family Bible.
1st page of Family Record:
Marriages:
David Phillips married to Patience Chase Jan. 31, 1841.
Lyman Wiltsie married to Esther Phillips Jan. 1st, 1876.
Births:
Jurathanell? Chase born May 10th, 1760.
Sybil? Chase born Aug. 11th, 1766.
Alvin Wiltsie born November? 26th, 1876.
Marid? E. Wiltsie born July 1st, 1878.
Mabel L.? Wiltsie born Jan. 29th 1881.
Pearl Adeline Wiltsie born Nov. 7th, 1882
Harold E. Wiltsie born Dec. 31, 1888?
Goldie E. Wiltsie, born Aug. 7th, 1887.
Lyman Wiltsie born, Juen 22nd, 1850.
next page:
Deaths:
Janthana? Chase died March 26th, 1837.
Sybil Chase died September? 1856.
Azariah G. Phillips died Sept. 25th, 1867.
David Phillips died Aug. 3, 1868.
Lyman D. Wiltsie Jan. 14, 1921.
Esther Phillips Dec. 18, 1923.
inside the Bible:
Commencement Exercises of the New Berlin Central School, Tuesday June 22,
1937.
newspaper cut out:
died at her home in Columbus Feb. 17, at 4:30 AM, Miss Libbie Phillips age
45 years, 10 months and 7 days. Short services were held by Rev. Adams at
the house, Tuesday at 12 PM.
Written on a piece of paper:
Mercy Reed wife of Gilbert Wiltsie born Feb. 1823 died April 26, 1879 56
years 10 mo.
Gilbert Wiltsie born Dec. 2, 1822 died Feb 2, 1891 age 69 years 4 mo.
children:
Lucinda married Ansel Augel (1)
Harriet married Henry Griffen (4)
born July 19, 1848
died Oct 15, 1926
Lyman married Esther Phillips (6) born June 22, 1850 died Jan. 15, 1921.
Mary Wiltsie married Joseph Llyod, one adopted daughter Edna.
June 12, 1853 died May 1, 1916.
George Willsie married to Alice Anderson born Sept. 29, 1853 Jan. 21, 1921.
Lyman Wiltsie ,
Esther Phillips Jan. 1st. 1876
Alvin Wiltsie
Lena Sharer? no children
Mable Wiltsie
Auson Clark
4 children 2 living Malcolm, Sidney?, Malcol & Jean Shierk
Pearl Wiltsie
Lewis Lundgren 3 boys twins living? Valdo and Walter.
Howard Wiltsie
Bessie Fellows 5 Milan, Charles F. Helen Warren Gertrude Jane ?
Goldie Wilsie
H. Jay Risedorph? 1 son Percy A? Risedoph?
Percy Risedoph married Sept. 7, 1940 Winefred Louise Rogers.
This Bible is for sale. contact:
Jimmy Kerr
8227 N. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, Texas 79762
I think my ancestors must have been in the witness
Protection Program !
Genealogy Site:
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=107971
Lohmann Research Page:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lohmann/~lohmann.index.html
Ector County, Texas:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txector/ector.htm
Gen Cirlcles:
http://www.gencircles.com/users/jimmykerr/1
-----Original Message-----
From: mlabbe3(a)juno.com [mailto:mlabbe3@juno.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2001 5:33 PM
To: MAWORCES-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [MAWORCES] New England Puritan Newspaper
Hello everyone,
I found some old newspapers down in the basement at the Killingly History
Center in Danielson, CT. New England Puritan was published in Boston,
MA and was mainly a religious newspaper. But they do have marriages and
deaths in it and I will type those up for you. Feel free to forward this
to any one or any list you would like to.
New England Puritan, published Boston, Thursday, Mar. 31, 1842
Marriages
In Boston, on Thursday evening, the 24th inst. Mr. Isaac T. WINCHESTER to
Miss Dianthe WENTWORTH, both of Boston
Mr. William STUBBS to Miss Rebecca M. BLAISDELL
In Cambridge, by Rev. Mr. ALBRO, the Rev. Isaac A. BASSETT, to Miss
Hannah Louisa, daughter of Mr. Isaac CONANT. Rev. Mr. BASSETT is a
recent graduate of the Theo Institute at East Windsor, CT. He is to be
soon ordained pastor over the Congregational church in South Wellfleet,
MA.
In Dorchester, on the 21st inst., O. W. POLLITZ, Esq. of New York, to
Miss Mary M. daughter of the Rev. Dr. CODMAN, of Dorchester.
In Cabotville, on Wednesday evening, the 16th inst. by Rev. Mr. CLAPP,
Mr. Rufus N. NICHOLS of South Hadley to Miss Mary J. CHAPIN, of
Cabotville.
Deaths
In this city, on Tuesday last, in peaceful hope of a blessed immortality,
Mrs. Susan GORE STODDARD, wife of Dea. Lewis T. STODDARD, aged 33 years.
In Boston, Primus HALL, a respectable colored citizen, and a
revolutionary pensioner of the United Sates, aged 84.
In Malden, 15th inst. Mrs. Betsey, wife of Mr. Wm. BANKS, 74.
In Salem, 26th inst., Mrs. Louisa GREEN, widow of the late Rev. Samuel
GREEN, of Boston, 49.
In Marshfield, 22d inst., Capt. Luther LITTLE, 86--a hero of the
revolution.
In Georgetown, ME, Mrs. Jane EMMONS, widow of the late Benjamin EMMONS,
Esq. formerly of Boston, 75.
In Lebanon, CT, 17th inst., Mrs. Abigail FITCH, 88. Mrs. F. was the
sister of Hon. Jeremiah MASON of Boston.
In Wethersfield, CT, 21st inst., Wm. MARTIN, aged 6, son of Amasa and
Nancy CALDWELL.
At Newington, CT, 23d inst., Miss Caroline DEMING, eldest daughter of
Dea. Levi DEMING, 32--an example of early piety--charitable in
life--peaceful in death.
In East Windsor, CT, the 17th inst., Mr. Wm. F. ANDROSS, 46.
In Brooklyn, CT, 11th inst., of consumption, Catharine B. SAGE, in the
49th year of her age, daughter of the late Ebenezer SAGE, Esq. of
Middletown, CT.
In Hartford, on the 19th inst., of a pulmonary complaint, Mr. Timothy C.
HILL, of Northwood, NH, aged 29.
The Puritan Recorder, published Boston, Thursday, Jan. 29, 1852
Experience of a California Gold Digger (Who sailed from Boston in the
ship Edward Everett, in a letter to his sister, dated Indian Valley,
California, Oct. 1851.)
My Dear Sister:--That you may know something of my doings and
whereabouts, concerning which I presume you have heard but little, I
propose to give you a few lines. I have so much to say, that I scarcely
know where best to begin; but I will be methodical. Soon after my
arrival I went to the southern mines, where, by hard labor, in three
months I made some 500 dollars; then winter came on, and I left the
mines, and went to Benicia, to get my boxes and any letters which might
have been sent me. This took me some three weeks, and cost me about 250
dollars. Before I accomplished it, the rains were falling in torrents,
and I concluded to remain in Sacramento city a few months, and then early
in the spring take a new start for the mines; so I lost abut 100 dollars
worth of things at the Proquel Mine River, in the southern mines. With
the money I had left, I speculated in horses and mules, making about 12
dollars a day, for a week or two. But I was in a doomed city; for the
rain fell, snow melted, and Sacramento city was 10 feet under water. At
midnight I found refuge on ship-board; all my clothes, books, and traps
and letters were carried away by the flood, which lasted about one month.
I boarded until my money was most gone, and then started for the Yba
mine at the foot of the mountains. I worked, and in two months had made
500 dollars again. Well, then in May, I pushed up about 50 miles higher
on the same river; and the water being still high because of the melting
of the snow, I unfortunately joined a daming company. We worked steadily
for four months. Cut a race 700 feet long; blasted through 100 feet of
ledge rock, and by working in the water up to our necks, succeeded
completely in damming the stream, and laying the bed of the river bare.
But you may conceive of our disappointment, when we found it would not
pay to work. So here I had lost the summer; every day of which, had I
been working on the banks, I might have made from 20 to 30 dollars per
day. I spent all my money, and got 100 dollars in debt; for provisions
were very high:--flour 60 dollars per hundred pounds; Pork and Sugar,
each 80 dollars per hundred. You know I am not one to parade my
misfortunes, so I thought it would be best not to write to you then.
"Immediately upon the failure of this undertaking, I went to work in
the bank; paid my debts, helped others to pay their's and made enough to
winter comfortably near the valley, for the snow was beginning to fall in
the mountains. Last March with six others of the unfortunates, who were
with me in the dam, I came up the Yuba River, again to Indian Valley,
where I have been mining ever since; occasionally, however, spending a
week or two in the mountains and gulches round, prospecting for gold. I
have thus given you a succinct account of my roamings. Many adventures
I have had, which I should like to tell you. I have endured much
hardship and exposure; living and sleeping out of doors for
months--sometimes in the snow, and then again in the rain. We were
locked in the mountains by snow once without provisions, and once I came
near being drowned in a mountain torrent, which swept me and my mules
beneath its foaming current; but I have not had an hour's sickness since
I came to the country, and I think it one of the healthiest climates in
the world; but it is fearfully hot at midday; but I have frequently
worked through the hottest days without hurt. All nations are here
represented, and eager after gold. Though I have made little, I have
seen much since I left the States, and only regret I worked for so many
years in England for nothing. I intend going some 300 miles south of
this, to winter in dry diggins, to make more or lose the little I have.
This is a beautiful valley, but diggins are getting rather
poor--averaging about five or six dollars per day to each digger. I have
experienced more kindness from the Spaniards, Chilians especially, than
from other people. I can talk Castilian tolerably, but books are high--a
grammar cost me the other day 14 dollars. I have been constantly going
to answer your kind letter which I lost in the flood of '49, but I kept
deferring it, as I had no luck to tell of, no stationery at hand, and
knew not at what place I should be a month from any time. I have been
paying expressmen to get letters for me; but all I have received is one
from papa, yourself and my friend C. The chances of my gettings a letter
soon, if you do answer this, are poor; but if you are inclined to oblige
me, by giving me a line telling me all about your dear self, your
charming children, your kind husband, our parents and brother, I will
make an extra effort to get it. Direct to me; San Francisco post office.
I should like to send you some specimens of gold, but have no way. I
have now about 50 ounces of gold dust. I shall quit mining next spring,
if not before. I have felt the want of capital much. Believe me ever
your attached brother,
E.F."
More to follow.
Marilyn Labbe
==== MAWORCES Mailing List ====
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would like to correspond with anyone working on the Chase lines that include Mary b abt 1686 married to job Chapman married after 1716 or Dorothy married to John Chapman she also b about 1686. Thanks
by Laura Chase Smith, Dutton Press, 1903
Chapter XXV Continued
An appreciative sketch of Bishop Chase's work in Ohio appeared in "The
Churchman", November, 1896, by the Rev. G.. Munroe Royce, now resident
rector of the American Church in Munich, Germany, from which we quote the
following:
"The Bishop returned from England in 1824, and the college on Gambier Hill
was opened in 1828. This interval of four years marks the period of Bishop
Chase's greatest activities; he was everywhere and did everything. The
institution was incorporated as Kenyon college in 1824, and began its work
in 1825, on the Bishop's farm near Worthington.
The college opened with but one pupil, but, before the end of the year it
had enrolled twenty-five, including five Indian boys. The first catalog of
Kenyon College was written by its first pupil in the form of a diary, and
here is given without any change, except the omission of the names of the
students:
" ' Jan 1,1826. the year 1826 comes in on Sunday. It finds me studying at
Kenyon College, which is at present on the Bishop's farm near Worthington.
President, the Rt. Rev. P. Chase; Professor of Languages, the Rev. William
Sparrow; tutor in Grammar School, Mr. Gideon McMillian. The students at this
time, including five Indian boys, are twenty-five in number.
Boarding at $1.25 per week. Tuition in the Grammar School, $10.00 per year;
college, $20.00 per year!' "
Such were the small beginnings of the pioneer college of the West.
Philander Chase, the founder of Kenyon college, was a man of heroic mold in
everything. His body was of gigantic proportions, with a strength and
endurance which, in these softer days, seem almost fabulous, and his mind
was of the same commanding proportions as his body. Add to these an
indomitable will, impatient of restraint or opposition, and one can see with
the mind's eye something of the striking and altogether extraordinary
personality of the founder of the first Western College. He was a veritable
giant, raised up, as it would seem, for the special work that was given him
to do.
He was in fact a man of national reputation, both as a scholar and a
teacher, with a personality that commanded the instant attention and respect
of every one, learned and unlearned; and had he not attained the epsicopal
office, he would now be renowned as one of this country's greatest
educators.
But this is anticipating. The extent of the college domain was eight
thousand acres, and included a great deal of rich land, some of which was
already in a state of cultivation. On the acquisition of this property the
Bishop took immediate personal charge, and,as has already been said, was
everywhere and did everything.
He was the forester, landscape-gardener, architect and builder. He
constructed his own saw-mill, flour-mill, and printing-press. He cut his own
timber, directed the farming, dug a race-way, and built a dam to furnish
water-power for his mills. This work of establishing a colony "de novo"
required an army of artisans and laborers, and Gambier Hall was for four
years a beehive of industry, until "Old Kenyon, " as the first college
building is now called, opened its doors for the reception of students. This
was in 1828. The masters and pupils on the Worthington farm were immediately
transferred, and the first college year on Gambier Hill opened with about
sixty-five students.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the Bishop's judgment and taste, as now
seen in the site and general plans of Kenyon College, speaking in reference
to natural beauty only. The wisdom of establishing the college in what was
then a wilderness need not be here discussed. But a more beautiful spot for
a college than Gambier Hill can hardly be imagined; and the college park is
as fine example of landscape-gardening as can be seen in this country.
The Bishop's great energy and success in collecting the funds, clearing the
grounds, and erecting the first college building won the respect and
admiration of everybody; for never was a greater undertaking so swiftly
accomplished by the sole power of one man. There is scarcely a parallel to
this in all the history of American educational institutions.
Old Kenyon was the first building erected by Bishop Chase. It stands at one
end of the long "path", covered by ivy and gray with age. It has always been
the college dormitory, and around it gather the mellow traditions and sweet
memories of college life. Stanton and Hayes, Matthews, the Davises, Wilmer,
Currie, Hurd, McCook, Allen, and Benson lived their undergraduate days
within these walls. These and many other names, high on the roll of fame in
Church and State, have made "Old Kenyon" the most sacred spot on
Gambier Hill.
This building at first took everything pertaining to the college under its
roof; the Bishop and his family, the professors and the students, ate and
slept, studied and taught within Old Kenyon's massive walls. This building
has been lately thoroughly overhauled and repaired from top to bottom, an is
now in perfect sanitary condition. In cleaning out the basement, the
large,old fashioned fireplaces --- where in the early days the food for the
college was prepared --- were discovered, and may now be seen for the first
time by the present generation.
At the other end of the path, a mile or so removed, stands Bexley Hall,
facing Old Kenyon, and on either side of this path, within the park
enclosure, are the other college buildings and the homes of the college
professors. Ascension Hall was the gift of the Church of Ascension, New
York,during the rectorship of Dr. Bedell, afterward so long and honorably
identified with Kenyon College as the Bishop of Ohio.
Few dioceses have had a succession of three such men as Chase, McIlvaine and
Bedell.
The architectural proportions of Ascension Hall are almost perfect, and
elicit the warm admiration of all visitors who know what to admire.
The chapel, Rosse Hall, and Hubbard Hall ---the library building --- are all
beautiful examples of varying but harmonious architecture; and
Kenyon,Ascension, and Bexley Halls --all separated by pleasing
intervals ---constitute in material (stone), style, and design the most
perfect group of academic structures to be seen in America.
The late Bishop Coxe--- who was of the first authority on such
matters ---said that Kenyon might well be compared with Cambridge and
Oxford. No one could ever mistake the buildings at Gambier for any other
than academic structures.
Gambier Hill, with the gentle Kokosing flowing at its feet, commands a wide
view of pastoral scenes which charm the eye at all seasons of the year, but
especially at commencement time, when hill and dale, field and forest, are
covered with the rich verdure of early simmer. It is believed that Kenyon
was the very first American college to possess its own printing-press.
(Recall it was given to Bishop Chase for Kenyon college through the efforts
of Lady Acland, of England)
Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase, nephew of the Bishop, who was for about three
years a pupil on the Chase farm and in the Chase school. Leaves no doubt of
the realistic character of the farm life:
"So went the days of school. Out of school I did chores, took grain to the
mill and brought back meal and flour; milked the cows, drove them to and
from pasture, took wool to the carding factory over the Scioto,--- an
important journey to me, --- built fires and brought in wood in the winter
time; helped gather sugar water and make sugar when winter first turned to
spring; helped plant and sow in the latter spring.
In most of whatever a boy could do on a farm I did a little. Sometimes I was
sent to Columbus, nine miles south, on horseback, to make small purchases. I
remember yet the firm Goodal & Buttles, which the boys travestied as 'Good
Ale in bottle' where one morning I bought some sickles and scythes and other
matters, having risen long before day, mounted old Sorrel, and ridden to
Columbus, determined to be back before breakfast, which I accomplished."
Eighteen miles on horseback before breakfast! (So that's where our parents
got that concept;0) This shows that the nephew was made of the same stuff as
his uncle ---physically as well as mentally.
The extraordinary executive power of Bishop Chase can be seen even in this
very rapid survey: but some detailed description of the peculiar
circumstances under which this "mighty man" labored and achieved is
necessary to give a true picture of his life and character.
The first epsicopal residence was a log hut, on a farm, in the midst of the
untamed forest. On his arrival in Ohio the Bishop had taken pupils into his
family, and he continued to do so after he was made a Bishop, and until
Kenyon College was open for their reception. This period of combined farming
and school-keeping covered at least ten years, and constitutes a wholly
unique chapter in the educational history of this country. Besides the
"epsicopal palace," there were four other log cabins erected for the
accommodation of the masters and the pupils. Bu they all sat together as one
family, around one common board, with the Bishop at the head ; or in his
absence, "Mother Chase," as the Bishop's wife was affectionately called by
the
masters and pupils.
The Bishop was absent too often to give regular or systematic instruction;
but when he was at home he seems to have given inspiration enough to last
till his return. When at home he spent a great deal of his time cultivating
his farm with his own hands, and his pupils were frequently with him when he
held the plough and drove the team afield.
This was no fancy farming, nor "Brook Farm" nonsense; for the Bishop not
only supplied his own large family, but sold his farm products in the open
market at Worthington and Columbus. In other words the Bishop was a
practical and successful farmer.
Chief-Justice Chase was the nephew of the founder of Kenyon College, and one
of its first pupils. Chief-Justice Waite was a trustee. Justices Davis and
Matthews, both of the U.S. Supreme Court, were graduates. Henry Winter
Davis, "the prince of parliamentary orators,' and Edwin M.Stanton, the
famous
Secretary of War, were among the distinguished sons. Secretary Stanton said:
"If I am anything, I owe it to Kenyon College."
The late Hon. Columbus Delanon, ex-Secretary of Agriculture, are Kenyon men.
So also is Joseph Packard, Esq. of Baltimore.
The Church is also indebted to Kenyon for many of her distinguished
ministers. The late Bishop Wilmer was a son of Kenyon, so was John Cotton
Smith. Dr. Herman Dyer, Prof. A.V.G. Allen, D.D., Dr. David Greer, Dr. Wm.
S. Langford, and the beloved Prof. Edward C. Benson are among the clergy who
have been educated for the Church in Gambier Hill. The names of five living
bishops are to be found on the Kenyon alumni roll; they are Gray, White,
Burton, Brooke, and Kendrick.
In speaking of the library at Kenyon Mr. Royce thus describes it:
"Polygots and Latin folios, bound in vellum and yellow with age, Elzevirs,
and first editions hundreds of years old, make the dark old room at Bexley a
veritable treasure-house. These old curios, many of which have probably no
duplicates on this side of the Atlantic, were presented to Bishop Chase by
members of the Oxford and Cambridge Colleges, and not a few bear the
inscription, ' "To the Lord Bishop of Ohio.' "
END Chapter XXV Harriet M. Chase hatchase(a)uswest.net
I have just posted #34 of the "Life of Philander Chase"
If I have not sent something someone requested, pardon the "senior moments"
and resend a request. That includes the three photos pages; the cover,
inside page, and picture of Philander as a young priest.
FYI: I am more than 3/4 through the book , so the end is Near at Hand!
Thank you, Harriet May Chase
hatchase(a)uswest.net
BY Laura Chase Smith, Dutton Press, 1903
Chapter XXV An Effort and a Failure
The second volume of the "Reminiscences" begins with the story of the second
effort to obtain a grant of land from congress. Again this unwearied man
journeys over the Alleghanies in midwinter, leaving no stone unturned to
bring about the great object so dear to his heart. He found in his relative
Judge Cranch (anybody know of this relation?),in whose house he remained
during his stay in Washington, but met again his beloved brother Dudley,then
a member of the Senate. In writing to Mrs. Chase,the Bishop says: "Though I
fail in my immediate object, my brother Dudley Chase, whom I pray God will
ever bless, says that the effort is worth the trial in making known the
object of my mission."
The struggles in this connection was very hard ---days and weeks spent in
anxious hope, almost realized, then deferred; first, taxes were
remitted,then the committee to whom was referred the petition for land of
two townships of land, of which the Bishop says: "I went right home and fell
on my knees to offer my gratitude for so great an appearance of final
success."
Under the date of March 13th, still in Washington, he writes: "Benton from
Missouri is alive to the importance of our College. The Senate was certainly
in my favor. And I not a happy man to be placed always between two and yet
so shielded by the protecting care of Providence as to be hurt by the shot
of neither?"
This time he made a little trip to Fredricksburg, going late at night to the
rectory, the home of Mr. McGuire, whose lovely wife was niece of General
Washington. He further says: " I preached on Wednesday. Here I met
Mr.Washington, son of Lawrence Washington, to whom the General left his
gold-headed cane."
He went that night to Colonel Stewart's, and the next morning, with
others,breakfasted with Mr. Washington. He writes: "His place is called
Waterloo and is the most beautiful situation I have seen in Virginia.
Mr.Washington's daughter Virginia, bred up in as fine a garden as our
country produces, is the sweetest flower in it. This young lady played and
sang for us a number of songs, one of which in the tune of "Scots what have
wi' Wallace bled", was written on the plan of the Christian warfare. The
whole performance was exceedingly interesting."
(this is yet another narrative for this transcriber to understand. Be
assured care has be taken to enter it verbatim.)
There is something very sweet and touching in the fact that this careworn
man should be pleased with this little episode in the mist of his strenuous
toil against, selfishness, greed, infidelity, and vice, just as they exist
now, except that now are in more serried ranks, stronger than ever.
In Henry Clay, the Bishop found, as ever before, as stanch and faithful
friend. In this venture he seems to have embarked many hopes. He placed so
much stress upon its outcome, that his suspense became and agony.
"If," he says, my hopes about this donation from Congress prove
fallacious,may God give me submission."
When the 26th of March arrived and the bill passed the Senate, he was
transported with joy; even those who had opposed it were glad it had
passed.The Bishop went to the Senate and there received the congratulations
of many distinguished members of all parties. At that time he felt "the wine
of success," but alas! as is almost sure to follow , he was to drink the
bitter cup of disappointment to its dregs.
Easter Monday, the word came that the Committee in the House reported
against the bill for Kenyon. He simply says in his letter to his letter: "I
don't remember to have ever received so great a shock. May God support me
for Christ's sake." And he adds in a little postscript:
"Don't be unhappy, God will support us."
Still another effort was made, all in vain; yet in the acute disappointment
he was comforted with the knowledge that he carried with him the best wishes
of many friends. His English friends never failed in their devotion; indeed
there were few men of the ninetieth century who have interested other men in
a greater degree, and who have inspired so pure and lasting a friendship as
this human, earnest, virile man; so humble yet so commanding; so simple, yet
so dominant; so imperious, yet so gentle.
After the disappointment the Bishop went to Philadelphia; having, before
leaving Washington, obtained liberty to run a daily mail between Kenyon and
Mt. Vernon, he applied for assistance to that worth and patriotic
gentleman,Mr. Reesides, to whom the nation is indebted for so many of her
stage-coach facilities and comforts. In this application he was
successful,and Mr.Reesides presented to the college a coach and harness in
good repair.
The Bishop writes of his return: "In journeying home, I found progress was
not sufficiently speedy to enable me to fulfill some appointments which I
had made to perform official duty. I left my private coach and took my seat
in the public coach, This was in the evening of a very dark night --- the
carriage was full of passengers. A dreadful storm arose --- some accident
befell us, so that we were obliged to descend from the coach in the rain.
The night came on darker --- the accident was repaired. We again ascended
the coach, the storm and darkness increased --- the coachman was bewildered
and directed his eyes to a light at right angles with the road, and supposed
it to be the object to which he should steer the course. Being on a
precipice several feet high, the horses went down and in an instant the
coach was crushed to atoms.
When the stage-coach fell down the walled embankment, the Bishop was the
first to strike the ground; the rest of the passengers falling on him, and
the rain pouring down, they escaped to the neighboring houses. His ribs
being fractured and pressing on his lungs, he unable to call for help and
remained for some minutes unnoticed, crushed under the ruins of the coach.
The first human voice he heard was that of the Rev. Mr. Jones, then rector
of the church in Cumberland. He,on seeing,or hearing, the stage-coach horses
pass rapidly back to the city with only the forewheels, had run out of the
house and, guided only by the flashes of lighting, sought the body of the
coach.
"Where, oh, where is Bishop Chase?" said he as he came to the prostrate
vehicle. And no voice was heard to answer. It was well that he approached
the ruins and lifted the torn and muddied curtain; had he not this been
done, the sufferer would have soon expired.
A clergyman who was a student at Kenyon that time he writes of this
accident: "The Bishop was laid up for several weeks, and finally, about the
end of April, arrived at Gambier on a feather bed, suspended by four corners
within a coach. He was soon, however, in his usual health; and now currently
reported that, at different times, all the Bishop's bones had been
broken,with the single exception of his skull!"
As a climax the clergyman adds: "And let it be recollected that the
pecuniary emolument annexed to the episcopate of Ohio was nothing."
????
On the 10th of October, 1828, the Convention assembled on Gambier Hill. A
synopsis of what had been attempted and accomplished was given.
The announcement was read of the completion of the Milnor professorship,also
the reception of a valuable and beautiful telescope for Kenyon, and many
valuable books from England.
In a letter to Lord Gambier the Bishop gives a description of Kenyon: "The
building of the college --- one hundred and ten feet of it --- is now
up,covered and finishing. The walls are massive; they are four feet at
bottom,receding six inches at every story. The roof on account of the
elevated site of the college and its consequent
exposure to the violent winds of our country, has more timber in it, and is
put together with more firmness than most buildings of the kind in America.
The draft was made for me by our national architect, Mr. Bulfinch of
Washington. The number of pupils is now more than seventy, When we move into
the college, we shall have room for many more.
In the year 1829, after the removal of the school from Worthington to
Gambier, it had become greatly augmented in numbers; the family of teachers
and scholars was now more than a hundred. In November the management of this
establishment was placed in Mr. Chase's hands, and the man of affairs
started off for his visitation in the southern part of the diocese.
His journey was made over a road partly frozen, so that it would usually
hold up a horse, but occasionally would take in both horse and coach. Being
able to travel but two miles an hour, the Bishop became benumbed with cold;
when daylight appeared he jumped out and tired to walk until he came to the
backwoods, where the mud was so deep that no footman could get on. At
"sunbreak" he found "a boy with a mare without shoes," waiting for him. He
went on, suffering terribly with cold, and reaching Delaware after dark. He
preached at Delaware the same evening on the subject of "Prayer."
All along the dreadful journey we read of his plans in letters to Mrs.
Chase, of appointments kept in bitter weather, services held,
confirming,baptizing, and administering the Holy Communion, and again about
buying more cows and of the blacksmith's wages.
On one occasion he repacks his luggage into a portmanteau and valise, and
sets off on horseback to an appointment at Circleville. The horse was at the
door and himself mounted, when the steed proved both vicious and dangerous.
No wonder, with such a heavy man and such an accumulation of luggage! The
horse found it impossible, he concluded to give up his journey for that day,
"as the coach could not run, and most of the driver's horses were so
disabled that they could not rise from the ground. Probably the Bishop was
forced to rest for this day at least.
Chapter XXV to Be Continued Harriet M. Chase hatchase(a)uswest.net
After years of searching - I recently found the name of my ggrandparents -
But I can find nothing on them - So I am asking for Chase researcher help to
find out about - William Ezera (Ezra?) Chase - b. 21 Oct.1857 in NY - Married
(could not find out where or when) Mary Elizabeth Allen - b. 21 June 1860 in
IN. - Came to Texas (could not find out when) - Had three children - Sallie
Alta Chase (my grandmother) - b. 12 Dec.1893 - Marvin Andrew Chase - b.1896 -
Unk. male Chase. - After the birth of the third child - William returned to
NY and was not heard from again by the family.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Gene Dezell @ GoogieD(a)aol.com
Hi Listers,
Millicent Submit Chase wrote a document in 1936 about the descendants of
Stephen Chase of Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.
She writes that Stephen Chase and his three sons Stephen Jr., Joseph,
and Jethro went to Nova Scotia. Below I have quoted a part of the
document.
I have some questions for you, Listers.
1. Do you know anything about Ann Rust, who is supposed to have
married Stephen Chase Jun. and their child?
2. Is it possible that Stephen Chase had, at the same time (1761-
1770), a family (Hannah Bleathen in New England - see descendant report
in Part 1) and a family (Ann Rust in Nova Scotia).
3. Do you know of a place called Chase's Harbour or Chase's Mills?
BEGINNING OF QUOTE:
Apparently father and sons divided forces - for in the Town Book
of Liverpool, Stephen Chase has a grant of land, in the Township, but he
never occupied it and his name does not appear there again. As there was
a community of Quakers near there interested in whale fishing, he may
have been induced by them to go there, but he did not remain and soon
joined his three sons in Cornwallis, whose lands were granted to them in
1763, and in the year following Stephen Chase Sr. received his Grant.
The Grant is recorded in the Crown Lands Book. Others to receive lands
at the same time were Porter, Cove, Kinsman, and Blackmer. In The
assessment roll for Cornwallis 1765, appears the following:
L. S.
Jethro & Joseph Chase 4 4
Stephen Chase Jr, 4 4
Stephen Chase 4 4
Assessors: William West, Isaac Bigelow, Handley Chipman
In common with many of the early settlers - the Chase men chose the
North Mountain land for their home lace and tho there is no exact record
of it found, it is a family story that the original homestead was near
what is now known as Halls Harbour and that at least three generations
were born there - and removed to the Valley lands between 1825 - 1830.
In the Chipman Collection, Kings County records in the Provincial
Archives of Nova Scotia, there is this reference in some road survey
papers:
"1813 folder - A road leading from a certain place called Sheffields in
Cornwallis to a place called Chase's Harbour."
No map in existence shows any place of that name, nor is any other
reference to be found.
In 1771 papers there is a mention of Chase's Grist mill - the
following letter or petition in all its original spelling, mentions a
mill, persumably the family property:
"To the Justices of The Court of General sessions
These are to Informe that Isaac Bigelow surveyor of highways for the
year past hath neglected the highways so that there is no passing with
horse nor teme in the Road on the North sid of Little Habitant River up
to the mill greatly to the prejudice of the Inhabitants and a material
road for all on that sid of the s. river. and likewise he hath neglected
one of the the biggest roads in the town namely the mill road so that it
is not passabell many times and at best very bad passing and in danger
many times of life and many complints have been made to him, the said
souiever, but to no purpos. when there us inhabitants that not worked on
the high ways the years past. Witnesses William Canidays. Amos
Sheffield. Isaac Bigelow Ju. Stephen Harrington and many more beside the
nou inhabiing poulation by which neglects the inhabitants hath suffered
much as you may be informed by Peter Wickwire and sseveral more Grand
Jurors of our town,
I respect and remane your friend
Stephen Chase
Cornwallis May ye 25 - 1767"
At the time of the granting of land, everyone was given a certain
proportion of meadow upland, etc. and it was to this that Stephen Chase,
Born 1770, came and built, about 1830, on the present (1936) Chase
homestead.
But the original Stephen Chase with his sons, Stephen, Joseph and
Jethro established a home here and the line of Chases in Nova Scotia,
or more particularly in Cornwallis.
Although we have no written evidence that Stephen Jun. returned to
New England, it is a fact and the best proof to be offered is that after
1770 all mention of him is dropped. His marriage to ANN RUST in 1761 is
recorded and the birth of a child noted 1762 - 1767 but nothing
following this.
END OF QUOTE
If there is interest, I'll post more excerpts from this document from
time to time.
Thanks,
Linda Chase
Hi Listers:
For those of you who are researching Atlantic Canada Chase families, I
am including the descendants of Stephen Chase of Cornwallis, Nova
Scotia.
A word of caution: my information is all second-hand so there may be
some errors. I'm also sending part 2 with some information and questions
re Stephen Chase Junior.
If anyone has questions, I can supply my sources.
Linda Chase
Descendants of Stephen Chase
Generation No. 1
1. STEPHEN1 CHASE was born 2 May 1709. He married (1) ESTHER
BUFFINTON. He married (2) BASHEBA STAFFORD 1751, daughter of JOSEPH
STAFFORD and SARAH. He married (3) ABIGAIL PORTER 1764, daughter of
SAMUEL PORTER and REMEMBER MAKEPEACE. He married (4) NANCY WHITE 1776,
daughter of WILLIAM WHITE and ELIZABETH CADMAN.
Notes for NANCY WHITE:
Nancy (Bushnell or Bushell), wife of Stephen Chase and mother of Job
Chase and William Chase - her maiden name was Nancy White, daughter of
William White and Elizabeth Cadman, and she was the widow of a Mr.
Bushnell (or Bushell).
Children of STEPHEN CHASE and ESTHER BUFFINTON are:
i. HANNAH2 CHASE, b. 22 February 1729; m. JOSEPH SLADE.
ii. SARAH CHASE, b. 18 November 1731; m. JONATHAN LUTHER.
iii. ESTHER CHASE, b. 5 October 1733; m. THOMAS EARLE.
iv. SUSANNAH CHASE, b. 1 January 1735; m. DANIEL WOOD.
v. BENJAMIN CHASE, b. 29 January 1737; m. (1) ELIZABETH DURFEE; m. (2)
MEHITABLE THURSTON.
2. vi. STEPHEN CHASE, b. 3 April 1740; d. buried Lakeside Cemetery,
Unity, ME..
3. vii. JOSEPH CHASE, b. 13 April 1742.
viii. ASA CHASE, b. 4 August 1744; m. DEBORAH BAKER.
4. ix. JETHRO CHASE, b. 13 June 1746.
x. PEACE CHASE, b. 5 August 1748; m. DAVID BAKER.
xi. COMFORT CHASE, b. 10 July 1750; m. SAMUEL UPTON.
Child of STEPHEN CHASE and BASHEBA STAFFORD is:
xii. WILLIAM2 CHASE, died young.
Children of STEPHEN CHASE and ABIGAIL PORTER are:
xiii. LOIS2 CHASE, b. 7 November 1765; m. LEVI LOOMER.
xiv. ABIGAIL CHASE, b. 23 August 1769; m. CONSTANT DUNHAM.
Children of STEPHEN CHASE and NANCY WHITE are:
5. xv. WILLIAM2 CHASE, b. Abt. 1778.
6. xvi. JOB CHASE, b. 21 June 1782.
Generation No. 2
2. STEPHEN2 CHASE (STEPHEN1) was born 3 April 1740, and died in buried
Lakeside Cemetery, Unity, ME.. He married HANNAH BLEATHEN 1761.
Notes for STEPHEN CHASE
Stephen may have married Ann Rust. In the "Chase Chronicles," Millicent
Submit Chase says "Although we have no written evidence that Stephen
Jun. returned to New England, it is a fact and the best proof to be
offered is that after 1770 all mention of him is dropped. His marriage
to ANN RUST in 1761 is recorded and the birth of a child noted 1762 -
1767 but nothing following this."
Children of STEPHEN CHASE and HANNAH BLEATHEN are:
i. ELIZABETH3 CHASE, b. 29 August 1762; m. BARTHOLMEW TABER.
ii. JOHN CHASE, b. 5 March 1765; m. HANNAH PIERSONS.
7. iii. JOB CHASE, b. 7 May 1767.
iv. HANNAH CHASE, m. LEMUEL BARTLETT.
v. ESTHER CHASE, m. BENJAMIN BARTLETT.
vi. HEZEKIAH CHASE, m. SARAH GILKEY.
vii. HUDAH CHASE, m. GIBBS TILTON.
viii. BETHIA CHASE.
ix. HEPSIBAH CHASE.
x. SARAH CHASE, m. JAMES HUSSEY.
3. JOSEPH2 CHASE (STEPHEN1) was born 13 April 1742. He married HANNAH
ELLS, daughter of JOSHUA ELLS and MAY BILL.
Children of JOSEPH CHASE and HANNAH ELLS are:
i. SARAH3 CHASE, b. 15 June 1766; m. (1) ANDREW NEWCOMB; m. (2) JOHN
CARDEN.
ii. ESTHER CHASE, b. 30 October 1767; m. JOHN BURBRIDGE.
iii. HANNAH CHASE, b. 7 April 1769; m. MARCHANT RAND.
8. iv. JOSHUA CHASE, b. 30 January 1771.
9. v. JOSEPH CHASE, b. 1 December 1772.
10. vi. DAVID CHASE, b. 22 August 1774.
vii. MARY CHASE, b. 7 October 1776; m. EZEKIEL KINSMAN.
viii. ABIGAIL CHASE, b. 24 March 1778; m. AMOS KINSMAN.
ix. MEHITABLE CHASE, b. 25 January 1780.
Notes for MEHITABLE CHASE:
Died unmarried
4. JETHRO2 CHASE (STEPHEN1) was born 13 June 1746. He married DOROTHY
CONE.
Children of JETHRO CHASE and DOROTHY CONE are:
i. STEPHEN3 CHASE, b. 1769; d. 1769.
11. ii. STEPHEN CHASE b. 1770.
iii. ESTHER CHASE, m. ABIJAH PEARSON.
iv. REUBEN CHASE, died young.
v. JOHN CHASE, died young.
vi. HANNAH CHASE, died young.
vii. SAMUEL CHASE, died young.
viii. EXPERIENCE CHASE, died young.
ix. DOROTHY CHASE, m. JAMES KINSMAN.
x. JETHRO CHASE, died young.
5. WILLIAM2 CHASE (STEPHEN1) was born Abt. 1778. He married SARAH JESS
1802, daughter of GEORGE JESS and LIZETTE PAYZANT.
Children of WILLIAM CHASE and SARAH JESS are:
i. ELIZA3 CHASE, b. 22 June 1803.
ii. WILLIAM CHASE, b. 6 February 1805.
iii. DAVID CHASE, b. 4 November 1806.
iv. SARAH OLIVE CHASE, b. 29 June 1809.
v. GEORGE LEEIS CHASE, b. 23 March 1811.
vi. JOHN PAYZANT CHASE, b. 22 February 1815.
vii. MARY ALICE CHASE, b. 21 December 1818.
viii. HANNAH CHASE, b. 27 December 1821.
ix. ELIAS CHASE, b. 7 November 1823.
6. JOB2 CHASE (STEPHEN1) was born 21 June 1782. He married ANN JESS,
daughter of GEORGE JESS and LIZETTE PAYZANT.
Children of JOB CHASE and ANN JESS are:
i. JOB3 CHASE, b. 23 January 1811; d. 8 March 1812.
ii. MAY ANN CHASE, b. 30 August 1814.
iii. JAMES STEWART CHASE, b. 29 July 1816.
iv. RUTH AUGUSTA CHASE, b. 18 August 1817.
v. RACHEL CHASE, b. 19 December 1819.
vi. JOB STEPHEN WHITFIELD CHASE, b. 26 July 1823.
Generation No. 3
7. JOB3 CHASE (STEPHEN2, STEPHEN1) was born 7 May 1767. He married
JANE PETTY.
Children of JOB CHASE and JANE PETTY are:
i. JOB4 CHASE, m. NANCY MCCLUER.
ii. BETSEY CHASE, m. (1) BENJAMIN AYER, 23 January 1817; m. (2) JOEL
WHITNEY, 21 May 1840; m. (3) DUDLEY MOODY, 19 January 1862.
iii. HEZEKIAH CHASE, m. MARY HIGGINS.
iv. STEPHEN CHASE, m. (1) ESTHER HIGGINS, 15 October 1825; m. (2) MARY
B. POLLARD, 5 July 1840.
v. SYBIL CHASE, m. THOMAS AYER.
vi. WILLIAM CHASE, m. RACHEL LOWELL.
vii. ACHSA CHASE, m. JEFFERSON BARTLETT.
viii. MARY CHASE, m. (1) UNKNOWN TAYLOR; m. (2) JOSEPH B. WHITNEY.
ix. JOSEPH B. CHASE, m. JANE E. FARWELL.
x. HARRISON CHASE, m. MARCIA P. AYER.
xi. JOHN A. CHASE, m. MARY T. LANE.
xii. JANE P. CHASE.
8. JOSHUA3 CHASE (JOSEPH2, STEPHEN1) was born 30 January 1771. He
married ESTHER TERRY, daughter of PERN TERRY and SARAH.
Children of JOSHUA CHASE and ESTHER TERRY are:
i. MARY LYDIA4 CHASE, m. JOHN H. GESNER.
ii. HANNAH CHASE, m. JOHN BURGESS.
iii. JOSEPH CHASE.
iv. SARAH CHASE, m. DAVID ELLS.
v. ESTHER ELIZABETH CHASE, m. NATHAN ELLS.
vi. RACHEL CHASE, m. JOHN ELLS.
12. vii. JOSEPH CHASE.
9. JOSEPH3 CHASE (JOSEPH2, STEPHEN1) was born 1 December 1772. He
married MARY HAMILTON.
Child of JOSEPH CHASE and MARY HAMILTON is:
i. HANTS4 CHASE, b. 1798.
10. DAVID3 CHASE (JOSEPH2, STEPHEN1) was born 22 August 1774. He
married EUNICE CROCKER.
Children of DAVID CHASE and EUNICE CROCKER are:
i. JOHN4 CHASE.
ii. OLIVE ANN CHASE.
iii. EUNICE CHASE, m. WILLIAM MARCHANT.
iv. ANNA CHASE, m. JOHN MARTIN.
v. DAVID WILKINS CHASE.
vi. HANNAH OLIVIA CHASE, m. JAMES PERKINS KINSMAN.
11. STEPHEN3 CHASE (JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He married ALICE WOODWORTH.
Children of STEPHEN CHASE and ALICE WOODWORTH are:
i. SUBMIT4 CHASE.
13. ii. JOHN WOODWORTH CHASE.
iii. ALICE CHASE, m. WILLIAM FAWCETT.
iv. JANE SARAH CHASE, m. CHARLES WHEATON.
v. ELIZABETH CHASE, m. JAMES AYER, 7 June 1827, Sackville, Westmorland,
New Brunswick.
vi. SARAH CHASE.
vii. MARY ANN CHASE, m. WILLIAM BEDFORD BARNES.
viii. REBECCA CHASE, m. BARNHILL CAHILL.
ix. CHARLES CHASE, d. died young.
14. x. STEPHEN ALBERT CHASE.
Generation No. 4
12. JOSEPH4 CHASE (JOSHUA3, JOSEPH2, STEPHEN1). He married SARAH ANN
MORTON.
Children of JOSEPH CHASE and SARAH MORTON are:
i. ELIZA JANE5 CHASE.
ii. MARY STARR CHASE.
iii. JOSHUA CHASE, m. (1) REBEKAH JANE CARUTHERS; m. (2) FRANCES M.
BORDEN.
iv. ROLAND ARTHUR CHASE.
v. JOSEPH HENRY CHASE.
13. JOHN WOODWORTH4 CHASE (STEPHEN3, JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He married
SARAH MILLICENT THEAL.
Children of JOHN CHASE and SARAH THEAL are:
i. ALICE MARIA5 CHASE, m. JOHN ASHWOOD.
ii. SAMUEL THEAL CHASE.
iii. WILLIAM THEAL CHASE, m. MARY WHITE.
iv. SARAH ANN CHASE, m. STEPHEN SMITH DUBOIS.
v. JOHN WOODWORTH CHASE, m. HELEN SUBMIT ELLS.
vi. GEORGE AMBROSE CHASE, m. (1) ALICE CHASE; m. (2) MARGARET.
vii. JANE ELIZABETH CHASE, m. AUGUSTUS H. HANINGTON.
viii. ALBERT ALEXANDER CHASE, d. 1871, drowned at sea.
14. STEPHEN ALBERT4 CHASE (STEPHEN3, JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He married
ALBERTA REBECCA KINSMAN.
Children of STEPHEN CHASE and ALBERTA KINSMAN are:
i. EDWIN5 CHASE, m. ANNIE HARVEY.
ii. ALICE CHASE, m. GEORGE AMBROSE CHASE.
iii. BEDFORD CHASE, m. SARAH ELIZABETH COGSWELL.
iv. HANNAH CHASE.
Notes for HANNAH CHASE:
Died unmarried
v. ALBERT CHASE.
vi. WILLIAM H. CHASE, m. FRANCES WEBSTER.
vii. REBECCA CHASE.
viii. OSCAR CHASE, m. ELIZABETH LITTLE.
Generation No. 5
15. JOSHUA5 CHASE (JOSEPH4, JOSHUA3, JOSEPH2, STEPHEN1). He married
(1) REBEKAH JANE CARUTHERS. He married (2) FRANCES M. BORDEN.
Children of JOSHUA CHASE and REBEKAH CARUTHERS are:
i. MARY ANN6 CHASE, m. ROBERT DICKEY.
ii. DAISY THERESA CHASE, m. H. C. C. YUILL.
iii. MAUD M. CHASE.
iv. JULIA N. CHASE, m. FRED VAUGHN.
Child of JOSHUA CHASE and FRANCES BORDEN is:
v. MARY LEONTINE6 CHASE, m. JOHN HENRY FORSYTHE.
16. SARAH ANN5 CHASE (JOHN WOODWORTH4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2, STEPHEN1).
She married STEPHEN SMITH DUBOIS.
Children of SARAH CHASE and STEPHEN DUBOIS are:
i. EMILY JANE6 DUBOIS, m. B. S. WOOD.
ii. JUNY DUBOIS, m. ISAAC PARKES.
21. iii. ADA ESTELLE DUBOIS.
iv. IRENE MILLICENT DUBOIS, m. SHERMAN BOND.
v. JESSIE DUBOIS, m. HOWARD FOZELLE.
vi. JENNIE DUBOIS, m. ROLAND WHITE.
vii. WILBUR MELVIN DUBOIS.
viii. ORILLA DUBOIS.
Notes for ORILLA DUBOIS:
unmarried
17. JOHN WOODWORTH5 CHASE (JOHN WOODWORTH4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2,
STEPHEN1). He married HELEN SUBMIT ELLS.
Children of JOHN CHASE and HELEN ELLS are:
i. ARTHUR ALBERT6 CHASE.
ii. FRANCIS LEAVITT CHASE, d. died young.
22. iii. HARRY ALEXANDER CHASE.
iv. MILLICENT SUBMIT CHASE.
Notes for MILLICENT SUBMIT CHASE:
never married
18. BEDFORD5 CHASE (STEPHEN ALBERT4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He
married SARAH ELIZABETH COGSWELL.
Children of BEDFORD CHASE and SARAH COGSWELL are:
i. ALICE REBECCA6 CHASE, m. THOMAS LYDIARD.
ii. SARAH OLIVIA CHASE, m. J W HARVEY.
iii. MARY LOGAN CHASE, m. KENNETH HIBBERT.
23. iv. ALBERT EDWARD CHASE.
v. MARGARET COGSWELL CHASE, m. HARRY S PATTERSON.
24. vi. GEORGE AMBROSE CHASE.
vii. LILA ELIZABETH CHASE, m. RALPH DONALDSON.
viii. HANNAH JEAN CHASE, m. PAUL D MOSHER.
ix. BEDFORD DONALD CHASE, m. (1) MARGUERITE BANCROFT; m. (2) MADELYN
ELLIOTT.
19. WILLIAM H.5 CHASE (STEPHEN ALBERT4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2, STEPHEN1).
He married FRANCES WEBSTER.
Children of WILLIAM CHASE and FRANCES WEBSTER are:
i. LALIA BARCLAY6 CHASE.
25. ii. WILLIAM H CHASE.
20. OSCAR5 CHASE (STEPHEN ALBERT4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He
married ELIZABETH LETTEE (LITTLE?).
Children of OSCAR CHASE and ELIZABETH LITTLE are:
i. LILLIAN6 CHASE.
ii. MARGARET CHASE.
Generation No. 6
21. ADA ESTELLE6 DUBOIS (SARAH ANN5 CHASE, JOHN WOODWORTH4, STEPHEN3,
JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). She married HARRY ALEXANDER CHASE, son of JOHN
CHASE and HELEN ELLS.
Child of ADA DUBOIS and HARRY CHASE is:
i. HELEN ADA7 CHASE, m. HUBERT PROUSE.
22. HARRY ALEXANDER6 CHASE (JOHN WOODWORTH5, JOHN WOODWORTH4, STEPHEN3,
JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He married ADA ESTELLE DUBOIS, daughter of STEPHEN
DUBOIS and SARAH CHASE.
Child of HARRY CHASE and ADA DUBOIS is:
i. HELEN ADA7 CHASE, m. HUBERT PROUSE.
23. ALBERT EDWARD6 CHASE (BEDFORD5, STEPHEN ALBERT4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2,
STEPHEN1). He married FLORENCE SHOULDICE.
Children of ALBERT CHASE and FLORENCE SHOULDICE are:
i. NANCY JEAN7 CHASE.
ii. GEORGE AMBROSE CHASE.
iii. ALBERT EDWARD CHASE.
24. GEORGE AMBROSE6 CHASE (BEDFORD5, STEPHEN ALBERT4, STEPHEN3,
JETHRO2, STEPHEN1). He married ALMENA COGSWELL.
Children of GEORGE CHASE and ALMENA COGSWELL are:
i. BARBARA JEAN7 CHASE.
ii. STEPHEN COGSWELL CHASE.
iii. LEONARD EATON CHASE.
25. WILLIAM H6 CHASE (WILLIAM H.5, STEPHEN ALBERT4, STEPHEN3, JETHRO2,
STEPHEN1). He married HELEN WEBSTER.
Children of WILLIAM CHASE and HELEN WEBSTER are:
i. FRANCES BARCLEY7 CHASE.
ii. WILLIAM HENRY CHASE.
I would like to thank all of the great folks on these research lists that
have helped me to prove my lineage so as to become a member of the National
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I was accepted on
December 07, 2000 and I will inducted on February 3rd, 2001 in Washington
at the monthly management meeting. I would like to thank in person a great
person who has helped enormously with my research and the site that she is
dedicated to for Yates County and that person is Fran Dumas. Thank you
Fran, I appreciate all that you have done to help in my quest.
Thanks to everyone again,
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
PEEL-L(a)rootsweb.com
PAWLOWSKI-L(a)rootsweb.com
LABAR-L(a)rootsweb.com
LENNON-L(a)rootsweb.com
FAIRBANKS-L(a)rootsweb.com
by Laura Chase Smith Dutton Press, 1903
Chapter XXIV Part Three of Three
By reason of long exposure to chilling fogs in this cabin with no gable,
the Bishop fell ill. He was finally well enough to be taken to Mt. Vermon,
where he was most kindly treated, but was obliged to go on to Vermont and
thence to Philadelphia to attend the General Convention, without returning
home.
On his way he stopped at Oneida to confer with the Indian chief, for the
purpose of taking some of their young men to study for orders. It was agreed
that Abraham La Forte, a school-teacher among the Indians, should be
solicited to go to the seminary and to take with him three young lads from
Oneida tribe in this place.
That year, through the agency of Henry Clay, the Postmaster-General
established a post-office at Kenyon College.
Suffering great bodily pain arriving in Philadelphia, the Bishop was most
kindly cared for by the Rev. Benjamin Allen, then rector of St. Paul's
Church. By him he was invited to his own house, the best bed, and the best
physician in the city. Here the Bishop was visited by Mr., (?) afterwards
Dr.
Bedell, whom he was requested to circulate "A Plea for the West" in behalf
of the theological seminary of Ohio. This was granted. The Rev. Mr. Allen
and
Rev. Mr. Bedell came into the Bishop's sickroom and read the first draft of
the little "Plea", as it was written by the Bishop, and then sat down the
long evening through and prepared the plan of Kenyon College, with remarks,
to be printed together, the whole forming but sixteen pages.
To these "remarks" were added several letters from friends in England,
showing the spirit which prevailed in that country, with evidence of their
great generosity to Bishop Chase. This little "Plea for the West", though it
had no intrinsic value but its truth, opened the eyes of many who were
prejudiced against a Western seminary and avowedly hostile to the Bishop's
going to England. It was like Noah's dove sent forth from the little frail
tempest-tossed Church of the Apostles in a vast ocean of the West --- the
Mississippi valley ---not the war like note of revenge for past injuries,
but bearing in its beak the olive branch of peace and love.
One of the results of Bishop Chase's visit to England was the enthusiasm he
aroused in missions, not only in the way of gifts of money, but also in the
offer of missionary service by young English gentlemen. One of the earliest
volunteers was Henry Caswall, a lad of nineteen and a nephew of the Bishop
of
Salisbury, who had heard the Bishop of Ohio and his plans discussed by
English Churchmen,and indirectly had come under the influence of the
Bishop's marvelous personality.
He came to Ohio in 1828, was graduated from Kenyon College, and many years
after returned to his native land and became Vicar of Figheldean in
Wiltshire. In 1851 he wrote a most readable book on the American Church, in
which he gives a graphic picture of his arrival at Kenyon and meeting Bishop
Chase.
He begins his story by a brief account of the impression the Bishop made in
England: "In the year 1823, a personage of no ordinary character made his
first appearance on the shore of England. As the Bishop of a diocese of the
Holy Catholic Church (in this instance "Catholic" is referring to the
Episcopal Church) he was of course received with respect, but
circumstances rendered him an object of peculiar interest and attention.
He came from the distant region of Ohio, a country then scarcely known in
Britain even by name, on an errand closely connected with the propagation of
the Gospel. He spoke of the vast increase of the population in western
America and of the destitution which prevailed in regard to religious
instruction. He was received not merely with respect, but with cordial
sympathy.
Of his long journey across the Atlantic, Dr. Caswell writes most
entertainingly, and of his fellow passengers on shipboard, and of the still
longer journey from New York to Gambier by river, canal, and stage, which
was full of adventure and novelty for this young English lad.
The road from Mt. Vernon to Gambier was then little more than a track formed
by felling the trees..... at length I reached the hill on which Gambier is
situated.......
I requested to be driven to the Bishop's residence, and to my consternation
I was deposited at the door of a small and rough log cabin, which could
boast of but one little window, composed of four squares of the most common
glass.
'Is this the Bishop's palace?' I involuntarily exclaimed. 'Can this, I
thought, 'be the residence of the apostolic man whose praise is in all the
churches, and who is venerated by so many excellent persons in my native
country?' It was even so.
On knocking for admittance the door was opened by the Bishop's wife, who
told me that the Bishop had gone to his mill for some flour and would soon
return. I had waited but a few minutes when I heard a powerful voice
outside, and immediately after the Bishop entered with one of his head
workmen. The good prelate, then fifty-three years of age, was of more than
ordinary size, and his black cassock bore evident tokens of his recent visit
to the mill.
He was proceeding with his conversation with the foreman,when, on hearing
me mentioned, he turned to me and courteously made inquiries respecting my
journey and several of his friends in England. He then invited me to partake
of his frugal meal, after, which he desired me to accompany him to the
college.
On arriving at the unfinished edifice, I was amazed at the solidity of the
structure. The walls were four feet thick at the foundation, but on the
second story, upon which the builders were now engaged, the thickness was
reduced to three feet. I ascended with my venerable guide to the highest
point completed, from whence the eye wandered in every direction over an
ocean of apparently unbroken forest.
When standing here, the Bishop explained several of his plans and mentioned
some of his numerous discouragement. At this moment he was almost destitute
of funds, but he trusted that God would continue as heretofore to supply
him, like Elijah in the wilderness. From the college we descended to a piece
of ground but partially cleared of trees. 'This, ' said the Bishop, is
Sutton Square, so named from his Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury.'
A little further on he informed me that I was in Bexley Sqaure, and still
further to the right was a thick portion of forest which he declared was
Burgess Street, called after the name of the venerable Bishop of Salisbury.
In another part of the surrounding woods he showed me the unoccupied site of
a church to be denominated Rose Chapel, from the Countess Dowager of Rosse.
A large cucumber tree occupied the place of the future altar, a spreading
sumac stood in the place marked for the font, and a stately sycamore
supplied the absence of the steeple. Near the site selected for the church
the Bishop pointed out the grave of an old man, the first person who had
died at Gambier. (to bad he does not cite his name) He had caused a railing
to be erected and with his own hands had trained a wild grapevine to
overshadow it. Near this grave he showed me a spot in which he said he hoped
to lay his own weary body. He only prayed to be allowed sufficient time to
see his town erected, and his college flourishing and complete.'
Dr. Caswall says further of this walk with the Bishop:
>From the burial ground we proceeded to the mill, passing through noble woods
of oak, beech, hickory, walnut and chestnut trees, constituting a portion of
the college dominion. Of eight thousand acres in his hands, the Bishop had
cleared the land from eight hundred, which now produced wheat and Indian
corn. On arriving at the mill, I found it was designed for the double
purpose of grinding meal and of sawing timber into planks.
The college lands were thus made to supply food for the for the inhabitants
of Gambier and material for the construction of such buildings as might be
required. On my return with the Bishop, he assigned me a portion of an
apartment in one of the plank edifices already mentioned and took his leave.
I retired to rest full of admiration for his character, and disposed by his
example of self-denial and his glowing anticipation of the future to think
lightly of present discomforts and to look forward of better things to
come."
In speaking of school life in these early days of Kenyon, Dr. Caswell says
the Bishop's long days of work began at three in the morning with writing
letters,followed by interviews with masons, carpenters, and ploughmen. In
addition to the enterprise at Gambier, there were frequent visitations
through the
diocese, and an occasional long journey east for funds to go on with the
work. He thus describes the Bishop, starting on one of these long journeys:
"Before his departure, the students marched in procession to his residence
to shake hands with him and to say farewell. After they had arranged
themselves in a semi-circle, the Bishop addressed them,and commended them to
the protection of the Almighty. Then, mounting old Cincicnnatus, he set of
at a gallop, and, dashing into the woods, was out of sight in a moment.
In 1830, Dr. Casewell writes, there were one hundred and seventy students at
Gambier. "There were among them the sons of slave-owners in the Southern
States brought up in luxury at home, and hardly reconciled to the rude log
buildings and simple fare of Gambier.
There were also young men from New England of industrious and thrifty
habits, who maintained themselves at college by teaching schools during half
the year in the neighboring county. There were a few Irish and Welsh, one
Greek, and a native of Hindostan. Besides these, there were at one time
three
or four American Indians.
On Sundays the Bishop generally officiated with the assistance of the
professors in the building used as a temporary chapel. He often collected
the youngest students around him and conveyed religious and moral
instruction under the form of graphic narratives and curious parables."
When Dr. Caswell says of the early diocesan conventions is interesting in
view of subsequent events: "Once a year the General Convention of the
diocese assembled at Gambier, in which occasions the thirty or forty
congregations existing in the diocese were represented by their lay
delegates; and most of the clergy, then twenty in number, attended in
person.
All were guest of the Bishop, and dined at the common table with the
students, the principal luxury at the meals being the wild honey in the
comb, taken from the forest trees. The Holy Communion was always celebrated,
and the Bishop opened the Convention by an address in which he detailed his
measures for the advancement of the Church and made suggestions for future
improvement.
Yet it was easy to see that, even in that little band, opposite principles
were at work which could hardly fail to produce a disastrous result. The
Bishop, for example, like the other American prelates, rested his
prerogative on apostolic succession and firmly believed in the efficacy of
the Sacraments as means by which grace is conveyed. The professors,
generally, were good men, but inclined to low views of the Church, and were
disposed to show great deference to the spirit of the age. Although
nominated in the first instance by the Bishop, they were removable only by a
Board of Trustees, elected by the Diocesan Convention.
Their desire was to render the college popular among all classes of the
community, and this object could only be effected by sinking (hiding?) in
some measure its distinctive features as a Church institution. In these and
similar plans a large portion of the clergy and laity in the Diocesan
Convention was generally ready to support them, believing that Episcopacy
in Ohio was practicable only in the mildest and most 'liberal' form.
On the other hand, the Bishop insisted that the theological and
ecclesiastical character of the college ought to be maintained as superior
to every other consideration. He was well aware that the religious and
benevolent persons in England and in America who had contributed their money
toward the establishment of the institution had done so, not for
the diffusion of mere secular education or even of general Christianity, but
with the object of raising up clergymen to minister to the flock of Christ
in
the remote West."
END Chapter XXIV Harriet M. Chase hatchase(a)uswest.net
Chapter XXIV Continues (Part two of three)
"This accomplished (cutting a pathway), there met our view a plain of a mile
or more, devoid of standing trees, but a perfect wilderness of fallen ones,
the result of some windstorm which had formerly passed over it, but the
undergrowth had so interlace itself with the fallen timber, that it was
impossible to move a rod without cutting a path. A few boards were carried
up the pathway recently made, and place against a chestnut tree near the
site of the present college building; and there the Bishop, Mr. A. Douglas,
and myself ate our first noonday meal of bread and bacon on Gambier Hill.
A tent of split timbers wee soon made with a 'mud and stick' chimney,
bedsteads made of stakes and clapboards, the beds of straw, and thus
provided
with shelter we passed the summer. The workman meanwhile cleared the grounds
and made roads. Lying on our beds of straw at night we heard the howl of the
wolf, the call of the fox, and the hoot of the owl, but in daytime were more
seriously annoyed by the numerous rattlesnakes, which we learned by
experience only the presence of herds of swine would extirpate.
(exterminate)
"The 'Episcopal Palace,' until the main college building was erected, was a
log cabin near the entrance of the present college grounds, on the east side
passing from the village to the college. Here the students were boarded
after the school was removed from Worthington, and before the quarters were
provided. I remember breakfast at six in the winter on rye bread baked in
ovens during the night; the inside only of the loaf was used, but it was
hot, sweet, savory and healthy.
For the accommodations of the scholars brought from Worthington, and others,
before permanent buildings were erected, there were block-houses, used as
lodging-houses, put up where the village now is.
There was a flame structure opposite where Rosse Chapel now stands, on the
east side of the Avenue, which was named by the students 'The 74.' from its
likeness to frames put up to cover ships of war while building. The room
below was used for church and school; the upper story was one large
dormitory, well ventilated by windows above and below, where the boys had
their cots, arranged in rows as in a hospital, the teacher in charge having
a
separate room, with glass windows, for observation at all times. In the
public room, used for Sunday services, was an organ.
Out of school hours, the boys were encouraged to expend their energies in
useful ways of improving the grounds. Then the groves which now adorn the
sides of Gambier Hall were chiefly brushwood, and portions of these marked
off in square rods, and each boy could choose his 'claim' to 'grub' up the
superfluous young tree and save and trim up the rest, and he was paid a
stipulated sum for doing this, which gave him pocket money if he chose to
secure it. The fine trees which now overtook Ascension Hall were thus
trimmed
up by my own hands when a boy."
This description by the Rev. Dudley Chase gives one view. Another appears in
the following letter from the Bishop to his wife:
Gambier Hill Site of Kenyon college, June 3.
As to our progress, we can say nothing but good things, though our hands are
so few and everything in such a rude state as to exhibit but little; but the
incipient of this lion-like work we have now undertaken. The well, you know,
was the first thing we needed. As soon, therefore, as we could get the thick
bushes so far cleared away as to see the light of heaven above and the
surface of the ground beneath, the men were ordered to begin the task of
sinking the well. This makes the third day we have spent, and we have dug
eleven feet, a great part of which is through a rock. This becoming harder
and harder, I have resolved to commence the use of an auger; apparatus of
this kind is to be set in motion, so that I hope by the middle of next week
to see this work of boring by horse power commence in rapid style.
If you ask how I 'get on' without money, I answer 'The Lord helpeth me.'
What do you think of His mercy in sending good Mr. Davis with half a cheese
from his mother an twenty-five dollars from his mother, presented to me out
of pure regard to the great and good work which God enables be thus to carry
on? Mr. Norton has sent me there hands for a short time. We have built us
a tent cabin, and if we had any one to cook for us we should live
{comfortably}
It is impossible to make the hands board themselves. We must find provisions
ourselves or have none to help us.
I write you this by a poor, dim hog's-lard lamp, which, shinning askance on
my paper, will hardly permit me to say how faithfully I am
Your affectionate husband"
A story which Bishop Chase used to tell nearly sixty years ago,apropos of
this time, will show that among "the people" Bishop Chase was not
considered an autocrat. A company of gentlemen were travelling by
stage-coach near the site selected for Bishop's Chase's mill, when one of
the party expressed his opinion of the Bishop's plans in terms of great
contempt, adding to his remarks the assertion that "Bishop Chase virtually
has no friends." In these damaging assertions he was upheld by his
companions.
The conversation continuing in this strain, the driver after a while turned
his head and respectfully said: "Gentlemen, you are mistaken. Bishop Chase
has one friend, Look there," pointing to a narrow stream running through a
point of low land near the mill-site; "I say Bishop Chase has one friend,
and that friend is God. He dug his mill-race for him in the storm last
week."
To balance these hardships, the Bishop had the pleasure of seeing smiling
faces of a few Sunday-school children every Lord's Day. They came through
the thick bushes from the little cabins within a circuit of three or four
miles, and although at first they knew almost nothing of the letters of the
alphabet, and still less of the Name of the Lord, yet, finding themselves
received and entertained with kindness, they came the second time, and yet
gain, accompanied by some others of their fellows, til point of numbers the
Sunday-school kept under the well-pruned bushes of Gambier Hall was quite
respectable.
It was summer, and here they sat on the temporary seats all the morning,
till time for prayers and sermon, and during the intermission at noon,were
taught their letters, and then to read the Word of God, and the hymns to
sing His praise, "If even one of these little children, the happy subjects
of a Saviour's love, be brought to the knowledge of truth, there is reason
to rejoice."
The Rev. Dudley Chase writes of this early missionary work:
"A Sunday-school had been early organized for the benefit of the benighted
children of the surrounding country. This was done by the Bishop before
there were any students or buildings on the hill. It was held under the
tree, and split rails were used as benches. When the Grammar School and
College were in full operation, this truly missionary enterprise was
extended.
I remember a time when fifty students habitually took an early morning meal
of eggs and coffee and being excused from morning prayer at the chapel, went
forth, two and two, an older student being put in charge of a young
assistant, to points within a radius of six or seven miles to teach the
young heathen in the woods, children of the 'squatters,' for whom no one yet
cared. Thus, in time, several hundred were brought under instruction."
Chapter XXIV to be continued (part three)
Harriet M. Chase hatchase(a)uswest.net