Descendants of Thomas Chase


Thomas Chase, the progenitor of our Chase ancestry, was of Chesham, County Buckinghamshire which is about 30 miles northwest of London. The family name “Chase” extends back to Norman times when, it has been suggested, the name was “La Chasse”. In old English records, the name has been “Chaace” and “Chasse”. Thomas Chase was born 1428 at Hundrich, parish of Chesham, Bucks. His date of death as well as the name of his wife is unknown.

References: PH43:1949


John Chase, son of the above Thomas Chase, was born ca 146x and died early in the sixteenth century. He was also of Hundrich, Chesham, Bucks. The name of his wife, assumed to be born about ca 146x, is unknown.

References: PH43:1949

 

Matthew Chase, born ca 148x, is documented in “speaking of his father John whose father was Thomas”. There is really little known of these first three generations. Most current documentation relating to the forefathers of our Aquila-2 Chase as starting with his great grandfather, Thomas Chase, born 1520 +/- at Hundrich, Chesham, Bucks. English genealogist H.G. Somerby’s research for George B. Chase’s “Genealogical Memoirs of the Chase Family of Chesham”-1869 reflects Thomas(1), John(2), Matthew(3), Richard (4), Richard (5), Aquila-1 (6); this is versus the current Thomas (4), Richard (5), and Aquila-1 (6).


Matthew married, ca 151x, Elizabeth Bould, parentage unknown, who is assumed to be of Hundrich, Chesham,Bucks. Their births, marriage, and deaths are estimated because of the lack of specific data.

References: PH43:1949


Thomas Chase, son of Matthew and Elizabeth Bould Chase was born in 1520 at Hundrich, Chesham, Bucks. “Old father Thomas Chase of Hundricke in the parish of Chesham was buried 27 June 1586". He married Elizabeth Bowchien, parents unknown, before 1541; she was buried in Chesham 02 Oct. 1569. Their servant, Richard Payne was buried at Chesham 09 Feb 1563. Our Thomas Chase was a man of some means in order to be able to afford a servant.

References: PH43:1949; PH215:286; FH44:22; 2nd Boat:V5-1:6.


Richard Chase, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Bowchien Chase, was born in Chesham, Bucks. on 23 Aug. 1542. He married, in Hundrich, Chesham on 16 May 1564, Joan Bishop whose parentage is unknown. She was buried in Chesham,Bucks. “as Joan, the wife of Richard Chase” on 04 May 1597. Like his father Thomas, Richard had a servant of the name of Richard Butcher.

References: PH215:286; PH43:1949; FH44:23; 2nd Boat:V5-1:6.


Aquila-1 Chase, the sixth child and third son, of Richard and Joan Bishop Chase was baptized on 07 Aug. 1580. The name “Aquila” is quite unique; the genealogy/source of this name has been an ongoing unsuccessful challenge to the many genealogists and descendants involved. It is assumed that he is identical “with Aquila Chaste who married, in the parish of St. Thomas-the-Apostle, London, on 22 June 1605, Martha Jelliman who was probably the daughter of John and Margerie (–) Jelliman. John Jelliman was buried in that parish on 07 May 1620 and Margerie Jelliman, widow, was buried there on 18 Aug.1621. The church of St. Thomas-the-Apostle was located on Knight Rider’s Street, later called Old Fish Street; on this same street was located the church of St. Nicholas, Cole Abbey.


Aquila-1 Chase lived in the parish of St. Thomas-the-Apostle from 1606 to 1611. Then he appears, as a merchant/tailor, living in the parish of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey from 1611 until 1644 i.e., until his death. Martha, the wife of Aquila-1 Chase, was buried in the cloyster of the church of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey on 15 Aug. 1643 and Aquila-1 Chase, tailor, was buried there on 09 Feb. 1644. Their first two children, Ann and Martha, were baptized and buried at St. Thomas-the- Apostle church. The last four children of Aquila-1 and Martha ,i.e., Sara, Elizabeth, Joanne, and Aquila-2 were baptized at St. Nicholas Cole Abbey. The parish register styles Aquila-1 Chase six times as “merchant-tailor” which indicates him to be person of solid middle class standing.

References: PH215:286; PH43:1949; FH44:26; 2nd Boat:V5-1:6.


Aquila Chase-2, the son of Aquila-1 and Martha Jelliman Chase was born in 1618 at Hundrich, Chesham,Bucks. He died 27 Dec. 1670 at Newbury, Ma. He married in 1644, at Hampton, New Hampshire, Ann Wheeler born 1624 at Salisbury, Wiltshire, the daughter of John and Ann Yeoman Wheeler. She died at Newbury, Ma. on 21 April 1687.


Aquila-2 Chase came to New England probably with his brother Thomas. It has been suggested that Aquila-2 and his brother, Thomas, were employed by their uncle Thomas who was part owner of the ship “John and Francis”. The validity of this suggestion is reinforced by the fact that Aquila-2 was a mariner as we will see at a later point. Aquila-2 Chase appears first at Hampton, NH. A company, under the leadership of the Rev. Stephen Bachiler, is supposed to have commenced the settlement of Hampton on 14 Oct. 1638. Early in the year 1639 a second band of settlers came in with Mr. Timothy Dalton who became associate pastor of the Hampton church. The town was incorporated by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on 22 May 1639. It is probable that Aquila-2 and his, Thomas, brother came with the second company. The first town meeting of Hampton, of which there is record, was held on 31 Oct. 1639, and 24 Dec. of the same year wherein land was allotted to fifteen grantees, the first grants being small house lots. In June of 1640 others became grantees including Aquila-2 and Thomas Chase. Aquila-2 received a grant of six acres for a house and , in 1644, he received a second grant of six acres of “upland meadow and swamp”. These lands were later sold to brother Thomas upon Aquila-2's removal to Newbury, Ma. In Hampton Aquila-2 erected a house which he occupied until the summer of 1646. The home was located south of the meeting house, near the marshes on the road to the ancient Tide Mill. The common lands were granted to the proprietors of house lots in Hampton on 23 Feb. 1646; Thomas received two shares and brother Aquila-2 one share. At this time, Thomas was with wife and two children while Aquila-2 had probably only his wife. Aquila-2 was one of the petitioners, 7 March 1634, for a modification of the law requiring military drill which had been in effect for three years.


In 1646, Aquila-2 was induced to remove to Newbury as noted in the following Newbury record.

“Granted to Aquila Chase(-2), Anno 1646, fower acres of land at the new towne for a house lott and six acres of upland for planting lott where it can be had, and six acres of marsh where it can be had, also on condition that he doe goe to sea and do service in the towne with a boate for four years”. This inducement to remove to Newbury would indicate that Aquila-2 was a mariner or a fisherman; Joshua Coffin in his “History of Newbury” states that it is a Chase family tradition that Aquila-2 was the first person to pilot a vessel across the bar at the mouth of the Merrimack river.


At the Quarterly Court held at Ipswich. Ma on 29 Sept. 1646, Aquila-2, his wife Ann, and her brother David, all of Hampton were presented for “gathering peas on the Sabbath”. A crime worthy of consideration by our Puritan forefathers. The removal to Newbury must have taken place shortly after the pea picking incidence as they were not to be found in Hampton at the time of the 29 Sept 1646 Quarterly Court. The same offence was on the docket for the Quarterly Court to be held on 30 March 1647; however, the situation wasn’t resolved until Court held 28 March 1648 when they were admonished and their fines submitted.


Sometime in early 1659, Aquila-2 Chase sold his homestead to Robert Rogers of Newbury. It is assumed that he took up residence on the “six acres of upland for planting”. Here he lived until his death on 27 Dec. 1670. The place of his burial is unknown but it was probably in the grave yard at Oldtown . A deposition presented at the Quarterly Court of 25 Sept. 1666 mentions “Accquilla Chas, aged about forty eight” which is the basis of his birth date of 1618. The will of Aquila-2 Chase was dated 10 Dec. 1670. It was quite extensive as well as specific but unsigned at the time of his death. The estate was divided by the heirs in 1723. The inventory was taken 21 Jan, 1671 by Edmund Woodman and John Bayley and amounted to L336 14s which was a fair amount of wealth for the period involved. Our Aquila-2 Chase was the American ancestor of a family that has borne statesmen, jurists, clergymen, senators, and many others honored in other walks of life.

References:PH7:146; PH215:287; FH29:672-675; PH43:1949; FH44:29-35; 2nd Boat:V5-1: 4,6-7 PH222:V4:321, 328-319.


Thomas Chase, the sixth child and the second son, of Aquila-1 and Ann Wheeler Chase was born on 25 July 1654 at Newbury, (now Newburyport , Ma. and died there on 25 Feb.1733 at the age of 79. He married first, in Newbury, 22 Nov. 1677, Rebecca Follansbee, daughter of Thomas and Mary (–) Follansbee, of Portsmouth, NH and Newbury, Ma. She was born in 1660 in England and died on 27 Dec. 1711 in Newbury, Ma. Thomas married second, in Newbury on 02 Aug. 1714 Elizabeth Moores who was the widow of Jonathan Moores and the daughter of William and Mary (–) Woodhead.


Thomas Chase learned the carpenter’s trade. He was in the military servive in King Philip’s War on 27 Aug, 1675 in Capt. Samuel Appleton’s Company and was credited with L3 18s for his service in Dec. 1675. He was in the Narraganset campaign and in Jan 1702 petitioned for a grant of land for his service in 1675 and 1676. In 1678, at the age of twenty four, he was one of the male inhabitants of Newbury to take the oath of allegiance. In 1679 his family was under the inspection of Abraham Merrill, tithing man (now known as the IRS). In 1688 he paid tax on one house, eight acres of plough land, one acre of meadow, one horse, three cows, two two-year olds, one yearling, eight sheep, and three hogs. Quite a menagerie of animals.


He settled near Amesbury Ferry about thirty rods north of the intersection of the Ferry road with the road leading by the old cemetery at Sawyer’s hill at Curzon’s tide mill on the Artichoke river. His first purchase, on 2 June 1677, was fourteen acres from Nicholas Woodman “bounded with the country highway to Amesbury Ferry”. His homestead was in what is now Newburyport Thomas Follansbee of Newbury, joiner, for L56 sells his homestead in Newbury, “upon ye plain” to his son-in-law, Thomas Chase, on 02 Nov. 1711; Thomas Chase, house carpenter, “for love” sells the same property to his son Aquila Chase on 02 April 1713. Thomas Chase of Newbury made his will on 03 Aug 1732 which was proved on 25 Feb. 1733. Besides bequesting his land, houses, clothing, furnishings, utensils, carpenter tools, live stock, etc he bequest L90 in different amounts to his children. His will was witnessed by Joshua Coffin, Nathaniel Coffin, and William Goodridge.

References: PH7:146; PH215:287; FH29:674-676; FH44:34,37-39.


Ensign Jonathan Chase Sr., the second child and son of Thomas and Rebecca Follansbee Chase was born on 13 Jan. 1683 in Newbury. He died 3 May.1749 in Stratham, NH at 66 years of age. He entered his intention of marriage at Newbury on 11 Juky 1702 to Joanna Palmer of Bradford, Ma. who was the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Jackman Palmer. She was born 14 Sept. 1680 and died on 17 March 1756 at Stratham, NH at the age of 75.


He settled in what is now West Newbury and on 07 Dec. 1716 sold his homestead of forty acres to William Johnson Jr., a shipwright. In the same year he purchased, from Benjamin Hoag of Stratham, N.H., a dwelling house and lands in Stratham. He and his wife were admitted to the Second Church of Newbury in 1715 and later dismissed to the church at Exeter, N.H.. Jonathan Chase Sr. was a very large land owner. His title of Ensign would indicate some role in the Militia relating to the sea; perhaps an armed vessel for protecting intercostal commercial traffic.


Jonathan Chase Sr. of Stratham made his will on 28 April 1749, died on 03 May 1749 at 66 years of age, and his will was proved on 22 May 1749. Of the many persons mentioned, we find Moses Chase, his grandson, i.e., son of his already deceased son, Jonathan-2 Chase. Our Ensign Jonathan Chase Sr. was very successful in his land acquisitions and other activities; his estate was valued at L7,271 which was a considerable amount for the time period involved. His widow, Joanna, survived her husband and lived in Stratham, N.H. until her death in1756.

References: FH44:39,47; PH16:NH:3039; NEHGR:V1:69.


Jonathan Chase Jr. , son of Ensign Jonathan-1 and Joanna Palmer Chase, was born in Newbury, Ma. in Sept. 1707 and died in Stratham, N.H. 18 Aug. 1744 at 37 years of age. He married in 1727 Lydia Rollins who was born in Stratham, N.H. on 04 Oct. 1705. She was the daughter of Moses and Esther (–) Rollins. She died on 02 Jan. 1769 at Stratham, N.H.


It assumed that Jonathan Chase Jr., following the family tradition, was a farmer and land holder. The extent of his holdings is not known but one can assume that he probably had a pretty fair bequest from his father. His widow, Lydia, administered upon his estate in Sept. 1744.

References: FH44:47,64-65; PH16:NH:3039.


Moses Chase, son of Jonathan Jr. and Lydia Rollins Chase, was born in 1733 at Stratham, N.H. and died on 20 May 1798 at 65 years of age. He married first Lucy Moulton ca 175x; they had two children, Lucy and Moses; his first wife died prior 1772. He married second, prior 1772, Anna Rollins who was born 13 Aug. 1749 and died at Stratham, N.H. 25 Jan. 1821 at 72 years of age. She was the daughter of Joshua and Mary Clark Rollins.

References: FH44:65,159; FH257:25; PH16:NH:3071.


Thomas Chase, son of Moses and Anna Rollins Chase, was born in Stratham, N.H. on 05 June 1775 and died in 1815 in Meredith, N. H. at the age of forty years. He married in 1798, at Stratham, N.H., Abigail Wiggins who was born in Stratham on 22 Mar 1775; she was the daughter of Capt. Jonathan and Mehitable Thurston Wiggins. The date of Abigail’s death is not known. It has been stated that they both were born and married in Stratham, N.H.; they subsequently re- moved to Meredith, N.H. which is about 52 miles northwest of Stratham, N.H. located on Lake Winnipesaunee. One of the children, our Clarissa Chase, was born in New Hampton which is about 8 miles southwest of Meredith, N.H. It is assumed that Thomas Chase was a man of the farm.

References: FH44:159,244; FH283:41; PH16:NH:3116.


Clarissa Chase, daughter of Thomas and Abigail Wiggins, was born at New Hampton, N.H. on 27 Feb. 1807 and died on 31 Dec..1893 at Geneseo, Il at the age of 86. She married, as his second wife, Leonard Fox on 12 June 1828 at Center Harbor, N.H.; Leonard Fox was born 05 March 1801 at Hebron, N.H. and died at Center Harbor, N.H. on 17 Nov. 1872 at the age of 71. Our Clarissa Chase reflects a total of 13 generations of this worthy Chase Family.

 References: FH44:244; FH283:41; PH16:NH:2983.