Family of Aguila * CHASE and Ann * WHEELER

Husband:	Aguila * CHASE (1618-1670)
Wife:	Ann * WHEELER (1629-1687)
Children:	Sarah CHASE (1645- )
	Ann CHASE (1647- )
	Priscilla CHASE (1648- )
	Aguila CHASE (1652- )
	Thomas * CHASE (1654-1733)
	Josiah CHASE (c. 1656- )
	Daniel CHASE (1661- )
	Moses CHASE (1663- )
Marriage	16441

Husband: Aguila * CHASE

Wife: Ann * WHEELER

Name:	Ann * WHEELER
Sex:	Female
Father:	John * WHEELER (1591-1670)
Mother:	Agnes * YEOMANS (1592-1662)
Birth	20 Dec 1629	Hampton, Rockingham, NH, US
Death	21 Apr 1687 (age 57)	Newbury, Essex, MA, US3

Child 1: Sarah CHASE

Name:	Sarah CHASE
Sex:	Female
Birth	6 Jul 1645

Child 2: Ann CHASE

Name:	Ann CHASE
Sex:	Female
Birth	6 Jul 1647

Child 3: Priscilla CHASE

Name:	Priscilla CHASE
Sex:	Female
Birth	14 Mar 1648

Child 4: Aguila CHASE

Name:	Aguila CHASE
Sex:	Male
Birth	26 Sep 1652

Child 5: Thomas * CHASE

Name:	Thomas * CHASE
Sex:	Male
Spouse:	Rebecca * FOLLANSBEE (1660-1711)
Birth	25 Jul 1654	Newburyport, Essex, MA, US2,4
Death	25 Feb 1733 (age 78)	Newbury, Essex, MA, US5

Child 6: Josiah CHASE

Name:	Josiah CHASE
Sex:	Male
Birth	1656 (est)

Child 7: Daniel CHASE

Name:	Daniel CHASE
Sex:	Male
Birth	1661

Child 8: Moses CHASE

Name:	Moses CHASE
Sex:	Male
Birth	24 Dec 1663

Note on Husband: Aguila * CHASE

Aquila Chase Aquila Chase appears first at Hampton, N.H. Early in the year 1639, a second band of setlers came with Mr. Timothy Dalton, who became associate pastor of the Hampton church. The town was incorporated by the General Court fo the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 22 May 1639. It is probable that Aquila an dThomas Chase came with this second company, as in June 1640, they became grantees of small house lots, along with other settlers. In 1640 the Hampton records show therr was granted to Aquila Chase, six acres for a house lot. In 1644, an additional grant was recorded, of six acres of "upland meadow and swamp:, which he sold to his brother Thomas on his removal to Newbury. Aquila Chase was one of the Hampton petitioners, 7 Mar 1643/4, for a modification of the law regulation military drill which had been in force for three years previously. The petition was presented to the Govenor, Deputy Govenor, Council, and Deputies of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (NH Provincial Papers) In 1646, Aquila Chase was induced to remove to Newbury, as evidenced by the following extract from Newbury records of that year: "Granted to Aquila Chase, Anno 1646, fower (four) acres of land at the new towne for a house lott and six acres of upland for a planting lott, where it can be hsd, and six acres of marsh where it can be had, also on condition the he doe goe to sea and do service in the towne with a boate for four years." The "fower" acres of land at the new :new towne for a house lott" was in whet is now Newburyport, Massachusetts, on the northeasterly corner of Chandler's Land (Federal Street) and on the "way by the Merrimac river". He sold a portion of this land sometime before 1659, but probably lived on the :six acres of upland for a planting lott: until his death in 1670. The will of Aquila Chase, dated 10 Dec. 1670, gives the homestead to his oldest son, Aquila. He also makes the following bequests: "To my well beloved wife ann I give and bequeath, my house barne and orchard and all my lands both Eareable pasture and marsh meadow ground, lyeing and being inye bounds of the Towne of Newbury aforesayd together with all my goods and chattels, both within dores and without." He made bequests of five pounds each to daughters An and Pricilla. Also bequests to sone, Thomas, John, Daniel, and Moses, and son-in-law Charles Annis. Bequests also were made to Mary, (wife of John Stevens and to Sarah, also daughters. The will was witnessed by William Chandler and Steven Greenleaf, who testified on oath in Court held at Ipswich the 28 of March 1671 that it was the last will of Aquila Chase and that he was of a disposing mind. Aquila was said to be a mariner from Cornwall, England. His memory is honored by a stone tablet in the New England Historic Genealogical Society building in Boston, Massachusetts, for being the first pilot at the mough of the Merrimack River. 1. Aquila Chase, b. circa 1618, probably England, d. 29 Aug. 1670, Newbury, Ma. aged 52, m. circa 1644, Hampton, N.H. (later a part of Massachusetts), to Ann(e) Wheeler. who d. 19 May 168, dau of John and Anne Wheeler of Hampton; Anne m. (2) 14 June 1672, to Daniel Mussiloway. Children of Aquila and Anne Chase (all b. at Newbury): i. Sarah b. circa 1645,m. 15 May to Charles (Curmac) Annis, born Ireland. ii. Anne b. 6 July 1647, m. 27 Apr 1671, to Thomas Barber. iii. Priscilla b. 14 Mar 1648/9, m. 10 Feb 1670/1 to Abel Merrill iv. Mary b. 3 Feb 1650/1, m. 9 Mr 1669/70, to John Stevens, of Newbury and Haverhill v. Aquila b. 26 Sep 1652, Newbury d. 29 July 1720, m. circa 1673 to Edith/Esther Bond, b. 25 Sep 1655, d. after 1720, dau of John Bond and Esther Blakeley vi. Thomas b. 25 July 1654, d. 25 Feb. 1733, m. (1) 22 Nov. 1677 to Rebecca Follansbee (prob. dau of Thomas and 1st wife Mary): Thomas m. (2) 2 Aug 1713, Elizabeth Morres, (said to be widow of Johathan Mooers of Newbury, and dau of William and Mary Woodhead) b. 28 Dec 1674, Chelmsford, Ma. Thomas Chase was in King Philip's War. vii. John b. 2 Nov 1655, d. 26 Feb. 1739/40, m. (1) 23 May 1677, to Elizabeth Bingley/Bingham, b. 24 June 1660, Salisbury, Ma. d. circa 1685, dau of William Bingley and Elizabeth Preston. John m. (2) 21 Dec 1687 to Lydia Challis b. 31 May 1665, Salisbury dau of Philip Challis and Mary Sargent. John , a soldier in King Philip's War. viii. Elizabeth b. 134 Sep 1657, m (1) 27 June 1678, to Zachariah Ayer; m. (2) to Daniel Favor. ix. Ruth b. 18 Mar 1659/60, d. 30 May1676 age 16. x. Daniel b. 9 Dec. 1661, m. 25 Aug. 1683 to Martha Kinball, b. 18 Aug. 1664, dau of Henry Kimball and Mary Wyatt; she m. (2) 9 May 1713 to Josiah Heath of Haverhill. xi. Moses, b. 24 Dec. 1663, m. (1) 10 Nove. 1684 to Ann(e) Follansbee (pos. sister of Rebeca Follansbee), m. (2) 13 Dec. 1713, to Sarah Jacobs, b. 26 Sep 1674, Ipswich, d. 13 Mar 1739, Newbury dau of Thomas Jacobs and Sarah Brown. This information is taken from the book, "Ancestors and Descendants of Timothy Seymour Lull" compiled by Connie Lull Frey and Carmen W. Missildine.

 

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AQUILA CHASE II was born about 1618 and was baptized April 9, 1626. He came to America about 1639 and settled in Hampton, New Hampshire. He was granted six acres of land in the newly formed town and on this property he built a log house. He was a mariner by trade and was the first person to pilot a boat up the Merrimack River. About 1644 Aquila married ANNE WHEELER, daughter of John Wheeler and granddaughter of Dominick Wheeler. John Wheeler was born about 1589 and married Ann Yeoman December 1, 1611. Dominick Wheeler was born about 1568, married Mercy Jellye in Salisbury, England on June 3, 1588 abd died about 1616.

 

Aquila II and Anne's first child, Sarah, was born in Hampton. In 1646 they sold their property there and moved to the nearby town of Newbury, Massachusetts. Before moving, Aquila was twice presented to the Quarterly Court, along with his wife and her brother, David Wheeler, for the offense of gathering peas on Sunday. In Newbury (now Newburyport) Aquila was granted land in the amount of 16 acres for building and planting on the condition that "he do go to sea and do service in the town with a boat for four years." The house was located at what is now the corner of Federal and Water Streets and at the present time (1970) it is occupied by a building which houses the Littlefield Press.

 

The rest of Aquila's Children were born in Newbury. They were Anne, Priscilla, Mary, Aquila, Thomas, John, Elizabeth, Ruth, DANIEL, and Moses. About 1659 Aquila sold his property on Federal Street and moved to North Atkinson Road where he lived until his death on December 27, 1670. Abbe Cgase dued April 21, 1687.

 

A very large proportion of the Chases in America have descended from Aquila, and many were very prominent in their time. The best known is Salmon P. Chase, (1803 - 1873), who served as Governor of Ohio, U.S. Senator, Secretary of Treasury, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. His cabinet position was served under Abraham Lincoln and he was appointed Chief Justice by Mr. Lincoln. Many other descendants were well known as clergymen, educators, judges, military officers, authors, and physicians.

 

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I n 1924 John Carroll Chase erected a memorial tablet in memory of his ancestor Aquila Chase, one of the early settlers of Newbury. It graced the entryway of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston for many years.

 

In 1964, the Society relocated its headquarters from Ashburton Place to Newbury Street, and with that move there was no longer wall space to display the Chase tablet and others like it. The Caen stone* tablet then vanished from the public eye. Many feared that it had been stolen, lost, or destroyed. The tablet, however, had actually been carefully crated and placed in a warehouse in Brighton. There it stayed from 1964 until about 1989, when it was finally offered to any Chase descendant who expressed interest in it.

 

Dean Crawford Smith, a Chase descendant and trustee of the NEHGS, took possession of the tablet, storing it at his house in Portsmouth, NH. A year later, before moving to California, he gave the tablet to another Chase descendant, George F. Sanborn, Jr. Mr. Sanborn had no place to display the tablet so he kept it carefully crated.

 

In 2004 Sanborn, who was on the NEHGS staff for nearly 23 years, announced that he had acquired the tablet and had it safe in storage at his New Hampshire home. He expressed his desire to pass the tablet along to another Chase descendant, and also that the tablet be displayed somewhere that the public could enjoy it. Bob Stone, then registrar of the First Settlers, heard of Mr. Sanborn's desire and proposed that the First Settlers acquire the tablet and display it somewhere in the Newburyport area as part of the First Settlers' Collection.

 

The First Settlers’ Board of Directors then voted to place this grand genealogical piece in the Newburyport Public Library. Mrs. Dorothy La France, director of the Newburyport Library and Dr. William F. Watts, President of the First Settlers decided that the entrance to the Archival Center of the library would be an excellent display location. Installed in December of 2005, the tablet now proudly watches over those who enjoy genealogy with its substantial stone presence.

 

Below the wooden-framed tablet is a sign which reads:

AQUILA CHASE TABLET ERECTED BY JOHN CARROLL CHASE, 1924 DESIGNED IN CAEN STONE BY STRICKLAND, BLOODGETT & LAW DONATED BY GEORGE F. SANBORN, JR. Past Director of Library Operations, New England Historic Genealogical Society ON LOAN FROM THE COLLECTION OF “THE SONS & DAUGHTERS OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEWBURY, MASSACHUSETTS” WILLIAM F. WATTS, O.D., President Sons and Daughters of the First Settlers of Newbury December 1, 2005

 

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EXGI.ISH ANCESTRY OF AQUILA CHASE, OF NEWBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. The Chase family is said to be of Norman descent, and it has been suggested that the name was originally LaChasse. In the old English records it is spelled Chaace and Chaase. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was spelled Chase, which is correct. Their descendants, in America, that spell their name Chace are incorrect. Families by the name of Chase have for several centuries been known in England. As early as 1326 families of Chases resided in Suffolk. The criminal records show that a Thomas Chase was bar- barously murdered, in 1506. There was a Sir John Chase, Esq., in Exeter, before 1637; and John Chase, Esq., was apothecary to Queen Anne, in 1690. The records of the Heralds' Visitation, 1634, at Bucking- hamshire, from which the crest and coat-of-arms of the Chase family were obtained, indicate that the families which emi- grated to America were from Hundrich Parish, of Chersham, Buckinghamshire, some thirty miles north-west from London. The Heralds' record names Thomas, John, and Matthew Chase, of Chersham. Thomas Chase, of Chersham, had a son, Richard, baptised August 3, 1512. This Richard Chase married Joan Bishop, at Chersham, April 16, 1564; they had ten children : Robert, baptised September 2, 1565 ; Henry, baptised August 10, 1567; Lydia, baptised October 4, 1573; Ezekiel, baptised April 23, 1576; Dorcas, baptised March 2, 1578; Aquila, baptised August 14, 1580; Jason, baptised January 13, 1583; 6 Thomas, baptised July 18, 1585; Abigail, baptised January V2, 1588; Mordecai, baptised July 31, 1591. Aquila, son of<.Richard, married and *had several children. There is no record of whom he married, or of the baptism of the children, except Thomas and Aquila. Aquila was born 1618. It is generally admitted that AYilliam Chase, who came to New England, in 1630, was a brother of Thomas and Aquila; for in the will of Aquila he bequeaths property to his niece, daughter of William ; which is conclusive evidence that Thomas, Aquila and William were the three brothers that emigrated to New England, previous to 1640. From the disappearance of the name of Chase from the church register, at Chersham, soon after the birth of Aquila, it may be presumed that his father may have removed, possibly to Cornwall, and located in some parish that was afterwards abandoned and the records probably lost ; hence the tradition of the historians, Savage and Coffin, of Aquila coming from Cornwall ; and the name of Cornish, N. H., given by the first settler and proprietor, Samuel Chase. It is supposed that Thomas and Aquila Chase acquired a knowledge of navigation in the employ of their uncle, Thomas Chase, who was owner of vessels, and was part owner of the f/ohn and Francis^ which was named in a letter of marque issued in 1626, according to the records of the state-pa]:>er office of that year. That Aquila Chase was a direct descendant of the Chersham branch there is no question. The unique name does not ap- pear in any other family of Chases in England. The homestead estate of the Chase family, at Chersham, in the 16th and 17th centuries, on their leaving the parish, passed into the possession of the lord of the manor of Chersham, whose estate it adjoined ; since which it has been leased as a farm. The only building that was standing when in possess- ion of the Chase family is the ancient chapel, capable of seat- ing some thirty persons. For many years this old chapel building was used as an out-house of the farm; but some thirty years ago it was restored to its original purpose, by the lord of the manor. The Chase family name has become as rare in England as it is numerous in America. If Matthew and John, brothers of the grandfather of the Aqiiil?i Chase of 1580, had none or few descendants, and like- wise Robert, Henry, Ezekiel and Jason, brothers, of Aqnila and Thomas, it may account for the fact, and would lead to the presumption, that the flower of the Chase family of the 16th century emigrated to America. They were by nature enterprising and high-minded gentle- men. Released from the trammels of the aristocracy and con- servatism of the old country, on entering into the breadth and freedom of the new circumstances that surrounded, they at onco took the front rank in the progress of the New World. Thomas, brother of Aquila, married Elizabeth Philbrick, they had five sons; Thomas, born 1642; Joseph, born 1645, married Rachel Partridge; Isaac, born 1647, married Mary Perkins; James, born 1649, married Elizabeth Green; Abra- ham, born 1641. Their descendants intermarried with the families of Tiltons, Bradstreets, Hilliards, Nickersons, Weeks, (^ofiins, Chapmans, Daggetts and Aliens, and generally settled in Essex County, Massachusetts. William and his. wife, Mary, and his eldest son, William, came to America in the company of Governor Winthrop, in 16H0, and settled in Yarmouth, Cape Cod. They had three children : William, born 1622, married and had eight child- ren ; Mary, born 1637; Benjamin, born 1639, married Phil- ippe Sherman, and had seven children. Their descendants became very numerous, intermarrying with the Hathaways, PerrySj Bakers, Bordens, Simmons, Bowens, Tripps, Davises, Buffintons, Shoves and Durtees, — families of southern Massa- chusetts. The descendants of AYilliam continued to reside in the towns of Cape Cod, and Bristol County, as did those of Thomas in Essex County ; while those of Aquila became more scattered, and maybe found in every State and Territory in the Union. Probably more of the descendants of Aquila may be found in the Valley of the Blackstone, through the family of Daniel Chase, of Sutton, than in any other locality. 8 No local name is more numerous in Bristol County than that of Chase. But few old colonial families have maintained their integrity and kept the standard of morality higher than the descendants of William, Thomas and Aquila Chase.< In the tracing of the descendants of Aquila Chase down through so many generations, we have been deeply impressed with the nobility of character, the sturdy Christian virtues, and patriotism of these early settlers of New England. A dis- tinguished writer asks: ''What motives prompted them to leave forever their native country, to sever the ties of kindred, and part from the scenes and associations of early life, so dear to the human heart ? And the answer comes on every page of history, in every important act of their lives : — that it was not for themselves, alone, but mainly for their posterity. ''Selfishness is averse to sacrifice ; but their sacrifices were manifold. They wrought for the future, planting the seed of truthful principle that others might reap an abundant harvest. Here, upon these forest-covered hill-sides, they settled amidst the rigors of a New England climate, patiently enduring the hardships and dangers of a pioneer life; and left to posterity the result of their labors. How they could perform so much, is a problem difficult of solution to the present generation. "They rose superior to circumstances with which they were environed, and by dint of the most arduous eff'ort achieved ' success, in the face of a multitude of obstacles. Honest, as well as earnest, they put their own hands to the axe, to the plow; and industry were deemed an honor, and indolence a disgrace, wherever found. Their principles were not for sale, at any price. Dishonesty was at so great a discount that, so far from passing current, it could not pass at all. Genuine goodness in the character of the person was demanded, and no hypocritical counterfeit was accepted in lieu thereof They adored realities and abhorred shams. "In such a society, mutual and implicit confidence was cer- tain; and fellowship and co-operation, the basis of the strength of society, became inevitable. In this manner they sought to promote the general welfare of society. To this end they made personal sacrifices and endured unremiting toil in the performance of obligations incumbent upon them." ⁶

Sources

1	"US New England Marriages prior to 1700".

2	"MA Town and Vital Records 1620-1988 Record".

3	"MA Town Death Records".

4	Edward West, "Family Data Collection - Individual Records" (on line - published by Provo, UT).

5	Edmund West, "Family Data Collection - Death" (Generations Network, Inc 2001).

6	"http://www.angelfire.com/in/estillgen/Chase.html".