Warren Chase(January 5, 1813 – February 25, 1891) was an American pioneer, farmer, reformer and politician. He served in the state senates ofWisconsinandCalifornia,and was a candidate forGovernor of Wisconsinin theelection of 1849.
Warren Chase | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theCalifornia Senate from the3rddistrict | |
| In office January 5, 1880 – January 8, 1883 | |
| Preceded by | Patrick W. Murphy |
| Succeeded by | George Steele |
| Member of theWisconsin Senate from the4thdistrict | |
| In office June 5, 1848 – January 9, 1850 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | John A. Eastman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 5, 1813 Pittsfield, New Hampshire |
| Died | February 25, 1891(aged 78) Cobden, Illinois |
| Resting place | Cobden Cemetery Cobden, Illinois |
| Political party | Democratic(before 1848) Free Soil(1848–1854) Republican(1854–1872) Liberal Republican(1872) Greenback(1874–1884) Workingmen's(1879–1883) |
| Spouses | Mary P. White (died 1875)
|
| Children | 3 |
| Profession | Pioneer, farmer, politician |
Early life and education
editChase was born inPittsfield, New Hampshire,on January 5, 1813. He was the son of Susanna Durgin, who was unmarried at the time. His mother was maligned by the community and expelled from the church for giving birth out of wedlock, making it difficult to provide for herself and Warren. Warren's father was Simon Chase, who was married to Huldah Peaslee. Simon Chase fought in theWar of 1812and died atPlattsburghin the fall of 1814, when Warren was not yet two years old. His mother died only a few years later, when Warren was five.[1]
As a child, Warren lived briefly with aQuakerfamily near Catamount Mountain. But after his mother's death, he became a ward of David Fogg and his family. Warren later described this time as a miserable experience and compared his servitude to slavery. He did not receive an education with the Fogg family, and at age fourteen was still not able to read or write. It was at that age he ran away to his grandmother's home in Pittsfield. Warren's grandmother and other members of the community interceded on his behalf and he was transferred to the care of his paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Chase, where he received a proper education and upbringing.[1]
In 1834 he moved toMonroe,in theMichigan Territory,and then, in 1838, he moved to theWisconsin Territory,settling inKenosha(then known as "Southport" ).
In Wisconsin
edit
In the fall of 1843 the FranklinLyceumof Southport began discussing the ideas of the French philosopherCharles Fourierand his American popularizerAlbert Brisbane.[2]Convinced of the applicability of Fourier's "Associationist" prescription, Chase committed himself to the emerging movement without reservation, organizing a series of preliminary meetings to draft a constitution for a local "phalanx."[2]: 192–193
On March 23, 1844, a formal meeting of phalanx supporters was held at the Southport village schoolhouse, officers were elected, and a group of three, including Warren Chase, were tapped astrusteesof the phalanx.[2]: 193 A bond sale of $10,000 was approved and stock in the new enterprise began to be sold.[2]: 193 On May 8, 1844, they decided to purchase 1.25sections(800 acres) of government land,[2]: 193–194 located in a valley between two gentle hills. By that fall a total of 1.5 sections (960 acres) were purchased[2]: 194 which would becomeCeresco, Wisconsin(later merged intoRipon).
Chase helped foundRipon College.He was a supporter of thetemperance,abolitionist,andspiritualistmovements and wrote books and articles.
He served in the two WisconsinConstitutional Conventionsof 1846 and 1847 and was elected to the first Wisconsin Senate from4th Senate districtas aDemocrat.[3]In1849,he was the candidate of the newly organizedFree Soil PartyforGovernor of Wisconsin,coming in third behind Democratic incumbentNelson DeweyandWhigAlexander L. Collins.
After Wisconsin
editAfter the dissolution of the Wisconsin Phalanx, he moved to Michigan in 1853, then to Missouri, where he was elected as a Presidential elector forHorace Greeleyin the1872 United States presidential election.[4]
In 1876 he moved to California and settled inSanta Barbara,where he worked as editor of theIndependent.While in California he was elected to theCalifornia State Senateon theWorkingmen's Partyticket, serving from 1880 to 1883.[5]In 1880, he was a candidate forSenate President Pro Tempore,losing toRepublicanGeorge F. Baker by a margin of 15 to 22.[6]In1882,he ran forCongressas aGreenbacker.
Chase was a supporter offree silver,[7]anti-monopolism,[8]andChinese exclusion,although on the latter point he condemned racial violence like theSan Francisco riot of 1877.[9]When theCalifornia State Legislatureconvened in1881to elect aU.S. Senator,Chase nominated economist and newspaper publisherHenry George.In his nomination speech, Chase eulogized George as follows:
"He has in knowledge of American and European history no superior in this State. He is a man who can be an honor to the State and nation and to the United States Senate, and an honor to himself; a man whose heart beats in sympathy with the great body of the people; a man who is eminently like unto that greatest of modern men—Abraham Lincoln; a man who, if the people were to select, would be selected as the champion of their rights; a man—a man who has already gained a national reputation as the ablest political economist of America, standing the peer of John Stuart Mill, Ricardo and Adam Smith, and all the writers of history on political economy."[10]
George only received two votes out of 40 cast in theState Senate;one from Chase, and the other from fellow Workingmen's SenatorJoseph C. Gorman.[11]
Death
editWarren Chase died inCobden, Illinois,in 1891, and was buried at Cobden Cemetery.[12][13][14]
Books
edit- Chase, Warren (1868).The Life-line of the Lone One: Or, Autobiography of the World's Child.Boston:William White & Co.
- Chase, Warren (1888).Forty Years on the Spiritual Rostrum.Boston:Colby & Rich.
References
edit- ^abChase, Warren (1868).The Life-line of the Lone One: Or, Autobiography of the World's Child.William White & Co.
- ^abcdefPedrick, Samuel M. (1903)."Sketch of the Wisconsin Phalanx".Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at its 50th annual meeting held Dec. 11, 1902.Madison, Wisconsin:Wisconsin Historical Society.pp. 190–226.RetrievedJanuary 17,2021.
- ^Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2007)."Feature Article - Those Who Served: Wisconsin Legislators 1848–2007"(PDF).State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book(Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 103.ISBN978-0-9752820-2-1.RetrievedJanuary 17,2021.
- ^"Chase, Warren 1813-1891".Wisconsin Historical Society.3 August 2012.RetrievedJanuary 17,2021.
- ^Tenney, H.A.; Atwood, David, eds. (1880).Memorial Record of the Fathers of Wisconsin.David Atwood. pp. 61–63.ISBN9781556137013.
- ^"Warren Chase".JoinCalifornia.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"The cause of hard times".San Jose Mercury News.San Jose. 5 April 1877.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Currency and legislation".San Jose Mercury News.San Jose. 22 November 1877.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Hon. Warren Chase's Lecture".San Jose Mercury News.San Jose. 6 December 1877.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Henry George".Red Bluff Sentinel.Red Bluff. 15 January 1881.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"The State Legislature".San Jose Herald.San Jose. 12 January 1881.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Photograph - Warren Chase".Wisconsin Historical Society.December 2003.RetrievedJanuary 17,2021.
- ^"Warren Chase".Join California.RetrievedJanuary 17,2021.
- ^"Founders of Ripon College".Ripon College.Archived fromthe originalon March 23, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 17,2021– viaWayback Machine.