I am writing an essay about Mary N. Chase (1863-1959) and am asking for information about her and those who knew her. She lived in Andover from 1899 through the 1940s and had a significant place in New Hampshire history.
She was president of the New Hampshire Suffrage Association (1902-1912), working for the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. And later, as President of the NH Peace Society and advisor to the Amity Club at Proctor, she maintained hope that nations could peacefully resolve differences.
Too many years have passed for anyone to remember seeing her drive her 1915 Ford touring car around town. I hope that someone will remember stories from earlier generations. Details from Franklin’s Journal-Transcript (thanks, Andover Historical Society!) about her time in Andover point to an interesting and unusual life for a woman of her era. Please help me with more details.
Where did she live? The 1910 census says that she (age 43) and Carrie L. Hines (age 42) boarded with Mary A. Brown. The census taker missed her until 1940 when she was 76 and a “renter” on Lawrence Street. In 1936, Josephine Hamp and Mary Cunningham gave her a room, as did Frederick Carter, Elizabeth Dodge, and Randolph Harlow a few years later. Who remembers details about her hosts and their homes?
Chase’s circle included Clara May Currier (a teacher at Proctor), Linda M. Graves (East Andover), Henry G. Ives (Unitarian pastor), and George Weare Stone (Andover attorney and Proctor Trustee). Proctor Academy remembers Currier. Does anyone remember Graves, Ives, and Stone and their descendants?
And what about Chase’s half-brother, John Kimball Chase (1856-1926)? When he became blind in 1916, he moved to Andover to be with his sister. She told a friend that he learned to make bags, which he sold. He is buried in the Proctor Cemetery. Her burial site remains unknown.
Do you have information for my essay? If yes, please let me know. Email me at hackmann@nulluidaho.edu or phone me at 404 401-6074.
By Kent Hackmann