Arthur Chase

Brief background of the co-founder of Theta Chi Fraternity

Arthur Chase was descended from a long line of New Englanders. He was born at Bellows Falls, Vermont, on October 21, 1835. His father was an Episcopal minister who later became the first Bishop of New Hampshire. When Arthur was nine years old the family moved to Claremont, New Hampshire, and this town remained his home for the balance of his life.

Chase entered Norwich University in the fall of 1852, shortly before he became seventeen years old. He was graduated in 1856 and immediately entered a law office in Claremont to begin the study of law. He followed this study by attending the Harvard Law School from which he graduated in 1857 with the degree of LL.B. He practiced law in Claremont for nine years and then entered newspaper work, purchasing The National Eagle, a weekly newspaper published in Claremont, in 1868. Chase was married in 1863 to Garafelia Davis. Seven children were born of the union, four of whom, two sons and two daughters, reached adult life and survived their father.

After three years of newspaper work, Chase's health failed, and on the advice of his physician he retired to a farm he purchased on the outskirts of Claremont.

Arthur Chase was always a power in his community. At one time he was superintendent of public schools and filled the position with considerable efficiency. He was a staunch Episcopalian and active in church and diocese affairs until the time of his death.

Although Arthur Chase never enjoyed robust health, death came unexpectedly and suddenly on November 20, 1888. Chase was 53 years of age at his death, living scarcely beyond middle life. It was said that he lived more in fifty years than most men do in three-score and ten.