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Title
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Chase, Robert J.
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extracted text
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ROBERT JOHN CHASE.
I was born at North Br anch , Lapee r Co.,
Michi gan, Ma r ch 11th, 18? 0.
My parents came i nt o
t he wilde rne ss wi t h their parents when they were
Joh n Chase, my g randfathe r, brough t his
children.
wi f e and t hree co ildren from Ontario, Canada in
Robe rt MacArthur brought his wife
March 1856 .
and six children from Coneaut, Ohio, in October of
the same year.
My father, Charl e s Chase, was n ine
years old, an d my m8 ther, Eve line MacArthur, was
seven.
An Indian trail wa s their only hig hway ,
and log houses be cane t he ir homes, wh ich were half
a mile apart.
They had neither church nor school;
but s oon a small log s choo l house was built, where
t he three Rs . wer e taught for three mo nths during
the winter : a nd church s ervi ce s were conduct e d intermittant ly.
Their comi ng brought the number
of wh ite famili e s to seven i n that area .
Before
t he l ocal village develop ed, De tro it, seventy
mile s away; became the ir trading centers; then
lap eer, twenty mi les away; became the ir tradi ng
centers.
Wild animals i mperil ed t he trek to t hese
centers , especially dur i ng darknes s. ' Their v e ry
primi tive comforts and conven i ences were li mited ,
and, for l ong periods, t hey were without ord i nary
necessities.
But they h ad cour age and their spiri t
2
were strong .
By means of their limited
opportu ~ iti ~ s
and crude equipment, my par ents l earned to read
and write to a li mite d de gree.
My grandfather Chase g ave h is life in the
Niy grandfat her MacArthur, l i ved
civil war in 1863.
t o see t he witlerness become a find agricult ural
district.
He died in the home he built in Dec-
ember 188 7.
Both grandmothers lived to a rip e
old a ge, and died after seeing the development
of a thriving village with schools and churches
equal to any of t hat time.
Uy parents we r e ma rried on Ju l y 25th, 1867;
father was
eigh teen .
co m i ~ g
twenty and mo t h er was coming
To t h is uni on ei ght childr en were born.
'.;:'he fir s t died in March 1869, ma k i ng me the first
of seven.
At t he ag e of fifteen I was converted
in the good old
fashi ~ned
way a t a r e vival mee ti ng
conduc ted conducted by the Re v. A.P.DeLong .
:!?r om
the fir s t I was urged t o bec ome a mi n ister but I
d id not f eel worthy.
But my mothe r had prayed
before I was bam, tha t I migh t be a preachen.
Her p rayers bore fruit in 1894 when the call s eemed
s o defi n ite, that I yielded.
But my educat i on was
li n ited.
nothi ~ g
school.
In my youth we knew
of grade in
But at the a ge of sixteen, I was p l ac ed
3
in what was called seventh grade; but I did not
g ra~flate.
!·:ow at twenty- four, no friend, parent
nor pastor were able to advise or guide me toward
an educ ation .
So I drifted as a"supply preacher"
At th e age of twenty-eigh t, I was encouraged by the
committee on Conference Relations to a ttend A~bion Co lege.
Meanti me I had married I•iiss Mary Resi de
of Al mont .
~.:iich i
one chi ld.
gan, on hov. 4th, 1896.
And we had
With one hundred dollars, a wife and
child, I began my co llege career.
years out of
sch ~o l,
During
~:_y
ten
educational standards had ad-
vanced s o that
I was kept in Preparatory Schoo l
for f::mr years.
Afte r two mo re years , my wife ' s
mental health broke.
In March 1905 , with her and
three children, I left colleg e never to r et urn.
For want of a Methodist opening , I
accepte d a call t o the Chri s tian Church of Marshal l
~ : ichig an.
In J une 1908, I resi gned t o unite with
t he Detroit Annual Conference at Galumet.
Aft e r
three y e ars at Romulus, s ix years at Troy, three
years a t Armada and one year at Ortonvil le, I
suffered a serious break down and r e tired for two year~.
During my f i rst year at
Armada, my wife suffere d
more mental disorder and was placed in a state hospital, never to r e turn home.
I n 1923 I was re-united
4
with t he confe r enc e, and served at Wash i ng ton seven
years , Oxf ord fi ve years, and Goo dland Circuit three
years.
Auto .,_atically retired i n 1942 , I served
briefly Kings ton, Deckerville, Mt. Vernon, Armada,
Lexingt on,
Go~umb in e ,
Baldw in.
Dec~er,
I hop e to complete
fift y year s p reach i ng in s ou :;hern t: i ch i gan, having
ma de my first effort May 24th, 1894.
God called
me t o preach and I hop e t o d o jus t t hat t ill I die.
BIOGRAPHICAL BLANK FOR THE
CONFEBENCE HisrORICAL SOID!ETY
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<
DET~O IT
When filled in pleas~ return to J, A. Halmhuber, ol3100 Woodward, Highland Park,
Mlchigan.
o_
N&llle in full:
.•
Birth:
Robert J ohn oCha se
Date March 11th. 1 8?0
Personal Appearance
Place North Branch,
Height 6 ft.
We ight200
#
Mi c higan
Color of Hair Brown
Eyes Brown
• Family Background: .
1. Father 's Nan e 'in FUll _.....-::;C..;.:h;::a:.::r-=l:...:e;..:s:_...:C:..:b:=::a;::.s; ::..e::...______________ • - -·- ·- - - - - -
Date of Birth 9 /1 4; 184?plac.e Ont,' Canad a
---Nationality
2. Mother's Maiden ~arne
.
E v~l~ne
Welc h & Dutch
Ma c Artg ur
·- - -
Date of Birth: 8/ 26/1849Pla ce Pensyl Vania
Nationall.ity;:>cotch & iclch
?/25/186?
3. Marriage of Pc.rents: Date
Place l'iorth Branch, Michi g an
4. Places of residence __N_o_r_t_h_B_r....;a_n_c_h_..:....,_M
_ I _G_H_I_G_AN
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
5. Names of Brothers and Sisters .
Wa lter, Anson, Vernon Austin & Charles
Raymond;
thre e s 1 s ~eJfl3: Alice, Alma Ann & Minnie E t h el.
•
6. Note
disttngui~hed
services for which any brothers or sisters are known:
7. All av~ilable information concerning parents, race, nationality, education,
occupations, connections, services, death, etc.
Parents_came into the w i1d e rnes s , ii~j #jill in what became North
Bra nch, ~n the yeat 1 856 ; with t h eir parents.
Father died June 25th.
~ ? 1~, on a part of the farm first se ttled by hie parents · Yother
1e
evt. 30th. 1 925, in the same pl a ce.
Her f ath er ~as a brothe r
~o the g randfa t h er of General Dug l aos MacArthur. The y did their s hare
a ward t he develo p men t of a fine community •
8
... PEROONAL HISTORY
1. Education:
Schools, degrees, etc. North Bra nch Hi ih S ehgal,
Alblon Campus, including Prep , S choo l.
2. No~eworthy experiences or childhood an d youth
sj
X
yeaJ:8 on
------------------------------
3. Marriage:
~.
Date Nov, 4 t1a, 1896 •
Wife's Meiden Name
Mary Res id e
0
.Place Almont, M ichi t.r~n
,....By Whom· Rev,Geort.r e l!':'tr1 pp.
••
0
s c h 00 1 &_
Al
mont
Hi
h_
School
-_ _
__
_g_
_ __
--~---------------- . 5. Names of childr~.._ :>Vi th d.o...t ~~nd place of birt h
Florence' Dec .1 6 ' 189 ?;
~
nobetta,
Dlon, ~~w~ March 3d. 1900; E veline, Sept.l6th •.. 19o4,
..
•
6, Careers of children , with pos it ions, offices held, et c. F lo ren c e• ])etroit
B, I; .
Boston Un i verci ty and directed High 'Sch~_2! -'inuosic in Musk-egan,
Be~ton Harbo r and Oskash, Wisconsin; she is the wife of Lt,Col.
Pr1ce ·
. '1. You. religioue tXlle.rlenee an4 Church connections;
Converted Jan. l st .l886 ,
and have t horoughl y enjoyed the f a ith ever s1nce. I a l mosl;Imedi ately
' fe t the c a ll to r each b ut a sen se of unwor th1n e ss kept me back
ti ll May 24th. l 894 .
pa ren s we re a.p 1s s, u
JOlne
e M.E.
' n ear. North Bra nc h i n March 18 8 ?, a nd was b ap tised by 1mmersion.
· ''
a. Yo\U' call to the Christian ministry I yielded undet the convicti on that I
must. preach or djP. , T """' Ul. ci not face God a s a slacker. Then my paA:r
told · me that if God had c a lled me, h e d i ssagreed ~ with God. So I went
it alo ne.
9. Wh~ and where admitted on Trial and Ordinations: Mt educational li mitation. kept
out of Conference membership s o long tha I utJtt;ed with the Ohr1st1an
Church in Marshall where I preached !our years, coming into Detroit
as a Deacon on c re dentials 1 Sept !. 1908. I ha ve a l ways loved tne Old
10. Military. record
(;hurch thar. has uone so much for me.
12. Favorite recreations, hobbies, etc. Prea ching a nd mo re prea.ching.
hopi~g that I may be kept at it in some form or other.
14. A4thor of what books and Publications
· Here is
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15, Member of What Clubs and Fraternal Societj.a.s I.O.O.F.; Maca.b ees; Granu;
Royal Arcar:Jim~; B o+ t~~ ry Ir:Jt ern a+i onaJ
I
Supplied North
• ~?,
Br~nch
Circuit ; S ilverwo od;
,·
Clippin.'' o-r "family or- public lite;
l -
18. Biogra?hical connnents, experiences, episodes Mather said she had prayed that
Im1ght be a preacher eyen before I wa s horn, hqt nat a Methodist
preacher.
I replied: »Joy know, we always get more that we ask for
when we pray to
Gad
11
1~.
Oan you· give on a separate paper one or t wo or three dramatiO incidents
occurring during your ministry which might be published in a book under such
a titl~: as "Highlights of Methodist Ministers"?
20~
If the subject of this sketch is deceased, please give
Date of death _________:Place--------------------~
Nemes of Off1oi&t1ng Ministers:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~--- - - ··--
..
I
t
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REV. . ROBERT J . CHASE, of Pontiac, was in the Bliss Convalescent Home
Oxford, Jan. 5-15, suffering from in~
fl.uenza. Although nearing his 79th
btrthd:;y, Mr. Chase is serving the
Baldwm A venue and Covert churches in
Pontiac. Rev. Ezra P. Roberson is supplying the pulpits until Mr., hasc is able
to resume his work.
l.ff .JtCJf.
JjfJ"(
Robert John Chase
BELATED report coming to the
A Adv ocate tells of the death at his
home in Oxford July 30 of Rev. Robert
John Chase, 80, a minister in the Detroit
Conference for many years.
Mr. Chase was born at North Branch
March 11, 1870, and married Mary
Reside at Almont November 4, 1896. He
attended Albion College where he made
a name for himself in oratory by winning the Horn Oratorical Contest in 1903.
During his college years he held student
pastorates.
His ministry began before his college
days at Standish and Bentley. His first
pastorate on leaving college was at Marshall. After joining the Detroit Conference he served Romulus, Troy, Armada, Ortonville, Washington, Algonac,
Lexington, Oxford, Goodland, Dexter
and Baldwin Avenue in Pontiac fror;
which church he retired las t November/
He 1s survived by t hree daughW
Mrs. Edwin N. F oster of Fairbah,
Alaska; Mrs. Ernest ~.f. Price of Tacoma,
Wash.; and Mrs. Allison James of Beverly, Calif.; two brothers, Waltet· and Roy;
and one sister, Mrs. Everitt Erb of North
Branch.
Funeral services were held at the Oxford Methodist church with burial in
Maple Grove Cemetery, North j3ranch.
Dr. Arthur D. Klontz conducted the
service assisted by ~tlO uEI.ljs Hnflf\ of
Oxford.
~l Y 1.. 1JJU
Chase, Robert J.