Chapter IV continued "The Family of Dudley Chase" The wonder is how these boys were prepared for college. How did they learn even the rudiments of "some Latin and less Greek"? Many years after 1780-90 there were no English notes to the Latin grammar, or to "Sallust" or "Virgil", to aid the schoolboy or girl, as some of us know to our sorrow. These boys must have dug their way through with a determination that schoolboys of to-day never could bring to the "Lessons in Latin made Easy" in this period of the world. But one may venture to say that in these youngsters there were high aspirations, that their souls were filled with the gladness of a pure and happy youth, although they had never tasted of what may be called the pleasures of life. They had never danced at a ball, never seen a theatre, and had no idea of what is now called Society. If, as is said, the railroad is the harbinger of a new era in life, which brings with it the habits of urban civilization, art, music, books, and luxurious living, --- that was "not yet" for these boys. Fifty, yes, nearly seventy years after this period, the first railroad came up the valley of the Connecticut, in sight of Cornish plain. Prior to this, slow covered wagons brought goods from Boston, and the farmers in the winter carried in sleighs the products of the valley farms to market, and the farmer men and boys drove their fat cattle and sheep there in summer. That four of these boys at that time , so nearly of an age, should have been graduated at Dartmouth, and a fifth to have studied there (Ithamar, the father of Chief Justice Chase), is a very remarkable circumstance in itself. The course of study must have been fairly good. Some remarkable men were trained at Dartmouth about the time, -- for instance, Daniel Webster. The first child born in Cornish was Allace; and she as appears in letters written seventy years after by her youngest brother Philander, was his nurse, caring for him while his busy mother was attending to her great household, and playing with him in summer on the rocks which hemmed the banks of Connecticut, whence the children could look across to beautiful old Ascutney, green with the unequaled verdure of the Vermont hills in summer, and in winter grand with the mantle of snow. What native of this land but has Ascutney imprinted on his memory, a part of his soul forever? Allace Chase, born October, 1765, became in after years Mrs. ByBye Lake Cotton, and to her were given, by her father, another farm next to her sister, Lois Smith in Bethel. Here she lived, and died at an advanced age in 1844. She was a woman of superior attainments. It is tradition that she could repeat the whole of Homer's "Iliad", and that when her brothers were in college she kept up with them in Latin and Greek. She is also remembered as the most delightful of story tellers when she had time to give to the children. After the family came into the Church she was most earnest and influential in her efforts to build up the parish in Bethel. She was laid to rest in the church yard of the old church in Bethel. She had two daughters and one son. The son inherited the genius of his mother. He was Captain Salmon Chase Cotton, one of the earliest settlers of Grand Detour, Illinois, and one of the most charming of men, as all his old friends knew. One of the granddaughters of Allace Chase married William Henry Augustus Bissel, afterwards second bishop of his native state, Vermont. Another granddaughter married the Rev. Gemont Graves, of Burlington, Vermont. the latter is still living. (1903) Two sons came next, Daniel Corbett Chase, born January 13, 1769. He died in Philadelphia August 14, 1798, of yellow fever. Heber born, September 2, 1770, was a physician. He died in Demarara, South America, September 4, 1798. They were both unmarried. (Note; long paragraphs are broken into several for ease in reading, as in the following) Dudley, the fourth son of Dudley and Allace, was graduated at Dartmouth Coll e. He began the practice of law in 1794, in Randolph, Vermont, a town in Orange County, bordering, Bethel, in Windsor County. He was State's Attorney for Orange County from 1803 to 1817, United States Senator from Vermont from 1813 to 1817, Judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont from 1817 to 1821, and again United States Senator form 1824 to 1831. He died at his home in Randolph in 1846. The above is the brief record from a local history of Randolph. But to his friends and neighbors, and to all who knew him, he was much more than this. >From his early life, among the sturdy men of these times, he was the exemplar of thoroughness in everything that he did; he was the best farmer, had the best fences, the best and most beautiful garden, and all the working-tools about his home were cared for properly. He soon built the finest and best house in the country***, planted the finest orchards, raised the best apples, plums, and cherries that ever were seen in that country, and planned for the best and widest roads in Randolph (Center). He adopted, or rather cared for when necessary, (including two of Philander's sons at one time) telweve children, giving the girls a portion at their marriage and educating the boys. He had no children of his own. His success as a lawyer and statesman was known all over the country, and his honesty as a man and citizen never questioned. One wonders what this pure and noble man would think of the politician of to-day; the "log-rolling" of his time was of another sort. Some eminent lawyers were trained in the little office on his grounds, which is yet standing. He died at the home he built a hundred years ago. It stands embowered in the maples he planted, and looks as if it might stand hundreds of years longer. *(INDEED! it has for at least a hundred, I took a photo Sept 2000) He and his wife Olive rest in the old graveyard at Randolph Centre (Only one far as I know) Rachel Chase, the last daughter on the list, the childish companion of the little brother Philander, came to Vermont and spent her married life in Royalton on the White River. Her husband was Dr.Joseph Adam Denison, who was the authority in medical world for fifty years in that vicinity, as was his son of the same name, but whose life was cut short in comparatively early years. Many of them are professional men of standing in various parts of our country. Among these may be mentioned Dr. Charles Denison of Denver, and Prof. Charles Denison, University of Michigan. **Philander, the fifteenth child of Dudley and Allace Chase was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, December 14, 1775. He was married in 1796 to Mary Fay, the daughter of Mary Page Fay and Daniel Fay, of Hardwick, Massachusetts. [*Will email (1) page with my photo taken of Dudley's house, along with one which I scanned from above book; showing then and now. (2) Have a photo page of Christ Church as it is today. It will be easier for this simple minded to attach both of these at same time to those who request at my email address. ** You will note that Philander was often referred to as "Little", even when he had grown full in statue --- later on you will read descriptions of "little" Philander. ] *** It is tradition that Dudley built his house in hopes that Randolph (Center) become the sate capital and his house used as the governor's mansion. That did not happen, nor did Randolph Center become the "center" of the Randolphs because of the railroad being laid in Randolph in the valley. End Chapter IV Harriet M.Chase hatchase@uswest.net