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WILLIAM LEVEKETT CHASE.

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WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE.

From many Letters and Memorial Notices, printed
or written, the following have been selected for repro
duction in this more permanent form. The portrait
is from a photograph taken by Benjamin Kimball,
Esq., as explained in his letter on page 38.

" Death takes us by surprise,
And stays our hurrying feet ;
The great design unfinished lies,
Our lives are incomplete.
" But in the dark unknown
Perfect their circles seem.
Even as a bridge's arch of stone
Is rounded in the stream."

IN MEMORIAM.

(From the Fifth Report of the Class of 1876 ; William L. Chase,
Secretary.')
WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. Born at
Grafton, Mass., Dec. 4, 1853. President
Papyrus Club, Boston ; Massachusetts Society Sons
of the Eevolution, and Victoria Mills Corporation,
Newburyport ; Vice-President State Street Safe
Deposit and Trust Company, Commercial Club of
Boston ; Director Boston Wharf Company, Fitch-
burg Eailroad Company, Third National Bank ;
Junior Warden Saint Paul's Church, Brookline ;
Trustee Church Home for Orphans and Destitute
Children, Society for the Relief of the Widows and
Orphans of Deceased Clergymen of the Protestant
Episcopal Church ; Member Metropolitan Park
Commission. Merchant. Residence : Brookline.
Office : 233 State Street, Boston, Mass.
Oct. 6, 1894.

8 IN MEMORIAM.
(F. J. Stimson, in the "Harvard Graduates' Magazine" for
December, 1895.)
COL. WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE, who
died at his home in Brookline on October
7, after a long and distressing illness, was the son
of Henry Savage Chase, who was born at Wash
ington, D. C, in 1825, graduated from Harvard
in the class of 1848, and was, like his son, secre
tary of his class until his death. W. L. Chase
was born at Grafton, Dec. 4, 1853, educated in
the public schools of Brookline, and entered as a
freshman in the autumn of 1872. His peculiar
qualities of energy and kindliness early made him
known to his classmates; and at his graduation,
twenty years ago, as now at his death, no member
of his class was known and liked by a larger num
ber of his classmates. He took high rank in col
lege, where he was an editor of " The Magenta,"
afterwards " The Crimson," thus early evincing a
taste for literary pursuits ; but, upon graduation,
the extensive manufacturing business founded by
his father, and which he was soon left to conduct

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 9
alone, claimed for many years his exclusive atten
tion. There is probably hardly a man in Boston
who, having an extensive and complicated busi
ness thrust upon him at so early an age, has
proved himself more equal to the responsibility
and more successful in enlarging it.
At his death Colonel Chase left a large for
tune ; but, as the writer well remembers, scarcely
had he got these practical duties so disposed as to
leave him any leisure, than he began to give much
of the earnest energy of his nature to affairs of
public spirit and the interests of his friends. He
had in some respects the ideal of an older day ;
the church and the army were now his main
interests, though he never ceased to have a taste
for letters, which, had he lived, it is more than
probable would have guided him to some original
work himself ; but he had written some things
now in course of publication, and had been presi
dent of the Papyrus Club of Boston. But for
many years before he had been junior warden of
St. Paul s Church in Brookline, and trustee of

10 IN MEMORIAM.
the Church Home for Orphans and Destitute Chil
dren, and of the Society for the Relief of the
Wido^ws and Orphans of Deceased Clergymen. He
entered the First Corps of Cadets as a private,
April 15, 1886, and gave much study to military
affairs, particularly ordnance, tactics, and marks
manship ; he wrote two treatises — on Outpost
Duty and on Marksmanship — which attracted
wide attention. He was soon appointed to the
Governor's staff, and the appointment in his case
was more than a political compliment ; probably
no officer in the State militia of recent years did
more work and was of more actual service. His
merits were so recognized that his appointment
was renewed through one, if not more, changes of
political parties, and followed by successive pro
motions until he became acting inspector-general.
It was his custom frequently to go to England to
witness the military mancBuvres, where he met the
officers highest in the British service ; and his
expert knowledge on many points was recognized
and appreciated by officers of the regular army.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. H
At his death he was president of the Massachusetts
Society of Sons of the Revolution. He had hardly
left his military office when he was offered and
accepted membership in the Metropolitan Park
Commission ; and the rapid and successful prosecu
tion of that unequalled State work, which we are'
now only beginning to appreciate, was due in part
to his energy. About the same time, while his
name was being considered by the Governor for a
State directorship on the Fitchburg Railroad, he
was elected by the stockholders a director ; and
his business abilities and judgment are further
shown by the number of other important corpora
tions of which he was an officer or director. Just
before his death he was elected president of the
Boston Commercial Club. Not yet twenty years
out of College when he died, it is rare for any
man to have done so much and in so many direc
tions as did Colonel Chase. If one were to name
the dominant notes of his character, they would
be energy and kindliness ; that kindliness which
rises not only to generosity with money, but to

12 IN MEMORIAM.
intimate and active interest in all men who were
known to him and seemed worthy, and to self-
sacrificing labor for all high causes or works of
public weal. He leaves a widow and four chil
dren surviving, of whom one is a son. His will
contained many public bequests ; his valuable col
lection of war medals to the Independent Corps of
Cadets, an interesting library to the Papyrus Club,
and many others, showing not only his generosity
but his peculiar thoughtfulness in all relations of
life. Under certain circumstances, Harvard Col
lege becomes a residuary legatee to a very large
amount, and receives immediately five thousand
dollars to establish a scholarship, to be known as
the Charles B. Porter Scholarship, in the Medical
School.

EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS.

(James Jeffrey Roche, in the " Brookline Chronicle,"
Octoher 12, 1895.)

M

AY I ask the favor of a little space in your
columns to pay a personal tribute to the
memory of one whose untimely death is mourned
not only by the people of Brookline but by
thousands throughout and beyond the borders of
the country ? I had the privilege of knowing
him intimately for many years, first in business,
and later in social and literary life, and always
as a friend whose friendship was a thing to be
cherished. Young as he was when, after graduat
ing from Harvard in the class of '76, he assumed
the grave responsibilities of a great business, he
made his mark almost immediately in a field
where youth and its frank methods are commonly
supposed to be hindrances rather than helps to
success. But he succeeded because of those very
conditions. The fine sense of honor which gov-

16 IN MEMORIAM.
erned him in all his actions was not laid aside
at the door of his counting-room, any more than
the lofty Christian spirit which inspired his whole
being. He had not one rule for private and
another for public or business life. He was more
than honest ; he was strictly honorable in all his
dealings ; and it is to the credit of our common
humanity that in an age when false standards
are held up to admiration, he was able to win the
material rewards of life without ever adopting the
artifices of the cunning ones of trade, and that he
leaves to his children the priceless legacy of an
honest name. The old-time honor of Boston's
merchants was revived in this youth, fresh from
college and naturally inclined to far different
pursuits. I knew Colonel Chase next when both of us
had drifted, partially or wholly, from the paths of
commercial life into another and more congenial
course. We met at the Papyrus Club ; and, by
the way, it may not be out of place here to say
that Colonel Chase was the man of whom the

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 17
following story was told in a recent number of
the " Youth's Companion " : As the late John
Boyle O'Reilly was one day walking up West
Street in Boston he was saluted by a cordial slap
on the shoulder and the query, " How are you,
old man ? " The poet turned about and saw an
entire stranger, who had evidently mistaken him
for an acquaintance, and who apologized at once.
"No matter," said O'Reilly; "I like anybody who
likes his friends as you surely must." They in
troduced themselves on the spot, and the friend
ship thus begun was warm and lasting. Colonel
Chase came to the Papyrus Club without any
other prestige than that of his frank sincerity,
kindliness, and grace of manner. He was taken
at once to the broad heart of Papyrus and wel
comed as a brother. He was loved by all who
knew him. He was elected secretary and then
president, and the club has never had a more
popular chief officer. Mere money or mere liter
ary merit counts for nothing in the genial king
dom of Bohemia. It is easy for any man to be
3

18 IN MEMORIAM.
cordial with his equals ; it is, alas, too easy for
most men to be deferential to their social supe
riors : a good test of a gentleman, I think, is to be
found in his attitude toward his social inferiors.
Colonel Chase was as courteous and considerate in
his treatment of the humblest as of the greatest,
white or black, high or low. Self-renunciation
was not with him a duty; it was an instinct, —
the instinct of a natural gentleman. He was abso
lutely incapable of doing anything selfish or mean
or imworthy.
His natural bent was toward a soldier's life ;
but fate willed that he should live in the piping
times of peace. He would have made a superb
soldier ; for the spirit of the cavalier was in him,
derived from a remote but strenuous Jacobite an
cestry. He had the spirit to have led a forlorn
hope, or to have, like Sidney, given the last cup
of water to a dying comrade. God knows best.
Perhaps it was best that he should live and die
a civilian, to prove that Peace hath her victories
and heroes no less renowned than War.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 19
His career shows that chivalry is not dead, nor
likely to die so long as brave hearts like his are
produced in old New England.

(The "Boston Pilot," Octoher 12, 1895.)
Endo^wted with a rare combination of commer
cial and intellectual talents, he characteristically
did the work that came first to his hand, building
up a great business with extensive branches at
home and abroad, and reaping such rewards of
tireless industry and spotless integrity as few men
of his years have garnered. As a merchant, he
was worthy to be ranked with the best of the old
school of Boston, — the men whose word was as
good as their bond, and with whom honor was the
first law of trade.
Too young to be enrolled in the service of his
country during the only war in which it was
engaged ia his short life, he was yet a devoted
student of military affairs, a born soldier to whom
no field was offered. His military title was de-

20 , IN MEMORIAM.
rived from his connection with the State service,
to the fostering and improvement of which he
gave his time, service, and money without limit.
He filled the positions of engineer, captain, inspec
tor-general of rifle practice, and colonel on the
staff of Governors Brackett and Russell, and was
regarded as an authority on military matters, not
only in the State service, but also in that of the
nation and in foreign countries. But it was
socially that he was best known and loved. Sim
ple, modest, truthful, and absolutely unselfish in
all things, he won and held the love of all who
knew him. He was secretary and president of
the Papyrus Club, president of the Sons of the
American Revolution, and a member of a score of
other societies in Boston, New York, Washington,
and London.
Better than all, Colonel Chase was an American
of the best and truest type ; a man whose broad
heart knew no distinction of class, or creed, or
country. He was a gentle-man in the literal mean
ing of adjective and noun. God rest his soul !

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 21
("Boston Journal," October 8, 1895.)
Colonel Chase entered the Massachusetts Vol
unteer Militia in April, 1886, as a member of the
First Corps of Cadets ; was promoted to engineer
of the First Brigade on the staff of Brigadier-
General Nat Wales, May 29, 1887, and as captain
and aide-de-camp on the staff of Brigadier-General
B. F. Bridges, Jr., Feb. 19, 1889. In 1889 he
served as inspector-general of rifle practice on the
staff of Governor Brackett. In marksmanship
he ranked as a sharp-shooter, and as such was
a member of the Massachusetts Creedmoor team
in 1887-89. On Jan. 8, 1891, he was again
appointed inspector-general of rifle practice, this
time by Governor Russell, and in this office he
served with distinction until Jan. 3, 1894, when
he was succeeded by Colonel Hall.
Colonel Chase was recognized, not only in the
State militia, but among his numerous acquaint
ances in the United States Army, as an earnest
military student and a conscientious, painstaking
officer ; and he demonstrated his value and ability

22 IN MEMORIAM.
in all the positions which he filled. He possessed
one of the best military libraries in the State, and
had made many trips abroad to study foreign
manoeuvres for the good of the service of his
country, and for the purpose of fitting himself to
be a more valuable officer. He had in these trips
been cordially received by both English and Ger
man officers. He was, all in all, an inspector
of remarkable talent, and probably did more to
foster excellence of marksmanship among the
militia than any other officer who ever offered
his services to the State, He was the author of
treatises on gunnery ; and his reports as inspector-
general are considered as models.
Socially Colonel Chase was exceedingly popular.
He was a member of many clubs ; had been secre
tary and vice-president of the Commercial Club,
secretary and president of the Papyrus Club, treas
urer of the St. Botolph, and president of the Sons
of the American Revolution. He was generous
and courteous, — a gentleman in word and deed.
Religiously he was actively identified with the

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 23
government of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brook
line, of which Dr. Storrs is rector.
On Sept. 26, 1876, he was married at Syracuse,
N. Y., by Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington, bishop of
Central New York, to Mary Frances Elizabeth
Greenough. His widow and four children survive
him.

(" Shooting and Fishing," Octoher 16, 1895.)
Colonel Chase was prominently identified
with military rifle shooting. Entering the militia
... he soon received' a staff appointment, and
later was appointed inspector-general of rifle
practice. In this position he distinguished him
self. It was Colonel Chase's aim to improve the
marksmanship of the volunteers as a body, rather
than create a few expert target shooters ; and in
his work he was conspicuously successful. He
originated the estimating of distances as a part of
the volunteer's training, making apparent at that
time the inefficiency of the men for practical
work ; but by introducing it as a part of the sys-

24 IN MEMORIAM.
tern of rifle practice, in connection with his other
practical ideas, he brought the Massachusetts vol
unteers to a high degree of efficiency as riflemen.
It was solely a labor of love with him; and he
carried a degree of zeal into his labors which is
seldom seen in such work. Colonel Chase was a
life member of the Massachusetts Rifle Associa
tion. He was one of the prosperous merchants of
Boston, a soldier who served his State well, and a
true rifleman.

(" Boston Transcript," October 11, 1895.)
PAPYRIAN BOOKS.
The late William L. Chase some years ago con
ceived the purpose of forming a library of books
written by members of the Papyrus Club. This
purpose he carried out, and by a provision of his
¦will the collection is bequeathed to the Papyrus
Club, of which he had been secretary and presi
dent. Colonel Chase admitted few to the secret of
the researches he made into the literary labors of

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 25
those who were at the time or had been Papy-
rians. His desire was to bring his collection com
pletely up to date before revealing to his fellow
members the task which had occupied many hours
of an extremely busy life. As he labored, the
work grew; and he gradually enlarged its scope,
until it assumed the proportions of a visible illus
tration of the literary labor of all Papyrians, com
prehending even those fugitive poems with which
young poets enrich college papers, and magazine
articles which men call "pot-boilers," after they
grow famous enough to command their own price.
There was no lack of material for the collection
of a Papyrian library. The club is, as it always
has been, made up of men who follow literature in
some of its branches as a profession, and of men
of strong literary sympathies. Its rolls since its
organization, now twenty-three years gone, bear
the names of authors, journalists, publishers,
actors, artists, architects, sculptors, musicians,
lawyers, physicians, and of business men of lit
erary tastes. Colonel Chase himself was a man
4

26 IN MEMORIAM.
of far-reaching and varied business occupations;
but he was also an omniverous reader, a graceful
and ready writer, and was the author of two
books on military subjects, — " Outposts " and
"The Volunteer and his Rifle," — which, while
primarily designed for the use of the militia, have
received the approval of professional soldiers.
Most of the literary work of members of the
Papyrus has been in the department of belles
lettres, but critical and technical works are to be
found in very considerable numbers in any cata
logue of Papyrian books.
The range of production has been from the
gayety of "Rollo's Tour to Cambridge" to the
gravity of these calf-bound volumes abounding in
marginal notes which no lawyer's library should
be without, or professionally absorbing pamphlets
in which medical members have recorded observa
tions on theories of strange diseases. Colonel
Chase had not long been engaged in the work of
collection before he realized that he had a task of
considerable magnitude before him. His collection

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 27
of Papyrian books comprehends several hundred
volumes, and includes, besides books published as
such, others made up of magazine articles, essays
and fugitive pieces not otherwise brought together.
When he had gone but a little way in his task,
he had a list of books written by members or
past members of the club which covered over two
hundred and fifty titles. Many men of letters
have gathered at Papyrian feasts in full right
of membership ; and " the Papyrian books," as
Colonel Chase designated them in his will, in
cluded the novels, essays, and poems of William
D. Howells; Col. Theodore A.Dodge's works; the
writings of John Boyle O'Reilly, Thomas Went
worth Higginson, Justin McCarthy, Robert Grant,
Thomas Russell Sullivan, James Jeffrey Roche,
Robert D. Joyce, F. H. Underwood, George P.
Lathrop, James Whitcomb Riley, Frederick J.
Stimson ("J. S. of Dale"), Arlo Bates, Sylvester
Baxter, H. Bernard Carpenter, B. R. Curtis, George
G. Crocker, William F. Apthorp, George Make
peace Towle, J. T. Trowbridge, Edwin P. Whipple,

28 IN MEMORIAM.
John T. Wheelwright, and Alexander Young. As
Colonel Chase pursued his pious labors, he saw his
collection of " Papyrian books " expand from shelf
to shelf until it became a library representative of
the industry and varied talent which have been
found in the membership of that club he peculiarly
loved, and which loved him.

THE PAPYRUS CLUB.

THE PAPYRUS CLUB stands once again at
the grave of its dead. Once more it is
called upon to offer its tribute of affection in per
ishable words ; once more to garner up its tender
memories in imperishable hearts.
William Leverett Chase, our youngest ex-
president, our youngest and best beloved, has
passed on to finish his work, the loving tributes,
as he closed his term of office in this place, hardly
cold upon our lips.
We pause in the presence of this mystery, not
to bemoan our loss, but rather to rejoice that the
brother, fallen by our side in the battle of life a
few days earlier than we, has left to us as an
inspiration his faith in the high and the good, his
loyalty to truth, his never-failing gentleness, his
absolute and convincing humanity.
His record was made, as he lived his life, simply
and naturally. To us it is enough to say he was

32 IN MEMORIAM.
born at Grafton, Mass., on the fourth day of
December, 1853 ; he died at Brookline on the
seventh day of October, 1895. Between these
two dates he had in rich abundance honor, love,
obedience, troops of friends ; in this brief span he
enfolded all that should accompany old age, and
gave new assurance that that life is long which
answers life's great ends.
The Papyrus Club embalms its dead in loving
hearts. Neither the traditions of the club nor
the wishes of its dead, nor of its living, would ask
a more sacred resting-place. Years have rolled
on; our brothers have dropped, one by one, from
our side ; but they live with us, as we know, and
never nearer than now.
We say to our friend, — Farewell for awhile !
What you were to us you knew and we affirm.
All that friendship means, all that loyalty en
shrines, all that tenderness attests, follow you into
the Beyond, and will follow you forever ; for love
never dies.
To those who were nearest and dearest to him,

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 33
the Papyrus Club sends its messages of sympathy
for a loss hard to be borne ; but it sends, too, its
messages of hope and courage, for hope and
courage were a part of him who has gone.
On behalf of the Papyrus Club, Henry M. Rogers.
Nov. 2, 1895.

IN MEMORIAM.

Sit closer, friends, around the board !
Death grants us yet a little time.
Now let the cheering cup be poured,
And welcome song and jest and rhyme.
Enjoy the gifts that fortune sends, —
Sit closer, friends !
And yet, we pause. With trembling lip
We strive the fitting phrase to make ;
Remembering our fellowship,
Lamenting Destiny's mistake.
We marvel much when Pate offends,
And claims our friends.

34 IN MEMORIAM.
Companion of our nights of mirth !
Where all were merry who were wise ;
Does Death quite understand your worth.
And know the value of his prize ?
I doubt me if he comprehends —
He knows no friends.
And in that realm is there no joy
Of comrades and the jocund sense ?
Can Death so utterly destroy —
For gladness grant no recompense ?
And can it be that laughter ends
With absent friends ?
0 scholars ! whom we wisest call ;
Who solve great questions at your ease ;
We ask the simplest of them all,
And yet you cannot answer these !
And is it thus your knowledge ends.
To comfort friends ?
Dear Omar ! should You chance to meet
Our Brother Somewhere in the Gloom,
Pray give to Him a Message sweet,
From Brothers in the Tavern Room.
He will not ask Who 't is that sends,
For We were Friends.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 35
Again a parting sail we see ;
Another boat has left the shore.
A kinder soul on board has she
Than ever left the land before.
And as her outward course she bends,
Sit closer, friends !
Akthue Mact.
Paptrus Club,
November 2, 1895.

TO WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE.
True heart and valiant ! Thou ! whose gentle voice.
Could we but heed, to-night would speak again
The word of cheer, to bid us all rejoice
For Heaven's best gift to earth, — release from pain.
Be ours thy strength undauntedly to face
The royal foeman none has overthrown ;
And, in the losing fight, thy hero's grace
To meet him, fearless, on his ground alone.
What tender thought went with thee to thy sleep
Where autumn draped with gold the fair hillside !
What harvest of affection, broad and deep.
From seeds of kindness scattered far and wide !

36 IN MEMORIAM.
Kindness ! Wherein the musing poet found
His highest good in all this worldly scheme ;
And thy short day fulfilled its perfect round.
Thine was the life of our dead master's dream !
Friend of quick, subtle sense and eager will.
Whose word was loyalty, whose largess grand.
Soothing unselfishly another's ill,
Hid thine own anguish with a generous hand,
Thy chair is vacant, — and while life shall last
Still for thy loyal soul we hold it free ;
Brother, at peace within the painless vast,
Still hold us loyal through all lives to be !
T. R. Sullivan.
Papyrus Club,
December 7, 1895.

PROMOTED.
In Memoriam, William Leverett Chase.
Comrades, we are surrounded : our fate we must here
abide.
A bird might not wing through the fiery ring that hems
•us on every side.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 37
Age upon age before us, our conscript lots were cast ;
Or ever our mothers bore us, our doom of death was
passed.
We know not why we were drafted, while the great
unborn went free:
We are here to die, and the King knows why, and we
hail him loyally ;
For over the gloomy valley where the sombre outworks
reach.
There be peace and rest for the young who pressed first
in the deadly breach.
Brothers, the great Commander whom none of us have
seen
Has drawn again from his chosen men, and he drafts no
subject mean.
Mourn for the comrade taken ; but give our praise and
thanks
To the King who knew His soldier true, — and . raised
him from the ranks ! James Jeffret Roche.
Papyrus Club,
February 1, 1896.

38 IN MEMORIAM Boston, March 5, 1896.
Mt dear Russell Sullivan, — I am very
glad to be able to furnish a photograph of our
dear friend. Will Chase, for the memorial. The
one I send was taken with four other negatives
(some in military uniform), in February, 1892,
and is the one chosen for the Papyrus Album of
Presidents. I know that this portrait, like any words that
can be said, is quite inadequate to do more than
suggest the charm and force of his personality.
In every mood some new grace would appear, so
that he always stood upon the dearest side of
each one who knew him.
His was a remarkable face. Delicate and sen
tient as that of a woman, with almost a classic
purity of line and feature, which was incompatible
with aught but loftiness of character and pride
of true thinking, it was keen in sagacity, forceful
in purpose, and tender in feeling.
As I stood, after his death, in the crowded
church among those who mourned for him, the

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 39
thought arose that there were few to whom, in
some stress or trouble of life, this man had not
come with a kindness and a comfort that none
other knew. The picture which each one of us
cherishes of Will Chase glows in the light of
some such beneficence.
If this little portrait should help to keep those
memory-pictures clear, it will serve a purpose in
your memorial book. Faithfully, Benjamin Kimball.

RESOLUTIONS AND OFFICIAL NOTICES.

Secretary's Office of the Commercial Club
OF Boston, 114 State Street,
Boston, Sept. 26, 1895.
Col. William L. Chase,
President Commercial Club, Brookline, Mass.
Mt dear Sir, — I have the honor herewith of
transmitting to you a copy of a resolution passed
unanimously at the last meeting of the Commer
cial Club, held upon the 21st inst. With it I
send you the love and affection of every member
of our club. Sincerely yours, J. B. Russell,
Secrelari).
Voted, That the members of the Commercial
Club desire to express their sympathy for their
president, William L. Chase, in his serious ill
ness, with the hope that he will be present at
the next meeting of the club to receive their
congratulations .

44 IN MEMORIAM.
(Written bj' Joseph B. Russell for the Commercial Club of Boston,
and passed at its 253d meeting, November 16, 1895.)
As we gather to-night, we sigh
" For the touch of a vanished hand
And the sound of a voice that is still."
Our honored president-elect has been taken from
us before his entrance upon the duties to which
we had so recently and unitedly called him. This
club cannot allow this, its first meeting since the
death of William Leverett Chase, its former sec
retary, vice-president, and president-elect, to pass
without placing upon its records an expression of
its deep sorrow at this affliction which has fallen
upon it, and its appreciation of the great loss
which, in common with this community, it has
suffered. Colonel Chase was for four years secretary, and
for three years vice-president, of this club ; and
at its recent meeting was elected its president,
an office upon which his failing health prevented
him from entering. His long, constant, intimate,
and close relations with it, and the honors it has

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 45
conferred upon him, show how much this club
respected, honored, and loved him.
His general and marked characteristics were his
ability, his culture, and his versatility, coupled
with an inflexible integrity and a universal kind
ness of heart.
Upon his graduation from Harvard University
in 1876, a young man, he was thrown into the
" heat and burden of the day " earlier in life than
is usual in Massachusetts. He assumed the cares
of an extended business, and added greatly to its
prosperity and extension. He was alike merchant,
manufacturer, and banker; and in each position
was thoughtful, clear-headed, far-seeing, and saga
cious, and in all and above all, warm-hearted and
sympathetic, — ever willing to lend his helping
hand and kindly voice to assist his fellow-worker,
whether a brother merchant or a factory operative.
He entered the factory or bank with a sagacity
as keen as his heart was kind ; and he could leave
them, with equal grace and power, for the art
gallery, the music-room, or the muster field. He

46 IN MEMORIAM.
had also a niche in the poet's corner, kept (through
modesty only) too private. He was alike active
in the business walks and the refined and cultured
pleasures of life, and alike at home in whichever
he happened to be. He could preside with grace
over this club to-day, and to-morrow read a poem
before his favorite Papyrus. He could go from
his office to the military field, where he easily won
the reputation of the ablest inspector upon the
staffs of successive governors. He could, with
equal force and attraction, discuss finance, busi
ness, military tactics, or poetry. To an inborn
ability and a liberal education, he added a refined
mind and cultivated taste, and more than all, to
us, standing by his grave, a loving disposition, as
generous in thought as it was in action. It is
hardly too much to say of him that " he touched
nothing he did not adorn."
We should be alike untrue to him and to our
selves in closing this brief memorial, if we did not
recognize the deep religious faith which charac
terized Colonel Chase, — a faith alike conscien-

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 47
tious] and tolerant, and diffusing itself over all
the beneficent activities of his life.
Voted, That this memorial be spread upon the
records of the club, and a copy of it sent to Mrs.
Chase ; and that it be printed for distribution
among the members of the club, and a copy sent
to the press.

(Extract from Records of Directors' Meeting of the Boston Wharf
Company, October 8, 1895.)
The president communicated to the board the
death of William L. Chase, on Monday, October
7th, present ; and, thereupon, it was
Voted, That this board has received with deep
emotion the announcement of the death of Col.
William L. Chase, one of its active and influential
members. It cannot allow this meeting to close
without putting upon its records this memorial
of its appreciation of the services and character
of Colonel Chase.

48 IN MEMORIAM.
We shall sadly miss his genial, kindly, inspirit
ing presence at our meetings, and in our daily
intercourse, but we shall more miss his constant
fidelity to duty, and the ability, earnestness, intel
ligence, and the uniform courtesy and considera
tion with which he met it. Among our most
pleasant and agreeable associations we shall ever
cherish those with him. We deplore his loss, and
tender our deepest sympathy to his family in their
deep affliction.
Voted, That the clerk transmit in behalf of the
directors a copy of the foregoing vote to the
widow of Colonel Chase.
C. Lowell,
Clerk.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Third National Bank of Boston, held Friday, Oct.
10th, the following resolutions were unanimously
adopted : —
Whereas, The Board of Directors of the Third
National Bank of Boston desire to place upon the

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 49
records of the bank some enduring testimonial of
their regard for William Leverett Chase, lately a
member of the Board, but who has just deceased ;
Therefore, Be it resolved by the board that in
their judgment his business sagacity, his energy
and activity of mind and body, his public spirit
and generosity, and above all his tender and sym
pathetic nature, made up a personality unique in
its completeness, so that his death is a great loss,
not only to this bank, but to the whole commun
ity in which he lived.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be
sent to the family of Mr. Chase. H. L. Burrage,
Clerk.

(Copy of the Resolution passed at the meeting of the Board of
Directors of the State Street Safe Deposit and Trust Company,
November 4, 1895.)
Resolved, That this institution has suffered
the loss of a great friend and supporter by the
death of William Leverett Chase, who was taken
away in the prime of life and activity. A man
7

50 IN MEMORIAM.
who was ever thoughtful of others, generous be
yond measure, and known to the community for
his energy and bounty ; he was possessed of a
warm cheery disposition, which makes his loss a
personal sorrow to us all. One of the chief
organizers of this company, he was ever quick in
suggestion, energetic in action, and always ready
to devote his time and attention to the welfare of
the Trust Company, having its interests at heart
from the first date of its existence.

(GiLROY Sons and Company, Limited, Dundee. Extract
Minute of Meeting of Directors, November 7, 1895.)
The Directors learned with sincere regret the
death of their esteemed friend and customer. Col.
William L. Chase, and directed the secretary to
convey to Mrs. Chase and family, and also to
Messrs. H. and L. Chase, their sympathy with
them in the loss of one so honorable in all his
relations.
David Ferguson,
Secretary.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 51
The Societt of the Sons of the Revolution
wish to make minute of their sense of the great
loss they have sustained in the death of their first
and only president, Col. William Leverett Chase.
They also would put on record — and that not
with the ordinary conventionality of terms — their
appreciation of him as a valued and much-loved
fellow member.
One of the founders of this Massachusetts so
ciety, his interest in it was most manifest; his
generosity to it pre-emiment. No one can recall
the speeches he made when presiding at its annual
meetings without being reminded of his high tone
of thought, which was always their characteristic.
None of us can be mindful of his generosity with
out feeling that to this was due the proper direc
tion of the society's energies and the establishment
of its legitimate work.
The same promptitude and thoroughness which
marked his active, busy commercial life was shown
in his leadership of this Society of the Sons of the
Revolution, and to him, it may almost be said, it
owes all that it represents to-day. Quick at dis-

52 IN MEMORIAM.
cerning the relation of things, his judgment in all
its deliberations was never faulty ; while his cour
tesy as a presiding officer was most conspicuous.
While we sorrow over the fact of his separation
from us, we can but be most thankful for the
example he has left us, and the guidance which
has been so valuable, the memory of which will
always be an encouragement and stimulus to pre
serve this society on the same high plane where
it was his endeavor to place it. And to inspire
us still further to this, we will always remember
that the rosette of the society was buried with
him, — the only trace of military display that was
manifest, — as if to indicate that even in death
his interest was unabated, his affection eternal.
We transcribe this minute on our records in
loving appreciation of our president, and send to
his family a copy of it, with the assurance of
our heartfelt and tender sympathy.
Leonard Kip Storrs,
William Eustis Russell,
Clement Kelset Fat,
Committee.
October, 1895.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 53
(Resolution of the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the Ameri
can Revolution, unanimously adopted at a meeting held October
19, 1895.)
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call
our esteemed friend and brother, William Leverett
Chase, from this life to that higher and nobler life
beyond the grave ;
Be it resolved. That in the loss of Mr. Chase,
who has been since its organization the president
of our sister society, the Sons of the Revolution,
this society has sustained a severe loss, calling for
the sincere and heartfelt sympathy of all kindred
patriotic societies; and we desire to express our
sincere appreciation of his high character, intense
public spirit and liberality, and earnest endeavor
to perform his whole duties as a true citizen of
his town and State.
Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be
transmitted to the family of the deceased, to the
Society of the Sons of the Revolution, and placed
upon the records of our society.
Herbert W. Kimball,
Secretary.

54 IN MEMORIAM.
(Col. George F. Hall, Inspector-General of Rifle Practice, in his
Annual Report, December, 1895.)
I CANNOT close this report without expressing,
though most inadequately, my sense of the loss
sustained by the service and by the Common
wealth in the death of Col. William L. Chase,
inspector-general of rifle practice from Jan. 8,
1891, to Jan. 3, 1894. A close student of mili
tary affairs, an officer fertile in ideas and ener
getic in the execution of them, he has left his
impress on the service as a whole, and more
especially upon this department, of which he
served so worthily as chief.

(Written by Rev. L. K. Storrs, at the request of the Trustees.)
The trustees of the Church Home for Orphan
and Destitute Children would put on record their
deep sense of the great loss the board has sus
tained in the death of their fellow member. Col.
William Leverett Chase. Rarely is a board of
trustees called upon to mourn for one whose

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 65
" going hence " is more keenly felt, and whose
place it will be so difficult to fill. He was most
active in his interest in the children of the home,
most generous in contributing to their pleasures,
most thoughtful in providing for their happiness.
In the midst of a peculiarly busy life, it was his
custom often to cheer those little ones with his
presence at the home ; and he manifested his care
for them in ways whereby they were reminded
that he regarded them almost as his own. The
generous legacy he has left us of itself testifies
how near his heart the Church Home always was,
and calls for this expression of our grateful and
loving appreciation of his many kindnesses. Sor
rowing that in His wise providence the Master has
called him to Himself, we still thank God for his
example, and submissively pray that He will help
us to follow His blessed saints in all virtuous and
godly living.

56 IN MEMORIAM.
(Abstract from the Records of the Vestry of St. Paul's Church in
Brookline, October, 1895.)
CoL. William Leverett Chase, the junior
warden of St. Paul's Church in Brookline, fell
asleep peacefully in Jesus on the afternoon of
Oct. 7, 1895. The Vestry of his church, while
sorrowing over what seems an almost irretrievable
loss, recognize a loving Father's hand, and desire to
put on record their appreciation of their departed
brother as an earnest, generous. Christian man.
Identified all his life with this church wherein he
was nurtured and trained, its very stones he
loved; its welfare was always his first considera
tion; and its activities never lacked his cordial,
ready, and anticipating aid. Endowed with ample
means, he recognized God's purpose in his daily
life, and so disclosed his higher bounties that
many to-day rise up and call him blessed. Acts
of Christian generosity and love were never a
burden to him ; they were never a mere duty ; it
was an exceeding great delight to him thus to
discharge his stewardship. He realizes now his

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 57
reward, — the church triumphant with the spirits
of the just made perfect. And while we deeply
mourn the separation which will deprive us of his
judgment in our future deliberations, and will
miss the promptness and courtesy with which he
always responded to all calls for aid, we thank
God for the good example of his servant, who,
having finished his course in faith, now rests from
his labors. And we pray that walking here by
faith, and having served the Master with con
stancy on earth, we may be joined hereafter with
his blessed saints in glory everlasting.
Assuring his family of our sincere sympathy,
we will send them a copy of this minute, and
also cause the same to be published in the
" Churchman."

For the Vestry,

Leonard K. Storrs,
Clement K. Fat,
Desmond Fitzgerald,
Committee.

58 IN MEMORIAM.
(From the Annual Report of the Executive Committee of the St.
Botolph Club, December 28, 1895.)
Yet one more name emphasizes strongly the
sense of personal loss. A gifted son of Harvard,
with high ideals and a fine sense of duty, a citizen
in the best sense of the term, he was always ready
to give his untiring service for the public good.
Circumstanced as few men are, at an age when the
calls of pleasure are many and insistent, his tena
city of purpose never weakened. He showed no
trace of the intellectual and moral sluggishness
which assails the young man of leisure. Without
the stimulus of that enthusiasm which prompts to
patriotic devotion in time of war, he gave his best
service to his State and his city in time of peace.
He loved this club, and he died faithfully guard
ing the important interests which you had in
trusted to his care.
For the Executive Committee, LORIN F. Deland, Secretary.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 59
HARVARD university. CLASS OF 1876.
At a meeting of the class held in Boston, Oct.
25, 1895, the following resolutions were unani
mously adopted : —
Resolved, That the members of the class of 1876
have heard with heartfelt regret of the death of
their secretary and classmate, William Leverett
Chase. They will hold him in grateful remem
brance as a warm-hearted friend, interested in all
that concerned themselves, the class, and Harvard
College, for twenty years the kind and cheerful
recorder of their life and doings. In common
with the whole community, they recognize the
loss of a zealous, industrious, and public-spirited
citizen, a man never weary in well-doing.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be
sent to Mrs. Chase, and to the members of
the class, and that the same be published in the
papers. Emor H. Harding,
Secretary of the Meeting.

60 IN MEMORLAM.
Mt dear Madam, — By wish of the Metro
politan Park Commission I beg to be allowed to
express to you the grief which we feel at the death
of our fellow member, Col. William L. Chase.
During our association upon this commission we
have not only respected his work and worth, but
have loved him as a friend in whose companion
ship there was comfort and inspiration.
Throughout his illness we have chafed that we
could do or say so little more than express the
hope that he would soon be with us again in
health and strength. Now that he is taken from
us we are indeed sad in the loss which we suffer
in common with the rest of the community.
In this deep sorrow we would have you feel
that our constant thought and sympathy is with
you and his other loved ones, who, more than even
his friends, know how much of light and loveliness
has gone out from the world in his death.
Very sincerely, for the commission,
William B. de las Casas,
Chairman.
Boston, Oct. 8, 1895.

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 61
Mrs. William L. Chase :
Dear Madam, — Please accept the heartfelt
sympathy of the officers and members of the
Ninth Regiment in this sad hour of your
affliction. Yours respectfully, Fred. B. Bogan.

Headquarters First Brigade, M. V. M.,
Boston, Oct. 8, 1895.
Mrs. William L. Chase:
Madam, — Permit me, on behalf of General
Bridges and staff, to express to you our sympathy
in the great loss you have sustained.
As a former member of the First Brigade staff,
we all formed a firm and lasting friendship for
Colonel Chase, and esteem it a privilege to have
enjoyed his companionship.
We were able to appreciate his manly and
generous qualities of heart, and were greatly
aided at all times by his ready and enthusiastic
performance of every duty.

62 IN MEMORIAM.
He was personally endeared to us, and we feel
deeply the loss the whole community has sus
tained in his removal from our midst.
Very respectfully, BowDOiN S. Parker,
Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General.

Public Library of Brookline, Massachusetts.
18 November, 1895.
Mt dear Madam, — On account of the high
regard in which Colonel Chase was held, and on
account of his many benefactions here, we feel
very grateful for the portrait which you have
given to the library.
I hope in time to have the faces of those who
have influenced the history and life of the town
where they may be seen by all our people.
Sincerely yours, Charles K. Bolton.
Mrs. Chase.

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS.

(Capt. W. S. Schley, U. S. N.)
. . . No thought of Brookline and the pleasant
memories of my home there was ever complete
that did not include the remembrance of him who
contributed so much of hospitality, and so much
by his charming personality, to make my home
near his a living and loving memory.
The loss to Brookline is irreparable ; while to
those who lose his counsel or who have experi
enced his liberality the sorrow will be as lasting
as it has been sudden and unexpected. Such men
do not die in giving up life here, but rather do
they live enshrined in all the graces that make
memory and love ideal. Like his father, he has
only gone to reap the crown of life won by his
virtues when in life.
. . . What a dear, sweet life has gone out,
what a loving friend has been taken, and what a
sorrowful void has been made in my circle of
friends ! . . .

66 IN MEMORIAM.
(Prof. Arlo Bates, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.)
. . . His manliness, his generosity, his sweet
ness, and his integrity made him a man whose
place cannot be filled. . . . Grateful for the
friendship which was to me so sincere a pleasure
while it endured, I know how all that he was
makes it harder to live without him ; yet just
this that he was makes also his memory a joy
and a blessing. . . .

(Hon. Sherman Hoak, Concord.)
. . . Some men seem to be born for a short
stay on earth, and to be able to crowd into their
lives so much activity, intelligence, philanthropy,
and kindliness that it seems as if they felt they
must hurry to accomplish in the time allotted
them all that other men take long lives to per
form. . . . He not only never wearied in well
doing, but he crowded his life full of activities
and loving deeds. I am only one of a very great
number who will miss him keenly. . . .

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 67
(Thomas Aspinwall, Esq., Brookline, Mass.)
... I CAN scarcely recall the time when I did
not know him, and I have watched with much
pride his success in life. . . . My sense of per
sonal loss is very great, for while I have, since we
have grown to manhood, seen him but little, I
have always esteemed him and regarded him as
very much a valued friend. . . .

(A. B. GiLROY, Esq., Dundee, Scotland.)
. . . He was the best-hearted fellow I ever
knew, and it would be impossible to conceive of
a truer friend. I always felt, every time we met,
I was better and wiser for being with him, and I
have taken many a lesson from him. . . .

(Rev. Charles F. Thwing, D.D., LL.D., President of Western
Reserve University and Adelbert College, Cleveland, Ohio.)
. . . He was my friend and classmate. We
had rooms in the same building at Harvard four

68 IN MEMORIAM.
years. I loved and admired him. The last time
we met he was the same man that he was the first
time, — genial, alert, vigorous, ambitious, happy.
The world is poorer by his translation. The class
of '76 is poorer, very much poorer, in his removal.
No meeting of the class can again be what it has
been ; but his memory will abide in the class so
long as a single name remains unstarred. . . .

(Rev. Reginald H. Howe, Longwood, Mass.)
... A LIFE, to our vision, too early closed here
on earth, yet how full of all that is most enduring,
how completely lived ! A most tender and loving
husband, father, brother ; a faithful, warm-hearted,
generous friend ; an intelligent and useful citizen ;
a devoted Christian and churchman, his religion
so real and true ; good and kind, and thoughtful of
everybody he came to know and for whom there
was anything he could do ! . . . What I count as
one of the pleasantest friendships of my life passes
away with him. . . .

WILLIAM LEVERETT CHASE. 69
(Hon. J. Q. A. Brackett, Arlington.)
. . . On Thursday last, at my suggestion, the
gentlemen who were associated with Colonel
Chase as members of my staff were called together
to arrange for attending the funeral service. . . .
Our associate and friend had endeared himself to
us by his manly, genial, and generous traits, and
won our respect and admiration as an upright,
public-spirited, and large-hearted man.
We appreciated his worth and prized his friend
ship while he was with us, and by none of his
legion of friends will his death be more sincerely
lamented and his memory more tenderly cherished
than by the members of my staff and myself. . . .

(F. H. Ludington, Esq., St. Louis.)
. . . Mt associations with Mr. Chase's father
and with Mr. Chase cover a period of twenty-nine
years. Naturally, the severing of these associa
tions, which have been especially enjoyable and

70 IN MEMORIAM.
harmonious, bring great sorrow and depression
to me.
It is great cause for gratification that I can
bear witness and testimony to Mr. Chase's ability,
kindness of heart, and activity in good deeds. . . .

(Capt. Peter Lbary, Jr., 4th Artillery, U. S. A.)
... In many of the highest qualities which
ennoble our race, I can say, without exaggeration
or undue praise, that he was remarkable. He
was so unusually good and admirable in so many
different directions ; he was so accomplished, so
many-sided in his efforts to do good, so much a
man of the world in the best sense, that his death
will be a loss that cannot be made up. . . .

YALE UNIVERSITY

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