Nancy J. (Brooks) Chase of Yarmouth 1821-1888

I have provided my research on my three times great grandmother Nancy J. (Brooks) Chase for several projects. I post a blog version here in anticipation of future posts on individuals connected to this family in some way.  Nancy and her husband George Washington Chase are buried in the Ancient Cemetery in Yarmouth Port, MA.


According to Yarmouth Death Records, Nancy J. Chase, wife of George W., died of cancer on 25 November 1888 at the age of 67 years, 3 months and 8 days; that record identifies her parents as William and Nancy [P.] Brooks.  This name of Nancy's father here is incorrect; William Brooks was the name of her grandfather.  Other Yarmouth records correctly name her father as Thomas Greenough Brooks.




Additional Yarmouth family records note that Nancy Jane Brooks (Mrs. Geo. W. Chase), daughter of Thomas G. and Nancy (Nickerson) Brooks, died 25 November 1888 at age 67 years, 3 months, [5] days.  Her date of birth is 20 August 1821. She had one sister named Juliana, born 1817, who married Ziba Ellis in 1844 and married second James Smith. Juliana died in 1904.



Thomas Greenough Brooks is the grandson of Thomas Greenough, an historic Yarmouth figure and leader of the local indigenous tribe at Yarmouth. Thomas Brooks' mother was Susannah Freeman Greenough, the first born child of Thomas Greenough and his wife Jane Freeman.  Susannah married William Brooks who appears to have hailed from Nantucket but is attributed to differing countries of origin in various records -- including the Philippines. He is often identified as “black.”   Further research is needed on William Brooks.


Marriage intentions for Thomas Greenough Brooks and Miss Nancy Nickerson were entered 19 March 1815. Thomas Greenough Brooks died sometime between 1820 (Nancy J. Brooks was born August 1821) and November 1826 when his wife, Nancy (Nickerson) Brooks, married second Moses Montcalm. 

Nancy (Nickerson) Brooks ultimately married two more times -- Timothy Taylor and Joshua Ellis. She had children with each subsequent husband – half-siblings of Nancy J. Chase and her sister Juliana. This may account for confusion in several vital records -- Nancy and Juliana were very young when their birth father died and time and memories may have erased the earlier information. Note that Juliana (Brooks) Smith's death record in 1904 identifies her parents as Thomas Brooks and Deborah Studley. Nancy (Nickerson) Brooks was the daughter of John Nickerson and Deborah (Studley) Nickerson.*     


Marriage intentions for Mr. [George] Washington Chase of Harwich and Miss Nancy J. Brooks of Yarmouth were entered 26 Sep 1840. George Washington Chase was born in Harwich, Massachusetts on 19 July 1821; he died at Yarmouth of heart disease on 11 January 1889.  His parents were Jeremiah Chase and Betsey Nickerson.  


In the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, in the Yarmouth household of George Washington Chase (seaman), Nancy J. (wife) and all the children in the household are identified as “I” for Indian.  George W. has no such identification. In the 1860 and all subsequent Census Reports for Yarmouth, race is not noted.



   

 Children of George Washington Chase and Nancy J. (Brooks) Chase recorded at Yarmouth:


                        1.    George Washington Chase, b. 5 Jan 1841.

                        2.    Franklin Howes Chase, b. 25 Jan 1843.

                        3.    Nancy Jane Chase, b. 25 Feb 1845.

                        4.    Betsy Nickerson Chase, b. 15 Jul 1847.

                        5.    Mary Ann Chase, b. 16 Oct 1849.

                        6.    Timothy Taylor Chase, b. 14 Dec 1851.

                        7.    Lucy W. Chase, b. 21 Mar 1854.

                              8.    Luella Augusta Chase, b. 21 Mar 1859.

                        9.    Juan Chase, b. 20 Jul 1861.



This Chase family is listed in the Massachusetts: Earle Report of Native Americans in 1861 as belonging to the Yarmouth Tribe. Father, George W. Chase is identified as white.




Sources: 

Massachusetts Commissioners to Examine into the Condition of the Indians of the Commonwealth, John Milton Earle, W. White, printer to the state, 1861, Google Books.
Esposito, Julie, Descendants of Thomas Greenough of Yarmouth, MA, Lulu, Inc., 2017.
Chase, Nancy Jr., Find A Grave Memorial ID: 78876661, FindAGrave.com.
Enright, Susan, photographer, Chase Gravestone, Ancient Cemetery, Yarmouthport, MA, 2021.
Yarmouth Vital Records, accessed on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Americanancestors.org.

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