Reuben Chase, Revolutionary War Pensioner and His Connection to the Indigenous People at Yarmouth
REUBEN CHASE, REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONER AND HIS CONNECTION TO THE INDIGENOUS TRIBE AT YARMOUTH, MA A revolutionary war grave marker juts from the barren southeast corner of the Ancient Cemetery in Yarmouth. This section of the cemetery was infamously set aside in 1826 when the town ordered Thomas Greenough, a leader of the indigenous tribe at Yarmouth, to disinter and move his wife Jane from her existing burial plot to this area of the yard. The Town ordered all future burials of people of color to be directed to this corner. Several gravestones frame the blank space including those for little Thacher Baker, and my ancestors George Washington Chase and his wife Nancy J. of whom I have written previously. An old map thankfully provided by the Friends of the Ancient Cemetery * on their website clearly indicates that this veteran marker determines the resting place of a Reuben Chase. Newspaper accounts acknowledge and include Reuben’s war service...
