Philander Travels West

Philander Chase, born in 1775, was the son of Dudley and Allace Chase, of the Chase family, a founding family of Cornish, New Hampshire and Bethel, Vermont. The Chases were a farm family, and Philander, the youngest of 13 children, always thought he would farm the family homestead and take care of his parents in their old age. His parents had other ideas, however, and at age 16, Philander enrolled in Dartmouth College in preparation for eventually becoming a minister. Although his family was Congregational, Philander happened to find a Book of Common Prayer, and decided to be an Episcopal minister. At age 17, he convinced his family and neighborhood to change their community church from Congregational to Episcopal. After he graduated from Dartmouth, Philander went to Albany, New York, to study Episcopal theology under an Episcopal minister there.

While he was studying to become an Episcopal minister, Philander taught school in Albany as a way to support himself while he continued his education. Many of his older siblings had settled in Bethel, and Philander often traveled back to Bethel to visit them, especially his favorite older sister Allace. He met a girl there, Mary Fay, fell in love, and married her in 1796, when he was 20 and she was 16.

Mary moved to Albany with Philander, coming home to Bethel to have her son George. Philander finished his studies with the minister in Albany, and was ordained as an Episcopal deacon in 1798. Immediately after his ordination, he was appointed to be an Episcopal missionary to the northern and western parts of New York.

This was an itinerant missionary position, and Philander traveled all around upper New York state, ministering to small congregations in the New York wilderness, as an itinerant minister had held services in the Cornish and Bethel churches ten years earlier. There were many Indians living in this part of New York, and Philander preached to them as well, becoming friends with some Indian families

It was not easy to travel through Northwestern New York at the turn of the 19^th century. Communities were small and the whole area was very sparsely settled. Roads were poor. Many church services were held in log cabins. Laura Chase Smith, Philander's granddaughter, wrote a biography of her grandfather. In her book, she says, “No civilized man greeted the missionary as he passed through what are now large and busy cities, Salina and Syracuse. There were only two cabins to be seen, and these were uninhabited, as they were used for boiling salt. Imagine the desolate picture in winter!”

 

Philander soon after he graduated from Dartmouth

In regards to the reference of boiling salt – Salt is an important ingredient in people's lives, and has always been important economically. The word “salary” comes from the word “salt”. In many areas, ancient people were paid in salt. The word “salad” also comes from the practice of the Romans putting salt on their leafy greens. Near Syracuse, there are salt springs, springs of water that bubble up through salt deposits. This water had a very high salt content, and early settlers boiled it to obtain the salt. Onondaga Salt Springs was the first permanent salt industry in the country, and led the country in salt production until 1878. Much of the impetus to build the Erie Canal came from the need to ship this salt to the rest of the country.

If Laura Chase Smith and Ancestry.com have their dates right, Mary and Philander were married in 1796. He was ordained as a deacon two years later. Laura was 18 years old and a mother already. George was born in 1797. Philander left immediately after being ordained. Laura went home to her family (and Philander's) in Bethel. While Philander was gone, Laura had another son, in April of 1799, named Philander, Jr. In her book, Laura stresses how difficult it was for travelers in Northwestern New York to communicate with their families, and it is very possible that Philander did not know he had another son.

Philander returned to civilization in 1799, arriving in Poughkeepsie in autumn, where Mary and her young sons joined him. The family was together at last, and Philander was ordained as a full Episcopal priest in November of 1799. He took on the administration of an Episcopal seminary in Poughkeepsie as well as his duties in two growing parishes, to support himself, his wife and his sons.