Eunice Chase

The Charles Carrol returned to Nantucket in March 1836 and on April 5 Chase married Eunice Chadwick. In August, Chase departed on another three and a half year whaling voyage. Sixteen months later Eunice gave birth to Charles. Herman Melville wrote of the news in his copy of Chase's narrative:

"For, while I was in the Acushnet we heard from some whaleship that we spoke, that the captain of the "Charles Carrol" - that is Owen Chace - had recently received letters from home, informing him of the certain infidelity of his wife, the mother of several children, one of them being the lad of sixteen, whom I alluded to as giving me a copy of his father's narrative to read. We also heard that this receipt of this news had told most heavily upon Chace, & and that he was of the deepest gloom."

We know from the ship's log that the Charles Carrol met the whaler Hero in the grounds, the captain of which was Reuben Joy, brother of Matthew Joy from the Essex and that the two vessels remained together for the unusually long time of two months. It is speculated that it was Joy who passed on the news to Chase. The Charles Carrol docked at Holmes Hole on February 15, 1840 where Chase left the ship and travelled to Nantucket where he filed for divorce on February 18. The divorce was granted on July 7.[2]

Family

• William Chadwick b. 3 Dec 1779, d. 27 Jul 1858 & Deborah Brown b. 3 Apr 1784, d. 24 Feb 1809

Citations

• 2. Thomas Farel Heffernan Stove by a Whale: Owen Chase and the Essex Wesleyan University Press 1990 Pg 120 - 134 ISBN 978-0-8195-6244-9

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Chase
• http://www.nantuckethistoricalassociation.net/bgr/BGR-o/p373.htm#i1...