His will February 12, 1721-22 was probated July 1727 and his large landed estate, comprising nearly the whole of the present Village of Vineyard Haven, became an inheritance for his children.
The progenitor of the Chase family of Martha's Vineyard, was born in Hampton, N. H., April 1, 1650, the third son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Philbrick) Chase. The family genealogies state that Thomas came from County Cornwall, England, to New England, and was the son of Aquila Chase of the Chesham, County Bucks family, whose pedigree extends back several generations. In what way Isaac Chase came to be interested in this distant island is not known, but the neighboring town of Salisbury, Mass., had already furnished many settlers for Nantucket, men of Quaker faith, and through this source it is probable that his knowledge of the Vineyard was acquired. At the age of 24 he came to Tisbury to settle (1674), but the townsmen refused the privilege to him for some reason at that time. Possibly it was because of his religious beliefs, which were of the Quaker doctrinal variety. 'The townsmen of Tysbury,' so reads the record, 'do not give unto Isack Chace of Hampton liberty to settle in the town.' [Tisbury Records, 8. We may surmise that they finally gave him permission to inhabit at Homes Hole, in the uttermost part of the town, many miles from the dwellings of any settlers. He was of Hampton in October 1673 (Norfolk Co. Deeds).] However he must have overcome this refusal before long, as we find him in less than two years making purchases of land in the town limits.
He must have been possessed of more than the average wealth at that time as he became, before 1700, one of the largest landholders on the Vineyard. He began his purchases of Homes Hole neck in 1676, as elsewhere related, and finally became its sole proprietor. His property in the Chickemmoo region was second in extent of acreage. His initial purchase in 1682 became a subject of dispute with the Sachem and the town, and was relinquished; but in 1692 he bought the entire eastern half of Chickemoo of Thomas Tupper, consisting of 1200 acres, and was continually adding to his domain in that region. [Deeds, I, 130, 187, 281, 391.] He rarely sold any portion of these acquisitions and all of it, practically, became the heritage of his heirs.
His occupation, as elsewhere detailed, was that of blacksmith, inn-holder, and ferryman, and these he followed until his death. Although by religion a Quaker, yet he does not seem to have been ultra orthodox in the faith, for he took military office as Lieutenant in the Company of Foot in Tisbury before 1692, and thus broke one of the principal tenets of that sect. In the political upheavals of that time Simon Atheam thus refers to him: 'Mr. Isaac Chase the Leueten't without oath he pleading for the quakers.' [Mass. Arch., CXII, 424. This is the only reference to the Quaker proclivities of Chase to be found in the record. The allusion to the oath relates to their objection to swearing, although willing to affirm to an act or statement.] During the remainder of his life he was generally called Lieutenant in the records of that period.
He died May 19, 1727, and his will, dated Feb. 12, 1721-2, was proven in July, 1727. By it he bequeathed what lands he had not given away in his lifetime to his widow and surviving children and grandchildren. The Chickemmoo property was mostly deeded to his several sons, 1706-1718, and the Homes Hole neck was to a large extent, 1705-1717, similarly disposed of to Thomas, Isaac and Abraham. In 1725 this remained undivided and Lieut. Isaac and his son Abraham entered suit against the heirs of Thomas and Ebenezer Rogers for a partition. This was done, and the division then made by the jury is the basis of all land titles in Vineyard Haven north of the creek in front of the hospital.
Isaac Chase was twice married; first to Mary, daughter of Isaac Perkins of Hampton, Feb. 20, 1673, by whom he had no issue; second to Mary Tilton, probably sister of Samuel of Hampton and Chilmark, Oct. 5, 1675, by Rev. John Mayhew. By his second marriage he had six sons and six daughters, who left a large progeny here and in Nantucket. He was a man of sterling worth and scrupulous honesty, and his life was singularly free from contentions and litigations with his neighbors.
ISAAC CHASE, (Thomas1), the first of the name to settle on Martha's Vineyard, was descended from the Chase family of the parish of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, through Aquila, (a) his grandfather, bapt. 14 Aug. 1580. Richard,(b) his great grand-father, bapt. 23 Aug. 1542 (who m. Joan Bishop 16 May 1564) and Thomas (c). Isaac2 was b. abt. 1 Apr. 1650, or 1647 (according to his gravestone), and came first to Tisbury in 1674 bringing with him the trade of a blacksmith as well as his predilections for the Quaker religion. [See also Annals of Tisbury: Sketches of the Early Settlers.]
