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Benjamin Chase History
Benjamin Chase Senior, son of Benjamin Pike Chase and Anna Blaisdell, was born July 7, 1799 in the part of Chester, NH now known as Auburn. His early formal school was limited but he taught himself trigonometry and astronomy with borrowed books and became proficient enough as a land surveyor to succeed Stephen Chase as surveyor in Chester. He also became a mechanic and millwright who constructed mills in twenty-eight towns in southeastern NH and northeastern Massachusetts introducing improvements in the construction and building one of the earliest circular sawmills. In 1864 he was asked to write a history of Chester which was published in 1869. He was very vocal on the subject of temperance and slavery, working hard for the former and against the latter. He married Hannah Hall in 1825. They had several children including Benjamin Jr.  Benjamin Sr. died May 5, 1883.