Fanny DuBois Chase (, DuBois;

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

, Mrs. S. B. Chase; November 24, 1828 – December 6, 1902) was an American social reformer and author, prominent in temperance and missionary circles. She was the first National President of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

(WCTU) and a former State President of the organization. She was a national lecturer of the WCTU and an author of a number of books on religion and temperance.

Biography

Fanny DuBois was born in

Great Bend, Pennsylvania Great Bend is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Scranton. According to 2020 Census data, Great Bend's population was 634, down 13.6% from 2010. Great Bend sits along the Susquehanna River, less than two miles ...

, November 24, 1828. Her parents were Abraham and Juliet (Bowes) Du Bois. On May 1, 1851, she married Simeon B. Chase. Their children were Nicholas (b. 1852), Martha (b. 1854), Marcella (b. 1856), Emmet (b. 1858), Amasa (b. 1862), Simeon (b. 1864), and Catherine (b. 1867). During the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, she nursed the wounded at Hallowell General Hospital near

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. She was active in the temperance cause with her husband from 1854 until 1874. She was a delegate to the

First Woman's National Temperance Convention The First Woman's National Temperance Convention was a founding event in the establishment of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). In November, 1874, a Woman's National Temperance Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at which Jennie F ...

in 1874 in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, which organized the National WCTU, and was chosen vice-president for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and the same winter called and presided over the convention that organized, and was the first president of, the WCTU in Pennsylvania. She held the office of president for five years thereafter, and was State superintendent of the Sunday-school department of their work thereafter. Chase was the author of a book on Good Templar work entitled, ''Derry's Lake'', which was republished in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She also wrote the three degrees, "Faith, Hope and Charity" in the Good Templars' Ritual, which were translated into eighteen different languages. She died at her home at

Hallstead, Pennsylvania Hallstead is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,179 at the 2020 census. History Hallstead was settled in 1787. What is now Hallstead was incorporated as Great Bend Village on November 28, 1874. In 1887, it was re ...

, December 6, 1902.

Selected works

* ''Derry's Lake'', 1870 * ''Glimpses of a Popular Movement; Or, Sketches of the W.C.T.U. of Pennsylvania'', 1899

References

Attribution

* *

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Fanny DuBois 1828 births 1902 deaths Woman's Christian Temperance Union people American social reformers American temperance activists 19th-century American non-fiction writers American religious writers Women religious writers 19th-century American women writers People from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Writers from Pennsylvania American lecturers