Sarah Blakesley Chase was born on January 18, 1837 in Clermont County, OH Sarah Chase had been known for the continuous battle with Anthony Comstock

Anthony Comstock

Anthony Comstock was a United States Postal Inspector and politician dedicated to ideas of Victorian morality.-Biography:...

  for the selling of contraceptive devices over state borders.

Biography

Sarah B. Chase was the daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman (name unknown), who spent some time working in a missionary among people of color and Jamaican roots. She was raised in Broome County, New York and discovered at the age of twelve a passion to become a religious speaker. The purpose for her career choice had been derived from the hopes of gaining classical and medical knowledge in order to pursue a job within the medical field. Chase wanted to aid those who suffered mentally and physically. She’s characterized as a woman of courage and strength which was something that she displayed early on, by starting from bottom and guiding herself up to the top, by earning a doctor degree. Chase had faced numerous conflicts within her life, as well as career that ultimately resulted from her gender and social class within the time period. She was a woman that wanted other woman to have a choice in their life, starting with their own body. She left the decision to prevent pregnancy up to other woman which caused this conflicting argument of whether or not her theory behind birth control was valid and if it disobeyed the churches opinion.

Early Life

Sarah Chase was raised by her father, and no sign of her mother was documented throughout her life. She grew up in what many would describe as poverty, and her father had very little means to pay for her education. Women who wanted to seek employment often struggled due to men being prejudice which decreased their chances, lucky for Sarah she begun working at the age of sixteen as a teacher’s assistant while still attending school. She graduated from Alfred University, in Allegheny County, New York  at the age of twenty one, and decided to put herself through medical school.

Married Life

Sarah B. Chase married Thomas Hookey of Colorado (date unknown), on a Monday evening. It was a small simple ceremony in her New York apartment on 226 West Thirty-Ninth Street. Some believed that the only individuals presented were Thomas and Sarah, and that it was Thomas that took Sarah’s last name. The marriage was kept secret until an unidentified individual made it public by finding out through corresponding letters that had been exchanged by mail. Another theory is that Sarah had married a man by the name of Hazard D. Chase at the age of twenty three who also took her last name. Hazard was alumni of Michigan University who decided to enlist in the army and returned to his wife four years later. Sarah Chase had a one daughter from this marriage (name and date of birth unknown)

Mid Life

In 1868 Chase decided to go an alternate route she then attended Cleveland Hospital College. Her new ambitions had been to maintain a career in teaching, but with a focus in physiology and sexology in order to teach it at local churches to men and women. Some believe that it was her new focus that led her to begin selling and exporting birth control. Chase first begun distributing contraceptives in 1873 and did so for four years until her first arrest. In May of 1878, Chase was arrested by Anthony Comstock chief agent in the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice

New York Society for the Suppression of Vice

The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and district attorneys in bringing offenders to justice. It and its...

 for violating a federal law which banned the dissemination and distribution of contraceptives through the mail or across state lines. Chase had been set up by individuals that worked with Comstock and had been arrested on the sight of the crime. Some believe that Comstock had previous knowledge of Chase’s black market birth control but lacked the evidence he needed in order to convict her. Chase was released on a fifteen hundred dollar bail and when finally brought to trail a jury that consisted of solely men dismissed the case due to insufficient amount of evidence. After discovering that there would be no trail, Comstock had become outraged and demanded that something be done. He designed two bills of indictment that could be used against Chase but required a signature but neither the prosecutors nor judge wanted to take part. After discovering that Chase had been falsely arrested she filed a ten thousand dollar civil lawsuit against Comstock but got nowhere with it. As far as arrest, documents indicate that between the years of 1878 and 1900 Chase had been arrested five times but did not affect her practice or mentality on the prevention of conception. One of the reasoning’s for her arrests had been due to a death that was caused by an abortion not from the actual birth control which resulted in Chase serving jail time. On June 4, 1990 she was arrested again by Comstock for the disturbing of articles that provided details on the prevention of pregnancy, when brought jury the charges had once again been dropped. Birth Control to some was looked as a crime while other’s had a different mindset that helped maintain a sense of control regarding the number of babies that entered the world. Though we only know very little about Sarah B. Chase she was one of the first woman leaders in the black market, that dealt with the use birth control and because of her success it allowed others to take a stand. For instance, Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger

Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...

fought for legal impediments to reproductive rights in the 1920’s. By having a change in society, Comstock decided to take the next step in seeking certain laws get passed. This particular law that band disturbing any type of document that promoted the prevention of conception which he lacked years before in terms of reasoning for arrest in regards to Sarah Chase.

Divorce

Historians believe that because of Sarah’s will power to succeed the result of her marriage had suffered drastically. On December 15 (year unknown) husband Hookey Chase decided to sue his wife Sarah Chase for divorce in argument of abandonment. The case was taken to court where Mr. Chase provided that indicated that his wife’s career had taken a toll on their marriage. The defense argued that because of Mrs. Chase’s determination and aspiration it lead her to become a successful physician. As a result of her accomplishment, it caused tension between her and Mr. Chase due to his constant comparison to the ideal wife to Sarah. It has created a disconnect, especially on her part which eventually lead to her deciding that the best option was for her and her daughter (name unknown) to be removed from the situation. Throughout the trail, both parties spoke about the marriage and their feelings for one another but the trail went nowhere and the divorce was never finalized.