Mary Catherine Chase

Mary Catherine Chase (pen names, F. M. Edselas and Winnie Rover; 1835-?) was a 19th-century American Catholic nun and writer. A fervent Episcopalian for years, she was later influenced by a Catholic woman and entered an enclosed order. Starting in 1874, she wrote under the pen name "Winnie Rover", switching to "F. M. Edselas" in 1892.

Early years and education

Mary Catherine Chase was born in Pepperell, Massachusetts, July 1, 1835. She lost her mother as an infant, and was raised by two maternal aunts. She was home-schooled, and later, was educated in the schools of Springfield, Massachusetts at Mount Holyoke College, and at the State Normal School of Westfield, Massachusetts, from which she was graduated in 1855. At the age of 19, and under the spiritual guidance of Rev. Alexander Hamilton Vinton, D. D. she was confirmed in St. Paul's Church, Boston, and remained for years a fervent Episcopalian.^[1]

Career

Having chosen the vocation of a teacher, she drifted to the west. There she met a Catholic woman who influenced her. After entering an enclosed order, Chase took a religious name, but she also felt urged to contribute to literature for young Catholics, and using the pen name of "Winnie Rover", she published books of travel for children, the "Neptune Series", as well as several dramas, and various manuals for the classroom, notably Practical Science.^[1]

Since 1892, using the pen name of "F. M. Edselas", she wrote upon subjects of public interest, giving the general impression that the writer was a man with, "How to Solve a Great Problem," "Institute of Woman's Professions," "Educational Bureau and Journal," etc. The appearance of these articles in a leading Catholic periodical and the favorable comment they received, resulted in her choice as one of the contributors to the Columbian Catholic Congress. Her paper was upon "Woman's Work in Religious Communities." Later, she gained new admirers in the literary world with, "A Visit to Ramona's Home," "In a City of the Clouds," "Constantine Zrumidl," and "What Shall We Do With Our Girls?".^[1]

Selected works

As Winnie Rover

• 1874, The Neptune outward bound
• 1877, The children of to-day : a farce in five acts
• 1877, Wealth and wisdom, a drama in six scenes
• 1877, The house on the avenue, or, The little mischief-makers : a drama in six scenes
• 1879, Lessons in practical science
• 1882, The Neptune at the Golden Horn
• 1890, The Neptune afloat

As F. M. Edselas

• In a City of the Clouds
• What Shall We Do with Our Girls?
• Mission Lectures to Non-Catholics
• 1893, An Educational Bureau and Journal
• The Wonders of Old Ocean
• The Golden Age and its People
• Checkmated Each Other
• Genoa and Its Campo Santo
• Savonarola--Monk, Patriot, Martyr
• Visit to Ramona's Home
• Institute for Woman's Professions
• Woman's Work in Religious Communities
• How to Solve a Great Problem

References

Bibliography

• McBride, D. H. (1897). Immortelles of Catholic Columbian Literature: Compiled from the Work of American Catholic Women Writers (Public domain ed.). D. H. McBride. 

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a work in the public domain: D. H. McBride's Immortelles of Catholic Columbian Literature: Compiled from the Work of American Catholic Women Writers (1897)