[17][3] At Harvard, the topic of his graduation speech was "The evils arising to society from Avarice, Indolence, and Ambition.
'"[3][b] When they were married in 1805, Deborah received "a considerable dowry" and, as a gift from her family in England, an estate in that country.
[21][17][18] Along with William Phillips, Chickering was a principal incorporator of the Dedham Worsted Company on Mother Brook.
[18] In September 1821, he applied to become a Unitarian minister, saying he had "faithfully & regularly attended to the studies of the Theology School at Cambridge.
[21][18] A professor, Andrews Norton, however, protested that his "certificate was not regularly voted" and that Chickering "has been far from faithfully attending to my exercises".
[21][17][27][g] Hermann Mann wrote in his diary that Chickering was "eminent as a lawyer, liberal and enlightened as a man, active and useful as a citizen," but that he caused "much surprise and consternation... when it was ascertained that he was bankrupt, and had taken a French leave of his creditors, and was not to be found.
[27] Chickering fled with his family to Monroe, Michigan, at the time a tiny outpost on the farthest fringe of European settlements on the continent.
[17] On March 1, 1818, just days after Bates left town, Chickering and the committee produced Alvan Lamson.
[29] They did, however, object to his theology and found him lacking in "spirituality and knowledge of the scriptures" and displayed little of "that which fixes the attention and reaches the heart".
[35] When they reported back to the liberal sect, they charged Fales with leasing the parsonage house out without the church's consent.
[34][h] Fales was also accused of not giving direct answers to their questions, including which group he considered to be the true church.
[34] As a result, the liberal group voted to remove Fales as deacon but allowed him to remain a member of the church.
In January 1824, Chickering fled with his family to Monroe, Michigan, at the time a tiny outpost on the farthest fringe of European settlements on the continent, after stealing $35,000 from the Dedham Bank.
[27] He speculated in real estate there and purchased a number of parcels in the center of town, and sold some to his brother-in-law, Jeremiah Smith Boies Alleyne.
"[1] Deborah returned to Jamaica Plain by 1839, where she operated a boarding house and was able to pay back all those from whom her husband stole at the bank.