[2] As a young man, Chace worked as a carpenter for Samuel Slater, who established one of the first successful textile mills in the Americas at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1793.

In 1806, Chace eventually started his own textile mill in Swansea, Massachusetts, and then the Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory in 1813 in Fall River, Massachusetts, and the Pocasset Manufacturing Company in 1821, also at Fall River.

He was the father-in-law of Elizabeth Buffum Chace, a noted 19th-century activist in the anti-slavery, women's rights, and prison reform movements.

Chace died on May 21, 1852, and was buried in the Old Quaker Burial Ground in Providence on Olive Street.

[6] When Buffett took control of the company in 1965, Chace refused to sell his share and remained on the board of directors.