His mother was maligned by the community and expelled from the church for giving birth out of wedlock, making it difficult to provide for herself and Warren.

Warren's grandmother and other members of the community interceded on his behalf and he was transferred to the care of his paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Chase, where he received a proper education and upbringing.

In the fall of 1843 the Franklin Lyceum of Southport began discussing the ideas of the French philosopher Charles Fourier and his American popularizer Albert Brisbane.

[2] Convinced of the applicability of Fourier's "Associationist" prescription, Chase committed himself to the emerging movement without reservation, organizing a series of preliminary meetings to draft a constitution for a local "phalanx.

[3] In 1849, he was the candidate of the newly organized Free Soil Party for Governor of Wisconsin, coming in third behind Democratic incumbent Nelson Dewey and Whig Alexander L. Collins.

Chase was a supporter of free silver,[7] anti-monopolism,[8] and Chinese exclusion, although on the latter point he condemned racial violence like the San Francisco riot of 1877.

In his nomination speech, Chase eulogized George as follows: "He has in knowledge of American and European history no superior in this State.