Fred Russell (ventriloquist) such as parks and boulevards, and direct and gravitational powered waterworks. As mayor, Colonel Chase received and officially entertained a large number of distinguished people—Kalākaua, King of Hawai'i; Peter II, Emperor of Brazil; the Governor General of Canada; U.S. President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes; President and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant; Generals William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, George Armstrong Custer, and others. In 1871, he was elected Grand Senior Warden in the Nebraska Commandary of Knights Templar. In 1886, he was unanimously chosen president of the Nebraska State Humane Society. Champion Chase was identified as being past commander of 	Champion S. Chase
8745793	the U.S. Grant Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Sons of the American Revolution. In 1891 he was an organiser of the Omaha Real Estate Owner's Association. He was selected as the chairman of the International Pan-Republic Congress on Plan and Scope in the mid 1890s. He was appointed a Collector of Customs for the Port of Omaha and held that office until his death in 1898. Family and personal life. After arriving in Racine in 1849, Chase married Mary Sophronia Butterfield. Their only son, Champion Clement Chase, was born in 1860, and would 	Champion S. Chase
8745794	eventually become a well-known newspaper publisher in Omaha. Mary Chase died of cancer in 1882, in Omaha, leaving Chase a widower. Chase died as the result of a fall on November 3, 1898, at the age of 78. He was devoted to the memories of his native town, often expressed his loyalty and love for it. He was buried alongside his wife at the Prospect Hills Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. Legacy. Chase County, Nebraska, and the unincorporated community of Champion in Chase County, are named after him as a complimentary act on the part of the Legislature of Nebraska	Champion S. Chase
8745795	. References. Sources. The Strangest Names In American Political History : Champion Spalding Chase (1820-1898), Champion Bramwell Mann (1844-1929), Champion Israel Hutchinson (1815-1884), Champion Moore Edmunds (1907-1978) Champion S. Chase Champion Spalding Chase (March 20, 1820 – November 3, 1898) was an American politician, who served as the first Attorney General of Nebraska, and served seven years as Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. He also served in the Wisconsin State Senate and was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War. Early life and career. Born in Cornish, New Hampshire, the son of Clement Chase (1776–1867) and his second 	Champion S. Chase
8745796	Fred Russell (ventriloquist) Fred Russell (ventriloquist) Thomas Frederick Parnell OBE (29 September 1862 – 14 October 1957), known professionally as Fred Russell, was an English ventriloquist. Usually credited as being the first to use a knee-sitting figure, he is known as The Father of Modern Ventriloquism". Biography. Russell was born in London, and began his career as a journalist, but from 1882 began performing his hobby of ventriloquism in public. In 1896, when he was editor of the "Hackney and Kingsland Gazette", he was offered a professional engagement at London's Palace Theatre and took up his stage career permanently. His act, based  on the cheeky-boy dummy "Coster Joe", broke from the prevailing format of a family of dummies, establishing a precedent for performers such as Edgar Bergen and Paul Winchell. According to "The Times" obituary, he changed his name because of the political flavour of "Parnell". In 1910, Russell published a book on his craft entitled "Ventriloquism and Kindred Arts". His act remained popular for several decades, involving prolonged tours of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as visits to the United States and Ceylon. In 1938 he appeared at the Royal Command Performance. He was active in  promoting the variety show genre and was an early and leading member of the Grand Order of Water Rats. He was a founder of the Variety Artistes' Federation. In 1948 he was awarded an OBE for his long services to the profession. He continued to perform late in life, giving televised music hall performances in 1952, billed as "the oldest ventriloquist in the world". He died in Wembley, aged 95. Blue plaque. Fred Russell lived in Kenilworth Court in Putney, London, from 1914 to 1926. A blue plaque by the entrance of Kenilworth Court commemorates him. Fred Russell (ventriloquist) Thomas