Charlotte was the daughter of Ezra and Tirzah Chase.
Novels were frowned upon by early Church people and Charlotte's mother had been a devout Quaker previous to her conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But Charlotte had no scruples about reading good books whenever she could come across one. She read the Bible, Shakespeare, Byron, Tennyson, Scott, Burns, and others. She loved poetry.
While living in Nauvoo Charlotte attended a school conducted by Orson Pratt where she enjoyed studying philosophy and astronomy.
Her granddaughters recorded the following humorous incident from Charlotte's life during her time in Nauvoo which happened due to her love of reading.
In the quiet afternoon of a winter Sabbath day in the early 1840's the residents of Nauvoo in little groups of two or three or more came drifting into the LDS Temple where church service was held.
Charlotte said her parents and sisters were among the early arrivals. Like all Mormon churches there were no assigned family pews. Each little group took the seats of their choice. Charlotte sat down near her friend, Miss Pettigrew. Their seats chanced to be near the heating stove and soon the janitor came in to replenish the fire with some short cuts of small logs. As he reached for the poker to stir the coals, a paper bound book shifted into view at the back of the large wood box. Charlotte's eyes opened wide with interest. Books were rare in those days and one was seldom tossed lightly aside.
What was the book? Where had it come from? Surely, surely the janitor would not be so rash as to toss it into the flames. Every time he came near the stove, Charlotte's eyes were glued to the volume. The congregation was coming in faster now. It was nearly time for the service to begin. Again the janitor opened the stove door to make sure the fire was just right. He picked up the volume. Charlotte half rose from her seat. She tried to glimpse the name on the cover but couldn't catch the words. Her heart was beating fast. She looked over at Miss Pettigrew. She too was watching the volume with anxious eyes. Then the janitor tossed the book lightly into the wood box again and closed the stove up tight.
Charlotte leaned over to Miss Pettigrew, "Did you see the name of it?" she asked.
"No I couldn't read it from here. Do you think he will burn it?"
"He will if we leave it in the wood box."
"What can we do about it?"
"We can take it can't we?"
"How?"
"If you'll go over and get it I'll take it home," bargained Charlotte, "and we can both read it."
Miss Pettigrew sat there undecided, but only for a moment. The janitor sat down nearby with his back towards the stove.
"It's now or never," she urged herself.
The opening song has just been announced and everyone was busy with their hymn books finding the page, then there was the shuffle of feet as the congregation stood. No one seemed to notice Miss Pettigrew as with great temerity she walked over to the wood box and secured the book. In a moment she was back in her place and had slipped the book into Charlotte's eager waiting hands. It was easy for Charlotte to conceal the volume under her long cloak. They looked at each other and heaved a sigh of relief.
It was agreed that Charlotte should read the book first because she was a faster reader. Accordingly she took it home. It was a large volume and the print was rather small so it took some time to complete it. When she reached the last page she discovered to her surprise that it was only the first book of a two-volume story. It was Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." Even though Miss Pettigrew knew it was but half the story, she read it anyway. "Serves us right," was Charlotte's terse verdict. "We had no business taking the novel from the Temple without permission even if the janitor was going to burn it."
