Katherine Chase Sprague. In American political history there has never been a woman who had been more active in the formative years of this republic than Katherine Chase Sprague. Her family, her love of her father, and the political skills that her father had taught her indirectly affected everyone who ever came in contact with her. She didn't come from a rich family, but she rapidly acquired the finest tastes that her newly acquired husband could afford. Katherine ran the complete race; she went from being a millionaire to dying in complete poverty. The story of her life truly contains the material that would be necessary for the making of a great movie.