Chapman Family History, Part III
John Reeve CHAPMAN (1818->1900)
112DB. John Reeve CHAPMAN was born on March 4, 1818 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Elmira A. TAYLOR on September 30, 1841 in Ogle County, Illinois, west of Chicago. They had two daughters but both died as toddlers in July 1845:
| 112DB1. | Sarah Ann CHAPMAN | 25 Aug 1842 | 19 Jul 1845 | (2) |
| 112DB2. | Electa J. CHAPMAN | 26 Jan 1844 | 22 Jul 1845 | (1) |
At right about the age of 20, John made his first attempt to leave home and move further west, finally succeeding in reaching north-central Illinois in June 1838, settling in Bureau County where he and his younger brother Albert were enumerated in the 1840 census.
After their marriage, the CHAPMANs settled further north into Ogle County where they were enumerated in Eagle Township in the 1850 census, Pine Rock, Marion Township in the 1860 census, and Lafayette Township in both the 1870 and 1880 censuses. By 1900 they had moved a little ways south to Franklin Grove Village in China Township, Lee County, Illinois.
Having no surving children of their own, nieces and nephews often lived with the CHAPMANs as noted in the censuses. These included Mary, Charles, and Anetta CHAPMAN (1870); Eli CHAPMAN and Emerson CHAPMAN (1880); and Jesse WHITE (1900).
The following excerpt, I'm embarrassed to say, is from a copy of a copy of a biography of John CHAPMAN. As such, I'm not entirely sure where the original is (it appears to be a who's who of Lee County, Illinois) but here is a lightly editted version:
CHAPMAN, John R., Farmer; Sec. 11; P.O. Ashton, Lee County; owns 240 acres valued at $60 per acre; born in Greenup County, Kentucky, March 4, 1818.
When 2 years old, his parents, John and Mary CHAPMAN, were compelled to forfeit their homestead in Kentucky under the disputed lands acts and moved into Scioto Co., Ohio. In August 1836, they moved into Madison County, Indiana.
In March 1838, Mr. CHAPMAN, then a young man of 20, set out with a yoke of oxen for Cincinnati, Ohio. He started alone, but was compelled, when only a few days on the road, to send back for assistance, as the difficulties encountered on the way were too great for one man to overcome. He finally accomplished the journey in 14 days. On May 28, of the same year, he left his parental home and joined an expedition, formed by P. PATRICK, for the Indian Territory, but at Peoria they were disbanded and John, in company with three others, started for Bureau County, Illinois. Becoming separated from his companions, he continued on his way and after experiencing innumerable hardships he arrived at his destination, June 28, one month from the time he left home.
Marrying Elmi[n/r]a A. TAYLOR, who was born July 5, 1820, Sept. 30, 1841, he moved to this [Lee] county, in April, 1843, and was one of the first to break up the wild prairie land in the vicinty of Paine's Point [Ogle County, Illinois].
Mr. CHAPMAN was twice elected County Coroner, and has also held the offices of School Trustee and Director, both in Pine Rock and Lafayette Townships. He is at present justice of the Peace, to which office he was elected in Nov. 1877. It is worthy of mention in connections with this sketch of Mr. CHAPMAN, that he is strictly speaking a self-educated man, and also that he is a descendant of a CHAPMAN who served with distinction throughout the Revolutionary war.
Mr. CHAPMAN has had two children: Sarah Ann, born Aug. 25th, 1842, died July 19th, 1845; Electa J., born Jan. 26, 1844, died July 22, 1845.
John Reeve CHAPMAN died some time after 1900 in Franklin Grove, west-southwest of Ashton in Lee County, Illinois.
Allen CHAPMAN5 (1819-1890)
112DC. Allen CHAPMAN5 was born, along with his twin brother Albert, on 6 November 1819 in Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio. As a teen his family moved northwest into Indiana, settling in Green Township, Madison County by 1834. There he married Elizabeth DAVIS on 30 May 1839. They had six children:
| 112DC1. | Harriet J. CHAPMAN6 | 17 Apr 1842 | 25 Jun 1936 | (94) |
| 112DC2. | John CHAPMAN | (1843) | ||
| 112DC3. | Elizabeth E. CHAPMAN | (1848) | ||
| 112DC4. | Mary E. CHAPMAN | (1848) | ||
| 112DC5. | Allen Frank CHAPMAN | 28 Jul 1858 | 20 Oct 1894 | (36) |
| 112DC6. | Anderson Acton CHAPMAN | (1861) |
By about 1858 the CHAPMAN family left Indiana for Iowa and settled in Wapello County in the southeast corner of the state along the Des Moines River. (Allen's father had earlier moved to Louisa County, along the Mississippi River by 1855). Their last child, Anderson, was born in Wapello County.
Civil War Service
When the war broke out Allen joined the Iowa 37th Regiment Volunteer Infantry, known as "the Graybeard Regiment," a regiment that was formed mostly of men over the age of 45 and exempt from military service who were designated to chiefly take up guard and garrison duties. Allen was assigned to Company "E."
He enlisted on September 27, 1862 in Agency City, Iowa for a term of 3 years and was noted as a 43 year-old farmer -- actually he was a month shy of his 43rd birthday -- and therefore one of the younger men of this regiment. He was further described as having been born in Scioto County, Ohio, standing 5'-10" with blue eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion.
Two months later the regiment mustered in on December 15, 1862 in Muscatine, Iowa. The Iowa 37th Regiment's first deployment was to St. Louis, Missouri in January 1863 where it took up guard duty at a prison camp. In April of that year the regiment helped repulse a rebel attack and afterward took on the duty of guarding the railroad between St. Louis and Jefferson City until July. In July the regiment redeployed to Alton, Illinois, just up the river from St. Louis where again it guarded rebel prisoners. There they stayed until January 1864 for a six-month tour at Rock Island, Illinois, just opposite from Davenport, Iowa. The regiment then got the call to move down the Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee in June 1864. There they guarded the railway between Memphis and La Grange and came under attack by rebel bands. They lost a few men to battle but lost many more to sickness in the wet conditions of southwestern Tennessee.
Two months later the regiment moved back north to Indianapolis in August where the regiment split for tours of guard duty in Indianapolis and Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Pvt. CHAPMAN was promoted to Corporal on October 24, 1864.
In May 1865 the regiment was reunited in Cincinnati and then mustered out on 24 May at Davenport, Iowa. Throughout the "Graybeards" tours of duty, 3 men were killed in action and 145 died of disease.
Allen filed for his military pension as an invalid on September 7, 1883 while in Maryland.
Allen CHAPMAN died on April 13, 1890 in Iowa at the age of 70. His wife Elizabeth died three years later on 27 April 1893. She was in her early 70's. Both are buried at the Ashland Cemetery in Wapello County.
Two months after Allen's death, Elizabeth filed for Allen's pension in Iowa on June 16, 1890.
Albert CHAPMAN (1819->1850)
112DD. Albert CHAPMAN was born on November 6, 1819 in Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio, along with his twin brother Allen. He married Sabra (DUNCAN/DAWSON) JARRETT, who had been briefly married in 1838 to Enos JARRETT, on November 27, 1839 in Hancock County, Indiana. They had five children:
| 112DD1. | William A. CHAPMAN | 11 Nov 1842 | 25 Mar 1865 | (22) |
| 112DD2. | Ellen CHAPMAN | 4 Apr 1847 | 4 Apr 1848 | (1) |
| 112DD3. | Rebecca A. CHAPMAN | 14 Sep 1848 | ||
| 112DD4. | Ruth CHAPMAN | 13 Jul 1852 | 2 Nov 1853 | (1) |
| 112DD5. | John G. CHAPMAN | 27 Mar 1855 |
Albert CHAPMAN is believed to have died in the late 1850s, after his sons birth in 1855 and before the 1860 census, most likely in Indiana. He would have been only in his late 30s.
Sabra (DUNCAN/DAWSON) CHAPMAN went on to remarry to Levi[Cen 1860] or Irvin HARDING[Cen 1870,1880] on April 22, 1860 in Clinton County, Indiana and resided in Owen Township with Sarah's three surviving CHAPMAN children, Rebecca and John, and Rebecca DUNCAN, who appears to be her mother.[Cen 1860]
During the Civil War, Sabra lost her elder son William in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (June 1864-March 1865) in Virginia, GRANT's 10-month seige that ultimately dislodged LEE from the Confederate capital at Richmond and led to LEE's surrender.
By 1870, the HARDINGs moved west to southeast Iowa and settled in Wyacondah Township, Davis County.[Cen 1870] Later they continued southwest to Spring Creek Township in Coffey County, Kansas, settling by 1880.[Cen 1880]
- Cen 1860: 12 Sep 1860 Census, Owen Township, Clinton County, Indiana
- Cen 1870: 12 Aug 1870 Census, Savannah Post Office, Wyacondah Township, Davis County, Iowa
- Cen 1880: 7 Jun 1880 Census, Spring Creek Township, Coffey County, Kansas
Alfred CHAPMAN (1824-1908)
112DF. Alfred CHAPMAN was born on June 26, 1824 in Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio. He married Beulah TAYLOR on March 22, 1846 in Ogle County, Illinois. Beulah was the sister of Alfred's eldest brother's wife Elmira who had married five years previously. Alfred and Beulah had six children, four surviving through the 1900 census.
Alfred and Beulah divorced about 1863 and Alfred remarried to the widow Sarah A. (LLOYD) GODFREY about 1864. Alfred and Sarah and had at least four more children.
| 112DFA. | Henry CHAPMAN | (1847) | ||
| 112DFB. | Rhoda Anna CHAPMAN | Jan 1850 | (<1920) | (<71) |
| 112DFC. | Sarah A. CHAPMAN | (1852) | ||
| 112DFD. | Jane CHAPMAN | (1854) | (1863) | (9) |
| 112DFE. | Charles William CHAPMAN | 19 Aug 1855 | 27 Nov 1917 | (62) |
| 112DFF. | Edwin Francis CHAPMAN | (1862-1864) | ||
| 112DFG. | Ira Sylvester CHAPMAN | 9 May 1865 | 11 Apr 1911 | (45) |
| 112DFH. | Ulysses Grant CHAPMAN | 13 Apr 1868 | 16 Jun 1938 | (70) |
| 112DFI. | Sherman CHAPMAN | 19 Feb 1870 | 23 Sep 1949 | (79) |
| 112DFJ. | Fremont CHAPMAN | 18 Jan 1874 | 4 Dec 1972 | (98) |
After their marriage in Ogle County, Illinois, the CHAPMAN family settled in Taylor Township by the 1850 census. By the 1860 census they had moved slightly southeast into Lee County, settling in the Ogle Station/Ashton area.[Cen 1860]
Family accounts of Alfred's and Beulah's divorce relate that the two split after Beulah, in a fit of rage, struck one of the children, likely young Jane who would have been about 9 years old at the time. She allegedly struck the child so hard that the child died. Alfred immediately pulled up stakes, took the children, and moved to Iowa. Beulah remained in Ashton, Lee County, Illinois through the 1900 census. Beulah's sister Elmira, who married Alfred's eldest brother, was allegedly not permitted to visit Beulah afterward.
Following the divorce, John remarried to Sarah A. (LLOYD) GODFREY about 1864. Sarah had been married to Isaac GODFREY (name unconfirmed) who had died during the Civil War. Sarah and Isaac had three children: Isabelle, Jennie, and Francis Edward GODFREY.
The CHAPMANs moved west to Iowa, settling in Marion, Linn County (northeast of Cedar Rapids) by the time of Ira's birth. Come Grant's birth in 1868, the CHAPMANs resided east of Omaha in Cass County. By the 1870 census, the CHAPMAN family had again moved southwest into Fremont County, settling in Manti/Farragut, Fisher Township (south-southeast of Omaha). There, Alfred (misspelled as "Albert") and Sarah lived next door to the Stephen and Jennie VANBETH family and their younger sons Edwin, Ira, and Grant. Elder son Charles was living with his elder sister Sarah and her husband Henry E. PERRY in Hamburg, to the southwest.[Cen 1870]
The CHAPMANs again relocated further west into Nebraska, settling in Blue Springs Village, Gage County, by the 1900 census.[Cen 1900]
Alfred CHAPMAN died on October 13, 1908 in Gage County, Nebraska. He was 84 years old.
Sarah A. (LLOYD) CHAPMAN died 11 years later in Gage County. She was 82 years old.
- Cen 1850: 13 Dec 1850 Census, Taylor Township, Ogle County, Illinois
- Cen 1860: 26 Jul 1860 Census, Ogle, Bradford Township, Lee County, Illinois
- Cen 1870: 29 Jun 1870 Census, Manti Post Office, Fisher Township, Fremont County, Iowa
- Cen 1880: 30 Jun 1880 Census, Fisher Township, Fremont County, Iowa
- Cen 1900: 12 Jun 1900 Census, Blue Springs Village, Gage County, Nebraska
Hannah Evaline (CHAPMAN) EAKS (1828-1907)
112DH. Hannah Evaline CHAPMAN was born August 20, 1828 in Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio. She was likely named for her maternal grandmother Hannah REEVES. She married Josiah Elvis EAKS, a native of North Carolina, on December 26, 1850. They had nine children:
| 112DH1. | Mary Margery EAKS | 8 Dec 1852 | 3 Jun 1930 | (77) |
| 112DH2. | John Andrew EAKS | 8 Aug 1854 | 26 Jun 1933 | (78) |
| 112DH3. | Phoebe Arminda EAKS | 25 Jul 1856 | 2 Jun 1934 | (77) |
| 112DH4. | Irvin Elvis EAKS | 27 Mar 1858 | 5 Jan 1935 | (76) |
| 112DH5. | Martha Emily Jane EAKS | 29 Aug 1860 | 15 Jan 1947 | (86) |
| 112DH6. | Flora Alice EAKS | 10 Jul 1862 | 28 Sep 1936 | (74) |
| 112DH7. | Zuliah Isabell EAKS | 18 Feb 1864 | 6 Jun 1947 | (82) |
| 112DH8. | William Henry EAKS | 29 Apr 1866 | 16 Mar 1941 | (74) |
| 112DH9. | Charles Elmer EAKS | 2 Jun 1870 | 24 Jan 1938 | (67) |
The family started out in Indiana and by 1854 settled in Macon County, Missouri, where they lived through 1864. By 1866 they moved north into Iowa and settled in Grandview, Louisa County, where her parents and younger brother Madison lived. In the 1870s they moved westward to Kansas, settling by 1880 in Graham County in an area later associated with the town of Palco, just east across the county line in Rooks County.[Cen 1880]
Josiah Elvis EAKS died in 1886 in Palco. He was about 58 years old.
After Josiah's death, Hannah lived with her son William in Graham County, next door to son Irvin's family.[Cen 1900]
Hannah Evaline (CHAPMAN) EAKS died 21 in 1907, also in Palco. She was about 79 years old.
- Cen 1870: 30 Jul 1870 Census, Grandview, Concord Township, Louisa County, Iowa
- Cen 1880: 12-14 Jun 1880 Census, South of South Fork Solomon River (Millbrook Township), Graham County, Kansas
- Cen 1900: 7 Jun 1900 Census, Morlan Township, Graham County, Kansas
Benjamin Franklin CHAPMAN (1830-1912)
112DI. Benjamin Franklin CHAPMAN was born on September 1, 1830 in Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio. He married a woman named Susan F. on February 7, 1851 and had one son. Susan died, apparently giving childbirth, eight months later in Hancock County, Indiana.
Benjamin remarried six years later on January 11, 1857 to the widow Elizabeth (SHELLABARGER) SNYDER in Muscatine County, Iowa. They had three more children:
| 112DI1. | Eli CHAPMAN | 26 Oct 1851 | ||
| 112DI2. | Emmett Chester CHAPMAN | 5 Dec 1857 | 2 Dec 1925 | (67) |
| 112DI3. | Martha Evelyn CHAPMAN | (3) Jul 1859 | 13 Oct 1938 | (79) |
| 112DI4. | Mary CHAPMAN | (1868) | (<1880) | (<12) |
After Susan's death, Benjamin followed his uncle William P. CHAPMAN to Muscatine County, Iowa by the 1856 Iowa census of Seventy-Six Township. A year later he and Elizabeth married and started their family in Muscatine County.
During the Civil War, Benjamin served on the side of the Union in the 11th Iowa Infantry Regiment, Company A.
The 11th Iowa was organized at Davenport in September and October 1861 and ordered to St. Louis, Missouri on November 1st. The following March they were attached to General GRANT's Army of Tennessee and caught in a surprise attack at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee (April 6-7, 1862), narrowly defeating the Confederates in the bloodiest battle in United States history up to that time (23,741 dead and wounded). From Shiloh the advanced on Corinth, Mississippi and laid seige until the Battle of Corinth in November.
Following Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign, the regiment moved to Memphis, Tennessee and then on to Richmond and Lake Providence, Louisiana until April 1863. In May the regiment engaged at the Battle of Champion's Hill (May 16) and then on to the Seige of Vicksburg (Confederate surrender on July 4th). After Vicksburg the regiment operated in Mississippi and Louisiana until redeploying to Tennessee around April 1864 and into Georgia on the March to the Sea and Seiges of Atlanta (July 22 to August 25, 1864), and Savannah (10-21 December, 1864).
Following the Georgia Campaign, the regiment participated in the Campaign of the Carolinas (January to April, 1865) and marched through Virginia and on to Washington, D.C. (May 24, 1865).
Following the Union victory, the 11th Iowa moved to Louisville, Kentucky and mustered out on July 15, 1865. The regiment lost 91 men in combat and another 166 to disease. For more details see the "11th Iowa Infantry Regimental History"
After the war, Benjamin returned to Muscatine County, Iowa.
Elizabeth (SHELLABARGER SNYDER) CHAPMAN died on June 6, 1894 near Adams, northwest of Muscatine and is buried at Cranston Cemetery in Seventy-Six Township, West-Southwest of Muscatine. She was 70 years old.
B. F. CHAPMAN, well-known in this city, died at the home of his [step] daughter, Mrs. Jefferson BOWLBY, of 618 East Ninth St. last evening at 8:10 o'clock. Recently he experienced a fall, fracturing his hip. Since that time his condition gradually grew worse, death coming in the early evening yesterday. His advanced age of 81 years made it practically impossible for the injury to heal, and he sank to rest quietly. His sterling character and kindly ways made him well-liked by all who knew him. No funeral arrangements have yet been made.
He is survived by two sons, Emmett CHAPMAN, of Vermillion, South Dakota, and Ely CHAPMAN, of Fremont, Nebraska; one daughter, Mrs. David ALLMAN, of Eldon, Iowa; one step-daughter, Mrs. Jefferson BOWLBY, of this city and two brothers, Henry, of Pennsylvania, and Wesley, of this city.
Come the 1900 and 1910 censuses, Benjamin was enumerated as a widowed inmate at the Iowa Veterans' Home in Linn Township (likely near Marshalltown), Marshall County. Apparently sometime later he moved in with his step-daughter, Sarah Katherine (SNYDER) BOWLBY in Muscatine.
Benjamin Franklin CHAPMAN died on May 7, 1912 at the home of his step-daughter, Sarah Katherine (SNYDER) BOWLBY. He was 81 years old. Benjamin is buried with Elizabeth at the Cranston Cemetery in Seventy-Six Township.
Henry Young CHAPMAN (1832-1921)
112DJ. Henry Young CHAPMAN was born on October 14, 1832 in Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio. He married Louisa CRIDER and had five children.
| 112DJ1. | Sarah Asenath CHAPMAN | 9 Nov 1857 | 11 Sep 1901 | (43) |
| 112DJ2. | Buana Vista CHAPMAN | 1859 | ||
| 112DJ3. | Edith A. CHAPMAN | 1864 | ||
| 112DJ4. | Minnie M. CHAPMAN | 1866 | ||
| 112DJx. | William CHAPMAN |
Louisa (CRIDER) CHAPMAN died in 1890. She was about 54 years old.
Henry Young CHAPMAN died 31 years later in 1921. He was about 88 years old.
Madison Green CHAPMAN (1836-~1867)
112DL. Madison Green CHAPMAN was born on November 16, 1836 in Madison County, Indiana. He married Harriet "Hattie" L. CHENOWETH, a native of Ohio, on October 6, 1857. They started their family in Grandview, Louisa County, Iowa and had four children:
| 112DL1. | Emerson F. CHAPMAN | 1859 | ||
| 112DL2. | Mary CHAPMAN | Mar 1860 | ||
| 112DL3. | Luella CHAPMAN | (1860-1861) | ||
| 112DL4. | Nettie CHAPMAN | (1862-1863) |
Madison Green CHAPMAN died about 1867, right about the age of 30.
After Madison's death, son Emerson went to live with his Hattie's kin.[Cen 1870] Hattie remarried to William A. HOEFER, a German immigrant, on October 6, 1875 in Muscatine County, Iowa.[Cen 1880]
Harriet L. (CHENOWETH CHAPMAN) HOEFER in 1915. She was about 75 years old.
- Cen 1850: 9 Aug 1850 Census, Green Township, Madison County, Indiana
- Cen 1860: 4 Jul 1860 Census, Grandview, Louisa County, Iowa
- Cen 1870: 23 Jun 1870 Census, Grandview, Louisa County, Iowa
- Cen 1880: 2 Jun 1880 Census, Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa
Charles Wesley CHAPMAN (1839-1916)
112DM. Charles Wesley CHAPMAN was born on September 17, 1839 in Green Township, Madison County, Indiana. He married Nancy Jane SHASTEEN on December 30, 1858 and had five children.
| 112DM1. | Phoebe Evline CHAPMAN | 8 Oct 1859 | 25 Aug 1860 | (10 mos.) |
| 112DM2. | Lakin Edward CHAPMAN | 3 Nov 1861 | 12 Apr 1863 | (17 mos.) |
| 112DM3. | Ella May CHAPMAN | 28 Sep 1866 | 27 May 1933 | (66) |
| 112DM4. | Charles Willis CHAPMAN | 19 Nov 1869 | 6 Jun 1931 | (61) |
| 112DM5. | Oscar Leone CHAPMAN | 21 Feb 1877 | 7 Aug 1957 | (80) |
Nancy Jean (SHASTEEN) CHAPMAN died in Muscatine County, Iowa on May 3, 1899, one month short of her 60th birthday.
Charles Wesley CHAPMAN died 17 years later on December 24, 1916 in Muscatine County. He was 77 years old.