Chester William Chapin (December 16, 1798 – June 10, 1883) was an American businessman, president of the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pas ...

from 1868 to 1878, and U.S. Congressman from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He was a multimillionaire at his death in 1883, and controlled one of New England’s most important rail lines.Remembering the Sullivan County Catskills, John Conway
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Early days

Chester W. Chapin was born in

Ludlow, Massachusetts Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located just northeast of Springfield ac ...

, to Ephriam and Mary Smith Chapin, the youngest of seven children,Chapin, Gilbert Warren, p. 219. and six generations removed from Puritan forebearer,

Deacon Samuel Chapin Samuel Chapin (baptized October 8, 1598 – November 11, 1675) was a prominent early settler of Springfield, Massachusetts. He served the town as selectman, magistrate and deacon (in the Massachusetts Bay Colony there was little separation b ...

. The family moved to Chicopee and in 1806 his father died, leaving Chester and his brothers to work their farm. He attended common schools and Westfield Academy,

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population w ...

. One of his first paying jobs was when local cotton mills were being built, when he earned $1.50 a day.

Career

Chapin quickly went into business for himself, opening a store, and in 1822 was appointed town tax collector, for which he received $80. Around 1826 he bought an interest in the stage line from Hartford, Connecticut, to

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...

, and soon held extensive mail and stage contracts. In 1831, when steamboats began to run on the river between Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts, he bought an interest, soon became sole proprietor, and for about 15 years controlled all the passenger traffic on that route. He also became a large or principal owner of the steamship lines between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Hartford, and

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

. He later extended his interests into railroads and banking, becoming founder, principal, or president of many companies, including the Western Railroad, the Agawam (National) Bank, and the Connecticut River Railroad. He was one of the earliest advocates of a bridge over the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

. He served as president and a director of the Western Railroad Corporation from 1854 to 1867, president of the

from 1868 to 1878, and a director until 1880.

As Congressman

Before his time in Congress, Chapin served as a delegate of the

Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853 The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853 met from May 4 to August 2 in order to consider changes to the Massachusetts Constitution. This was the third such convention in Massachusetts history, following the original constitutional conv ...

and, as a War Democrat, purchased the uniforms of the

10th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 10th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was a regiment of infantry in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at Hampden Park in Springfield, Massachusetts in the early summer of 1861 and consisting mostly of men from western Mas ...

at the outset of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. Chapin was elected as a Democrat to the

Forty-fourth Congress The 44th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1875, ...

(March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877), and served on the Committee of Ways And Means. He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1876.

Personal life

Chapin married Dorcas hapinon June 1, 1825; they had four children: Abel Dexter, Margaret, Anna, and Chester W. He died a multimillionaire in Springfield on June 10, 1883, and was interred in Springfield Cemetery. His son inherited his estate, despite being himself already a millionaire, and he acquired various homes including a 20,000 acres estate in the

Catskills Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

in New York State, about 100 miles from Manhattan. He died in 1912, leaving an estate of about 5 million dollars.

Family

Chapin’s great-uncles, Harvey Dexter Chapin and Abijah White Chapin, married Louisa D. Wilcox and Sarah M. Wilcox, cousins of manufacturer Burrage Yale, and members of the

Yale family Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Lucy's husband, Eli Wilcox, was Justice of the Peace and Board director the State bank of Connecticut, and her brother, Dr. Leroy Milton Yale Sr. was a Harvard graduate, fishing ships owner, and father of Dr. Leroy Milton Yale Jr.. Chester was also the great-granduncle of Sarah Yale Chapin, daughter of Abijah W., and granddaughter of Col. Harvey. In 1881, Chapin commissioned sculptor

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he tra ...

to produce a sculpture of his forefather, Deacon Samuel Chapin; the end result, '' The Puritan'', was not released until 1887, four years after Chester Chapin's death.Dryfhout, John H. ''The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens'' University Press of New England, 1982. Lebanon NH. p.162

Legacy

The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company /

New England Steamship company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

( Providence Line) passenger steamer ''Chester W. Chapin'' of 1899 (served until 1923) was named after him.

Footnotes

References

* Chapin, Charles Wells. "Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century, and its Historic Mansions of 'Ye Olden Tyme,' with One Hundred and Twenty-Four Illustrations and Sixty Autographs" Press of Springfield Printing and Binding Company, 1893. Springfield MA. * Chapin, Gilbert Warren. "The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin; Vol. I: First Seven Generations and Vol. II: Eighth to Twelfth Generation". Chapin Family Association, 1924. Hartford, CT. * Noon, Alfred. "Ludlow: A Century and a Centennial, Comprising a Sketch of the History of the Town of Ludlow, Hampden County, Massachusetts, Together with an Account of the Celebration by the Town of Its Centennial Anniversary, June 17, 1875.'' C. W. Bryan and Co., 1875.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapin, Chester William 1798 births 1883 deaths 19th-century American railroad executives Boston and Albany Railroad Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American legislators Yale family People from Ludlow, Massachusetts