John Jay Chapman (March 2, 1862 – November 4, 1933) was an American writer.

Early life

Chapman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on March 2, 1862. He was a son of

Henry Grafton Chapman Jr. Henry Grafton Chapman Jr. (1833 – March 14, 1883) was an American banker who served as the president of the New York Stock Exchange. Early life Chapman was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1833. He was one of four children born to Henry Grafton ...

(1833–1883), a broker who became president of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, and Eleanor Kingsland Jay (1839–1921). His paternal grandmother,

Maria Weston Chapman Maria Weston Chapman (July 25, 1806 – July 12, 1885) was an American abolitionist. She was elected to the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1839 and from 1839 until 1842, she served as editor of the anti-slavery journ ...

, was one of the leading campaigners against slavery and worked with

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

on '' The Liberator''. His maternal grandparents were

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

(1817–1894), the U.S. Minister to Austria-Hungary, and Eleanor Kingsland (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Field) Jay (1819–1909). His grandfather was a son of William Jay and a grandson of Chief Justice John Jay of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

. Chapman was educated at St. Paul's School, in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

, and at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. After graduating from Harvard in 1884, he toured Europe before resuming his studies at the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Career

He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1888, and practiced law until 1898. Meanwhile, he had attracted attention as an

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

ist of unusual merit. His work is marked by originality and felicity of expression, and the opinion of many critics has placed him in the front rank of the American essayists of his day. In 1912, on the one-year anniversary of the lynching of Zachariah Walker in

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike ...

, Chapman gave a speech in which he called the lynching "one of the most dreadful crimes in history" and said "our whole people are...involved in the guilt." It was published as ''A Nation's Responsibility''. Chapman became involved in politics and joined the City Reform Club and the Citizens' Union. He was opposed to the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

political and business grouping, which at that time dominated New York City. He lectured on the need for reform and edited the journal ''The Political Nursery'' (1897-1901).

Personal life

Chapman was known as a passionate romantic in his personal life as well as his writing. As a law student at Harvard, he once beat a rival (astronomer

Percival Lowell Percival Lowell (; March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System ...

) for a woman's love in a fight, then felt such deep remorse that he deliberately burned off his left hand as a form of self-punishment. He would later brandish the stump as evidence of his passion. Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler

On July 2, 1889, he married Minna Timmins (1861–1897), with whom he had three children: * Victor Emmanuel Chapman (1890–1916), the first American aviator to die in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After Victor's death, Chapman published a memoir of his son's early life, including his letters sent from France. The letters inspired the composer Charles Loeffler, a friend of Chapman's, to write the string quartet, Music for Four Stringed Instruments. * John Jay Chapman, Jr. (1893–1903), who drowned at Romerbad, Austria, age 9. * Conrad Chapman (1896–1989), who was engaged to Dorothy Daphne McBurney (1912–1997) in 1934, but married Judith Daphne Kemp (1906–1999) in England in 1937.Dorothy Daphne McBurney married Richard M. Farmer in England in 1937. On April 23, 1899, Chapman married Elizabeth Astor Winthrop Chanler (1866–1937), the second daughter of

John Winthrop Chanler John Winthrop Chanler (September 14, 1826 – October 19, 1877) was a New York lawyer and a U.S. Representative from New York. He was a member of the Dudley–Winthrop family and married Margaret Astor Ward, a member of the Astor family. Early li ...

and Margaret Astor Ward (of the

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business sector, business, Socialite, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With Germans, German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to th ...

). The soldier and explorer William A. Chanler was her brother. They had one child: * Chanler Armstrong Chapman (1901–1982), who married Olivia James, a niece of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

. They divorced and in 1948, he married the former Helen Riesenfeld, a writer. After her death in 1970, he married Dr. Ida R. Holzbert Wagman in 1972. Chanler Chapman reportedly served as a model for Eugene Henderson, the main character in

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...

's 1959 novel ''

Henderson the Rain King ''Henderson the Rain King'' is a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow. The book's blend of philosophical discourse and comic adventure has helped make it one of his more popular works. The novel is said to be Bellow's favorite among his books. It was rank ...

''. John Jay Chapman died on November 4, 1933, in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

. His funeral, held at Christ Church on West 71st Street,

, was attended by hundreds. Elizabeth Chapman died in 1937.

Bibliography

Non-fiction * (1898). ''Emerson and Other Essays''. * (1898). ''Causes and Consequences''. * (1900). ''Practical Agitation''. * (1911). ''Learning and Other Essays''. * (1913). ''William Lloyd Garrison'' econd edition, revised and enlarged, 1921 * (1914). ''Deutschland Uber Alles; or, Germany Speaks''. * (1915). ''Notes on Religion''. * (1915). ''Memories and Milestones''. * (1915). ''Greek Genius and Other Essays''. * (1917). ''Victor Chapman's Letters from France'', ith memoir by John Jay Chapman * (1922). ''A Glance toward Shakespeare''. * (1924). ''Letters and Religion''. * (1931). ''Lucian, Plato and Greek Morals''. * (1932). ''New Horizons in American Life''. Fiction * (1892). ''The Two Philosophers: A Quaint, Sad Comedy''. * (1908). ''Four Plays for Children''. * (1908). ''The Maid's Forgiveness: A Play''. * (1909). ''A Sausage from Bologna: A Comedy in Four Acts''. * (1910). ''The Treason and Death of Benedict Arnold: A Play for a Greek Theater''. * (1911). ''Neptune's Isle and Other Plays for Children''. * (1914). ''Homeric Scenes: Hector's Farewell, and The Wrath of Achilles.'' * (1916). ''Cupid and Psyche''. * (1919). ''Songs and Poems''. Articles * (1909). "The Harvard Classics and Harvard," ''Science'', Vol. 30, No. 770 (Oct. 1, 1909), pp. 440–443. * (1910)
"Professorial Ethics,"
''Science'', Vol. XXXII, pp. 5–9. * (1920)
"A New Menace to Education,"
''Meredith College: Quarterly Bulletin'', Series 13, Nos. 1–2. Translations * (1927). ''Dante''. * (1928). ''Two Greek Plays''. * (1930). ''The Antigone of Sophocles''. Collected works * (1957). ''The Selected Writings of John Jay Chapman'',

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, ...

(Editor). * (1970). ''The Collected Works of John Jay Chapman'', 12 Vol., Melvin H. Bernstein (Editor). * (1998). ''Unbought Spirit: A John Jay Chapman Reader'', Richard Stone (Editor), (Foreword by)

References

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

* * *
Works by John Jay Chapman
at

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

Works by John Jay Chapman at IWP Books

Works by John Jay Chapman
at

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...