Z 2179.000 Chapman Family Papers

Z 2179.000 S
CHAPMAN FAMILY PAPERS

Edward Edwards Chapman was born in Cheraw, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, on December 4, 1812. He was the son of Thrashley and Catherine Edwards Chapman. The Chapman family moved to Wayne County, Mississippi, in 1815. Edward Edwards Chapman married his first wife, Talitha Matilda Tool, on December 5, 1832. The couple later moved to Garlandville, Jasper County, Mississippi, and Chapman became a local constable around 1837. The Chapmans had six children: Elizabeth Catherine (b. January 5, 1834), Thrashley (b. August 23, 1835), Mary Adaline (b. April 7, 1837), David Tool (b. February 22, 1839), Martha Eleanor (b. February 7, 1841), and Sarah Talitha (b. November 9, 1842). Chapman moved his family to Newton County, Mississippi, in 1839. There, he acquired four thousand acres and engaged in cotton planting. Talitha Matilda Tool Chapman died on December 1, 1842.

Chapman married his second wife, Sarah Wells, on January 16, 1845. She was the daughter of Colonel Archelus Wells of Decatur, Newton County. The couple had seven children: Charlotte (b. June 28, 1846), Archelus Thomas (b. June 11, 1848), James Edwards (b. April 29, 1850), Robert Emmet (b. February 25, 1852), Bede Margaret (b. July 28, 1855), and Olivia Ann (b. July 30, 1857). Chapman was also a surveyor, an executor of various estates, and an active member of Bethel Baptist Church. Edward Edwards Chapman died on September 23, 1886, and Sarah Wells Chapman died in 1902. Both were interred in the cemetery of Bethel Baptist Church in Newton County.

Robert Emmet Chapman was born in Newton County, Mississippi, on February 25, 1852. He spent his adult life as a cotton planter and also served as a commissioner of local elections in 1887. An active member of Bethel Baptist Church, Chapman was single at the time of his death at the age of seventy-three in October of 1925. He was interred in the cemetery of Bethel Baptist Church.

This collection contains correspondence, legal and financial records, church-related documents, and genealogical materials of the Chapman family of Newton County, Mississippi.

The correspondence primarily consists of incoming letters to Robert Emmet Chapman and his father, Edward Edwards Chapman, between 1854 and 1896. The remainder of the correspondence is addressed to other Chapman family members, including Sallie (possibly Sarah Wells Chapman), Archelus Thomas Chapman, and David Tool Chapman. Other correspondents are Elizabeth Catherine Chapman Wells of Van Zandt County, Texas, and Robert Wells of Smith County, Texas. Their letters discuss news of family and friends, cotton and vegetable cultivation, current prices of cotton and corn, and weather conditions. Of interest is an 1861 letter to Dr. Chapman from James Simmons, who probably served in Company I, Twentieth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. Simmons discusses camp life and the health of some of his fellow soldiers. Also included is a partial 1864 letter from Newton County citizens petitioning Lieutenant General Stephen Dill Lee to grant a furlough for Corporal David Tool Chapman of the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Mississippi Infantry.

The legal records consist of letters of guardianship granted to Edward Edwards Chapman on behalf of Sarah Ann Reynolds, a court summons for Robert Emmet Chapman, and various deeds.

The financial records include various receipts and a promissory note. There are receipts from the sheriffs offices in Newton and Wayne counties in Mississippi for real and personal property taxes paid by Edward Edwards Chapman, David Tool Chapman, and J. P. Foxworth. Included are receipts for money received by Edward Edwards Chapman from the estate of Ezekiel Arlington and for sums paid by Robert Emmet Chapman as executor of the estate of Thrashley Chapman. Also included are cotton account receipts of Robert Emmet Chapman, a store receipt of B. F. Wells, and a promissory note from F. B. Pittman to Edward Edwards Chapman.

The church-related documents consist of a typewritten resolution honoring the late Reverend James Edwards Chapman and his wife and a handwritten resolution to organize a building committee; both resolutions are from Bethel Baptist Church. Of interest are three membership letters from Jasper and Newton county churches, including one for an African-American woman named Kissiah Asbill. Also included are two lists of names with notes or tally marks beside them.

The genealogical materials consist of correspondence; research notes; a typewritten index of deed entries; photocopies of correspondence and legal records; photographs; and newsclippings. The correspondence and research notes of Mary Elsie Chapman Edmonds pertain to her genealogical research on the Chapman family between 1966 and 1969. Also included is a typescript of an 1890 letter to Robert Emmet Chapman from his brother, Archelus Thomas Chapman, of Smith County, Texas, which contains genealogical notations. The three-page typewritten index of deed entries lists various Chapman family members from Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The photocopied correspondence pertains to members of such Chapman-allied families as the Fosters of Choctaw County, Alabama, and the Fergusons of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and Shubuta, Clarke County, Mississippi. Included are photocopies of a 1794 Chesterfield County, South Carolina, affidavit witnessed by Thrashley Chapman, father of Edward Edwards Chapman, and the 1870 marriage certificate of James Edwards Chapman and Ailsey Jane Thompson of Newton County. There are two identified photographs (one a copy print) of members of the Chapman and Simmons families. One newspaper article is entitled "T. S. [Thomas Shelby] Chapman: Pioneer Doctor," and the other concerns Boones Cave, Davidson County, North Carolina.

1. Correspondence. 1854-1896; n.d. 6 folders.

   Box 1, folders 1-6

   Box 2, folder 1

2. Legal and Financial Records. 1846-1889; n.d. 2 folders.

   Box 1, folders 7-8

   Box 2, folder 2

3. Church-Related Documents. 1868-1951; n.d. 1 folder.

   Box 1, folder 9

4. Genealogical Materials. 1966-1969; n.d. 7 folders.

   Box 1, folders 10-16

   Box 2, folder 3