Collection Guide
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Chapman Family Papers
mssChapmanf
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Chapman family papers
Creator:
Chapman (Family)
Identifier/Call Number: mssChapmanf
Physical Description:
0.21 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1769-1936
Date (bulk): 1849-1893
Abstract: Collection contains diaries, correspondence, and legal and administrative records of the Chapman family from 1769 to 1936,
especially William Wesley Chapman (1823-1906).
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Chapman family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mark A. Chapman, May and June 1948.
William Wesley Chapman (1823-1906) was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and practiced law in Winchester, Illinois, from 1848
to 1888 and was also a farmer. In April 1854, he married Anna Clarkson (1821-1908) who was born in Clinton, Tennessee, and
raised in Illinois; the couple had three children who survived to adulthood: Eva Chapman Graves (1855-1911), Albert L. Chapman
(1857-1938), and Celinda Jo "Gypsy" Chapman Clardy (1863-1929). William Wesley Chapman traveled to California in search of
gold in 1849, returning to Illinois in 1850. In 1888, William Wesley and Anna Chapman moved to Wichita, Kansas, then later
to Holdenville, Oklahoma, where they both died.
Collection consists of diaries and notebooks, correspondence, and legal and administrative records of the Chapman family from
1769 to 1936, especially William Wesley Chapman. Much of the material documents the family's history in Illinois in the mid-nineteenth
century. Several William Wesley Chapman items detail his travels to and from California on the overland Oregon Trail in 1849
and by sea from San Francisco via Nicaragua in 1850. Also present is an 1852 deed for land in Edwardsville, Illinois, with
the secretarial signature of President Millard Fillmore.
The Chapman family papers were processed in 2023 by Melissa Haley as part of the American Presidential Papers Project. The
items had been assembled physically and arranged by former Huntington Library staff; material was rehoused during processing.
Arranged into the following series: 1. Diaries and notebooks; 2. Correspondence; 3. Legal and administrative documents.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Illinois -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Oregon National Historic Trail
Nicaragua -- Description and travel
United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Wyoming -- History -- 19th century
Deeds -- United States -- 19th century
Diaries -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Chapman, Anna Clarkson, 1821-1908
Chapman, William Wesley, 1823-1906
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874