James Henry Chapin

Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. JAMES HENRY CHAPIN. JAMES HENRY CHAPIN, the second child of Gustavus Walbridge Chapin and Mary McNaughton, was born in Leaven- worth, Indiana, December 31, 1832. He was a descendant, in the eighth generation, of Japhet Chapin, the oldest son of Deacon Samuel Chapin. Japhet was a man of marked piety, and gave this distinctive characteristic to his progeny. From him descended a goodly number of notable clergymen, as marked for their intellectuality as for their devoutness, among whom are Calvin Chapin, D.D., of Rocky Hill, Conn. ; A. B. Chapin, D.D., of Hartford ; Edwin H. Chapin, D.D., of New York ; A. L. Chapin, D.D., of Beloit, Wis. ; James H. Chapin, Ph.D., of Meriden,Conn.; D. D. Chapin, of San Jose, Cal. ; Augusta J. Chapin, D.D., of Chicago, 111. ; and Eben H. Chapin, of Lincoln, Nebraska. Doubtless there are others whose names ought to be in this list. James Henry, or Henry as he was called in his family, was a feeble child from his birth. He was supposed, by the attending physician, to be still-born, and was laid aside as dead while the mother received attention. An hour later he was found to be alive, but there was a constitutional frailty which he never outgrew. It was the great cross of his life and a constant clog upon his ambition, but in spite of being so hampered, he accomplished an immense deal of work. Owing to the wise care of his mother, he was carried safely through childhood and youth, his hold upon life gradually strengthening. Henry could not work or play like other boys, so his mother provided occupation and amusement for him at home, by teaching him to help her in her domestic duties. He soon became her family necessity ?her household treasure. Mother and son were inseparable, and, influenced by her manyexcellent qualities, his charact...