Samuel Chapin
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Deacon Samuel Chapin (October 8, 1598 – November 1, 1675) was one of the founders of Springfield, Massachusetts.
He was born in Paignton, (near Torquay,) Devon, England, to John Chapin and Phillippe Easton on October 8, 1598.
On February 9, 1623, Samuel married Cicily Penny. They had seven children: Sarah, Henry, Hannah, David, Catherine, Josiah, and Japhet. Through them, they had many famous descendants, including Presidents Grover Cleveland and William Taft, actor Spencer Tracy, abolitionist John Brown, and financier J.P. Morgan.
It is not known exactly when he immigrated to America, but it was after 1624. He immigrated to America to escape religious persecution.
In 1881, Chester W. Chapin, a railroad tycoon, congressman and Chapin descendant, commissioned master sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens to produce a work memorializing his ancestor. The sculpture, most commonly known as The Puritan, is currently sited in Springfield's Merrick Park. Created to emphasize the piety, and perhaps moral rigidity, of the country's religious founders—evident in the sculpted Chapin's proud pose, certain stride, flowing cape and hefty Bible, as well as his assertive use of a walking cane. Smaller variants of the same work can be found in several museums.
[edit] External links
- City of Springfield, Massachusetts Official city website.
- Colton-Marshfield-Chapin Part of Stephen Martin Lawson's genealogy site.
- The Puritan sculpture Part of Lawson's genealogy site.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art Discussion of the sculpture's history.
