This image is a photo of the statue “The Puritan” which is not actually Deacon Samuel Chapin, but an image of what he might have looked like. (Photograph of the statue of Samuel Chapin, known as The Puritan, in Springfield, Massachusetts, which was cast by Augustus St. Gaudens in 1887. Photographed in 1905 for the Detroit Publishing Company )
Deacon Samuel Thomas Chapin (1598-1675) is my 9th great-grandfather and immigrated to North America in 1635 settling in Roxbury, Massachusetts. (Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume IV, Chapin Family). His great-great-grandson Gad Chapin is my 5th great-grandfather and is the Revolutionary War Patriot highlighted in this blog post. Gad was the son of Solomon Chapin and Anne Horton, born on 11 Aug 1726 in Chicopee, Massachusetts. He married Abigail Case (1726-1755). Together, they had 7 children.
I am descended from the 6th of the seven children, my 4th great grandfather Daniel Chapin born in Vermont in 1768.
Daniel and wife, Deborah Wright, had 7 children, one of which was Julia Ann Chapin who married Timothy Randall and they made their way to Washtenaw County, Michigan around 1841.
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Top Left: Samuel Obed Tubbs, Other three photos are of Francis Eliza Randall. Source: Bentley Historical Library, Geddes-Randall Papers, Sarah Randall Geddes Photoalbum. |
- Julia and Timothy’s daughter, Francis Eliza Randall is my 2nd great-grandmother and married into the Tubbs family when she married Samuel Obed Tubbs.
- Their son, Charles Walter Tubbs married Cora Viola Orcutt to whom my grandfather, Walter Elliot Tubbs was born.
I have not found any military service for Gad’s son, Daniel, but his great-grandson C. Walter Tubbs served in WW1 and his great-great-grandson, my grandfather, Walter Elliot Tubbs, served in WWII. So service clearly ran in the family.
Gad Chapin’s Early Life
According to “The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data: With Brief Sketches of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin”:
“Captain Gad CHAPIN Sr. Born on 11 Aug 1726 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. Gad died in Cooperstown, New York on 18 Aug 1813, he was 87. Capt. Chapin was a very active man - he probably spent his youth in Springfield or Chicopee, Massachusetts. After selling his land, he enlisted June 1, 1752 for the French and Indian War. He held commission from King George 3rd and continued in service with occasional short furloughs until Jan. 16, 1760 when he resigned as Captain and commander. His services were important and interesting. The War reports and correspondence in the government archives show that despite many jealousies and strifes between the higher officers during the whole war, Capt. Gad Chapin was the one man in whom all invariably had confidence. He returned to Chicopee and soon removed to Rowe, Mass.” (p. 128)
The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data Of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin, Compiled by Gilbert Warren Chapin. Vol. I First Seven Generations (1924), p. 128. (https://archive.org/details/chapinbookofgene00chap/page/128/mode/2up)
Revolutionary War Service
According to the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (Vol 3., p. 310) and DAR applications, Gad Chapin (#A020754) served with Capt Oliver Avery. Although 50 years of age, he fought in the Revolutionary War in short campaigns from Apr 2, 1775 until Oct. 29 1779. After the war, he joined his son Capt. Samuel and General Walbridge at Bennington, Vermont, and in 1789 moved to Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Their lands were between Burlington Flats and Burlington Green.
References:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a30247
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_Chapin_Statue,_aka,_The_Puritan.jpg
The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data Of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin, Compiled by Gilbert Warren Chapin. Vol. I First Seven Generations (1924), p. 128. (https://archive.org/details/chapinbookofgene00chap/page/128/mode/2up)
Colonial Families of the United States of America, 1607-1775, Volume IV, Chapin Family (Ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61175/images/colonialfamiliesiv-002717_75?pId=71214)
