 1879 - 1962 (83 years)
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| Name |
Chapman, Charles Shepard |
| Born |
2 Jun 1879 |
Morristown, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
15 Dec 1962 |
| Person ID |
I4806 |
Sackett | Descendants of Thomas Sacket the Elder, Descendants of Simon Sackett the Colonist |
| Last Modified |
18 Jan 2009 |
| Father |
Chapman, Henry Augustus, b. 2 Jul 1850, Morristown, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA , d. 11 Apr 1916, Leonia, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA (Age 65 years) |
| Mother |
Shepard, Laura Susanna, b. 16 Nov 1853, Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA , d. 1 Jan 1922, Leonia, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA (Age 68 years) |
| Married |
15 Dec 1874 |
Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA |
- Married by Rev. Mr. Clemson [ from St. Johns Episcopal Church in Ogdenburg furnished by Mary Smallman].
|
| Children |
3 children |
| + | 1. Chapman, George Augustus II, b. 29 Dec 1876, Morristown, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA , d. 29 Oct 1950, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA (Age 73 years) | | | 2. Chapman, Charles Shepard, b. 2 Jun 1879, Morristown, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA , d. 15 Dec 1962 (Age 83 years) | | | 3. Chapman, Henry Hooker, b. 1 Jul 1884, d. Unknown |
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| Family ID |
F2069 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Born - 2 Jun 1879 - Morristown, St. Lawrence County, New York, USA |
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| Pin Legend |
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| Notes |
- No issue.
Attended the dedication of the General William Shepard statue at Westfield, MA, on its 250th anniversary in 1919 with his Aunt Julia Adelaide Shepard.
(from "River Reflections - A Short History of Morristown, NY;" written by Lorraine B. Bogardus; edited by Mark Dupre (Danbe Press, Worcester, MA); 1988):
Everyone in the Morristown area was aware of the influence these four generations of Chapmans exerted on the economic and cultural affairs of Morristown. But it was only Charles S. Chapman who gained some recognition beyond the immediate area.
Charles, like his brothers, was a robust boy who enjoyed athletics. They often played around the Comstock Pill
Factory, using discarded pills for sling shots. Charles was an artist from the start, always making sketches over his school books, letters, covers, and any scrap of paper he could find. His talent was evidently inherited, his mother and maternal grandmother having local reputations for their drawing.
After graduating from Ogdensburg Free Academy, Charles graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and attended Chase School of Art. At this time he became friends with the renowned painter and sculptor of the West, Frederick Remington. Each admired the other's work. Remington even once turned to Charles for advice, "I cannot get color," admitted Remington. "Don't be afraid of it," replied Charles. "Splash it on."
At Remington's suggestion, Charles spent a year logging and sketching in the Canadian woods of Quebec. Upon his return he moved to Leonia, New Jersey and later joined the Salmagrundi Club, the oldest art club in New York City. During those years (c. 1900-1915) he won all the club's available prizes in every medium.
In 1911, he married Ada Ahrens. For the next 10 years, they spent their summers in Riverton, Connecticut, where Charles built a cabin and studio in the woods. The area became the setting for many of his pictures.
During World War I, the Red Cross commissioned Charles to paint a 30-foot panel of Cuba for the Fifth Liberty Bond War Loan. He also did an oil painting called The Two Letters which shows the influence of family letters upon the young soldiers. It now hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, DC. Later Charles was elected to the National Academy of Art, the youngest artist to be so honored.
After the war his parents came to live with them, and Charles and Ada began to spend their summers at the former Ford mansion, now called Chilton. It was at this time that he developed the technique of sprinkling different paints into a tank of water and laying a piece of paper on the top to absorb the paint. Then he would pick up the paper and turn it to where a picture suggested itself. He also gave art lessons this time.
Through the years Charles won prizes in various mediums from the Art Students League in New York, Chicago Art Institute, Philadelphia Art Institute, and Syracuse Museum. His painting In the Deep Woods now hangs in the Metropolitan of Museum of Art in New York.
A trip with his wife to the Virgin Islands in the mid-'20s produced 14 pictures depicting island life. They all sold quickly when they returned to New Jersey. At this time Charles was commissioned to paint the Grand Canyon, a work which is now a permanent part of the Puma Indian Group in the Museum of Natural History in New York.
Charles died in 1962, childless, and was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery, bringing to an end the physical presence of the Chapman family in Morristown. His legacy is still seen in his portrait of his good friend Frederick Remington, which now hangs the Remington Museum and Art Gallery in Ogdensburg. There are also a number of local relatives and friends who can count one of his paintings as a possession.
Most of the village property and many farms in the town were owned by the Chapman family. They gave the land for establishment of Pine Hill Cemetery, the land on which St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church and the Methodist (former Presbyterian) Church stand, and the land for Morristown Central School. The land office was donated by the Chapmans to the village to be used perpetually as a public library. The stone school house on Columbia Street was once owned by the Chapmans. Chapman Hall was built on Main Street and was located directly across the street from the old town hall now owned by Charles Bushnell. The land now named Chapman Village Park was donated to the village in 1943 by Charles S. Chapman.
It would be difficult to assess the total impact of the family upon the village of Morristown from 1820 to 1962. In Morristown's most crucial years of development, the Chapman family brought not only elegance and a taste of aristocracy, but a lasting legacy which lives on in the beautiful homes and public buildings which grace the streets of the village.
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