Chapman Family [RG4408.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG4408.AM:  Chapman Family

Papers:  1805-1914

Pennsylvania and York County, Nebraska

Size:  0.25 cu.ft.; 1 box

BACKGROUND NOTE

John Chapman was born in Pennsylvania around 1814.  He married Margaret Sager in 1840, and they had six children.  They farmed in Pennsylvania, and then by 1870 the Chapman family had moved to Iowa.  In 1871 the Chapman family moved to York County, Nebraska.  John Chapman died in York County in June of 1879.  Margaret (Sager) Chapman died on August, 24, 1894.  She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery at York, Nebraska.  John Chapman’s burial location is unknown.

William G. Chapman, son of John and Margaret (Sager) Chapman, was born May 30, 1843.  William served in the Civil War in Co. K, 62^nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and Co. B, 155^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.  In 1868 he married Barbara Siefert of DeWitt, Iowa.  They had five children:  William W., Ella M., Nettie, Albert, and John T.  In 1871 William G. Chapman moved to York County, Nebraska, where he homesteaded on the present site of Henderson, Nebraska.  For a while he worked as a constable at the York County Jail.  He died January 22, 1919, at York and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of one box of papers relating to the Chapman and Sager families.  The collection includes correspondence, military documents, account books, financial and legal paperwork, newspapers and clippings and miscellaneous other items.  The correspondence is primarily that of the Sager family.  The correspondence relates to family matters and in the 1850’s those letters from Madison, Wisconsin, discuss prices and give some description of Madison. 

The military documents include enlistment and discharge papers for the Civil War and the Nebraska National Guard as well as pension applications and notices primarily of William G. Chapman.  A few of the military documents relate to William’s son, John.  Also included are forage abstracts for Fort Atkinson on the Santa Fe Route (later Kansas Territory) in 1852.  One folder contains legal documents relating to transfers of prisoners to the York County jail.  A few personal legal documents, as well as account books and bills, receipts, etc. make up the next few folders of the collection.  Family certificates, newspapers and clippings (mainly dealing with the Civil War) and a folder of miscellany round out the collection.      

INVENTORY

Box 1

Folder

1. 1. Correspondence, 1850-1895

1. 1. Military documents, 1863-1914

1. 1. Abstracts of forage, Fort Atkinson, Kansas, 1852 (see also oversize)

1. 1. York County Jail prisoner transfers, 1884-1885

1. 1. Legal documents, 1856-1857, 1876

1. 1. Account books, 1848-1886

1. 1. Bill, receipts, etc., 1805-1898

1. 1. Certificates, including:
      
      Marriage certificate, William Chapman & Barbara Seifert, 1868
      
      IOOF Lodge certificate, William Chapman, 1892
      
      Soldiers and Sailors Historical and Benevolent Society membership, William Chapman, 1915

1. 1. Newspapers and clippings, ca. 1856-1890 (see also oversize)

1. 1. Miscellany

Subject headings:

Chapman family

Chapman, John T., 1871-1956

Chapman, John, 1814-1879

Chapman, William G., 1843-1919

Fort Atkinson (Kansas)

Military posts — Kansas

Sager family

York County (Nebraska) — History

DDS/cat               10-22-1976

Revised TMM      10-17-2018