My Genealogy Hound

Erwin A. Chapman, M. D. One of oldest and most prominent pioneer families of Novi township, Oakland County, is that of Chapman which located there in 1827, and a representative member of this family is found in Dr. Erwin A. Chapman of Walled Lake, Commerce township. Dr. Chapman is the seventh member of the family of children born to Aaron R. and Jane (Smith) Chapman, his birthplace being the homestead farm in Novi township.

Aaron R. Chapman was born at Bristol, Ontario County, New York, in 1814, and died in Oakland County, Michigan, in 1886. He was a son of Randall Chapman who located in this State in 1827, taking up 160 acres of land in Novi township, which has been retained in the family’s possession to the present time. The five children of Randall Chapman all became well known and respected residents of Oakland County; they were as follows: Aaron R., father of our subject; Salina, who married William Tafft and died in 1902, leaving six children, Mr. Tafft having died several years previously; Margaret, who is the widow of J. J. Smith and resides at Plymouth, Michigan; Jane, who is the widow of Richard McGraw and resides at Detroit; and the youngest member of the family, a son, who was accidentally killed.

The parents of Dr. Chapman were quiet, orderly people, kind and neighborly, industrious and respected and left a family which reflected credit upon them and the neighborhood. The brothers and sisters of our subject are as follows: Helen, who married Jackson Welch, and is now living retired at Northville, Michigan, owning a fine farm in Novi township, Oakland County; Rosella, who married Albert Griswold, who is engaged in the crockery business at Bay City, Michigan; William, who died in 1886; Randall, who is a farmer of Novi township, Oakland County; Homer, who resides at Novi; Frank, who lives in Novi township, Oakland County; Ada, who married Charles Button, a farmer of Farmington township, Oakland County; and Floyd, who was married to Carrie Hazen and resides on the homestead farm in Novi township, Oakland County.

Dr. Chapman was reared on the homestead farm mentioned above, and received his primary education in the district schools, subsequently attending the Northville High School. His medical education was secured in the Detroit Medical College, where he was graduated in 1876. He began practice in March of that year at Walled Lake, where he remained three years and then went to New York, where he took a post-graduate course at Bellevue Medical College, graduating there in 1879. Returning to Walled Lake, he has been permanently established there ever since.

In 1879 Dr. Chapman was married to Carrie M. Hoyt, who was a daughter of Dr. James M. and Margaret (Barrett) Hoyt, of Walled Lake, Commerce township. Mrs. Chapman died in 1882, leaving one child, Prudence Eliza, born June 24, 1882. In the fall of 1884 Dr. Chapman was married to Mary Jane Lee, who is a daughter, of Austin and Jane (Naysmith) Lee of Battle Creek, Michigan, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Glasgow, Scotland. The children of this marriage are: Ethel Jane, born September 22, 1885; Aaron Lee, born May 2, 1887; Ruth, born September 15, 1889; Esther Grace, born May 27, 1895; and Helen, born December 12, 1901.

Dr. Chapman is identified with the Republican party. In religious views he is a Baptist. He has been very successful professionally, and he has gained a position of importance in his line. While never seeking office, he has always taken a public spirited interest in the welfare of the town and has generously supported every movement which his judgment has led him to regard as beneficial. He is universally esteemed and occupies a high social position.