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Below is a family biography included in Biographical Record of Oakland County, Michigan published by Biographical Publishing Company in 1903.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Harvey S. Chapman, M. D., one of the successful physicians and surgeons of Pontiac, Michigan, was born at New Baltimore, Macomb County, Michigan, in 1863, and is a son of Dr. Joseph M. Chapman and a grandson of John Chapman.

Dr. Joseph M. Chapman was very prominent in medical circles for many years. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in 1854 and served as a military surgeon during the Civil War. For 30 years he practiced his profession at New Baltimore, having formerly been professor of mathematics at Oberlin College. He died at his home in 1884, at the age of 57 years.

Dr. Harvey S. Chapman has been in continuous practice at Pontiac since the fall of 1886, having graduated from the medical department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1885. He has been one of the leading citizens of Pontiac for a number of years, taking a deep and loyal interest in the growth and development of the city and favoring all its public spirited enterprises. He has served as city physician, county physician, and as health officer, and in 1894 was elected mayor; during his year at the head of municipal affairs, he made notable improvements in sanitary conditions. In 1896 he was appointed United States pension examiner, a position he still fills, and in 1898 was appointed by the late Governor Pingree a member of the board of trustees of the Eastern Michigan Asylum for a term of six years. Recently he was elected treasurer of the Pontiac Board of Education, and, to add to his duties, in the spring of 1903 he was appointed district surgeon of the Grand Trunk Railway.

Dr,. Chapman was married to Jessie Perkins, of New Baltimore, Michigan, and they have one child, John S., a bright lad of 10 years. A crushing bereavement was the death of a daughter, Pauline, in London, some 12 years since. She had been a student at Paris. Dr. Chapman and family reside in a handsome home at No. 121 Huron street, which is a center of hospitality and cultured life.

The genial Doctor is professionally connected with all the leading city, county and State medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the Northwestern District Medical Society, of which his father was a charter member. During his term as mayor, he attended the interesting conclave, of the American Medical Association, then in session at San Francisco. Fraternally he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. Dr. Chapman is one of Pontiac’s honored and representative citizens, being a leader in its professional, civic and social life. He is president of the American Savings Bank of Pontiac.

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This family biography is one of numerous biographies included in the Biographical Record of Oakland County, Michigan published in 1903. 

View additional Oakland County, Michigan family biographies here: Oakland County, Michigan Biographies

View a map of 1911 Oakland County, Michigan here: Oakland County Michigan Map

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