A Mini Chapin Reunion

"The Puritan"
Deacon Samuel Chapin (1598 - 1675)

Three members of the Chapin family:
Great Grandfather Samuel Chapin,
Heather Rojo and Bonnie Jean MacDonald

For a full story about "The Puritan" statue by Augustus Saint Gaudens, see my blog post "The Chapin Monument" at the link http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/02/samuel-chapin-monument-not-so-wordless.html    This statue is located just a few blocks from where the NERGC conference was taking place in Springfield, Massachusetts this weekend.

Bonnie Jean MacDonald, who I met at the NERGC conference, also has several genealogy blogs.  Please check them out!

http://boardmanbrown.wordpress.com/  The Boardmans and Browns: A Canadian Story

http://barclayspineriver.wordpress.com/  The Barclays of Pine River:  The Lives of George and Amarilla Barclay

http://pawanderings.blogspot.com/  Pennsylvania Wanderings 2008

http://massmeanderings.blogspot.com/  Massachusetts Meanderings 2011 (wherein Bonnie goes to NERGC!)

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Samuel Chapin Monument - Not So Wordless Wednesday

"The Puritan" Deacon Samuel Chapin
at Boston's MFA

The Samuel Chapin Monument stands in Merrick Park at Springfield, Massachusetts. It is located about two blocks from the Springfield Marriott and the Springfield Monarch Place, where the NERGC New England Regional Genealogical Conference will be held on April 6 - 10, 2011. Ruth Himan of the blog "Genealogy is Ruthless without Me" and I would like to invite any Chapin descendants attending the NERGC, or any Chapin descendants in the Springfield area, to be part of a large group photo. The exact time is still to be determined, so if you are interested in participating, please leave your email or contact information here in the comments. I'll try to post more details before NERGC.

Deacon Samuel Chapin (October 8, 1598 – November 1, 1675) was one of the founders of Springfield, Massachusetts. According to Wikipedia "He had many famous descendants, including Presidents Grover Cleveland and William Taft, John Adams' uncle Seth Chapin, actor Spencer Tracy, abolitionist John Brown, financier J.P. Morgan, and singers Harry Chapin and Jen Chapin." He is my 10th Great Grandfather, and also an ancestor of Ruth Himan.

a detail of Chapin's buckled shoe

The statue, by New Hampshire sculptor Augustus St Gaudens, is formally named "The Puritan". It was commissioned by a descendant in 1881 and was installed in Merrick Park in 1887. I've seen several smaller versions, including one about two feet tall in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and also at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. St. Gaudens is also well known for the Shaw Memorial in Boston and the image on the "Double Eagle" gold coin. My favorite statue by St. Gaudens is the "Diana", a copy is in the Metropolitan, but the original stood atop of the old Madison Square Garden and at the time was the highest structure in New York City.
[the statue above was photographed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts]
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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo