Checking Chapmans

Henry A. Baker published A History of Montville Connecticut at the end of the nineteenth century. Since that time, no one has updated his assessment of the family of one of Montville's residents: Joseph Chapman, a great-grandson of the progenitor, William Chapman, who was in New London by 1650. Most of Joseph Chapman's grandchildren left Montville. Proud of their heritage, his descendants frequently gifted their children with Chapman family names, but their connection to Montville was forgotten. Ann Tracy Marr researched the family, proving much of Baker's data, and correcting some of his errors. She followed the different branches of the family as they left Connecticut, moved into Massachusetts and New York, and ultimately as far as California. New lines are firmly fixed to the Chapman family tree, extending William Chapman's descendants through Joseph up to eight generations. Analysis of unproven connections allows researchers to pick up where Marr was stymied, hopefully to prove or disprove those families as descendants of one of Connecticut's oldest families. Includes Register-style report and every name index.