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Windham County Connecticut
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WINDHAM COUNTY RECORDS |
HERBERT RALPH CHAPPELL BIOGRAPHY AS RECORDED IN: COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES. PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 611 HERBERT RALPH CHAPPELL, a popular and widely known business man of Willimantic, whose qualities, unswerving integrity and genial manners have made him troops of friends in the community in which his useful life is passing, was, as the second mayor of Willimantic, identified with the early political history of the city, and his influence has always been felt in local affairs. Mr. Chappell is a contractor in painting, and a dealer in paints and supplies, and is the leading man in his line in Windham county, where his name is familiar as that of a dealer in good and honest goods, and a contractor of work upon whose word dependence may be placed. John Chappell, the American ancestor of the Willimantic Chappells, as well as numerous other branches of the family scattered all over the United States, landed in Boston in 1634. Thomas Chappell, the great-grandfather of Herbert Ralph, was a weaver by occupation, and lived at North Kingston, R.I. He served as a soldier in the War of the Revolution. Benjamin Chappell, son of Thomas, was
the first of this branch of the family to settle in Windham county,
Conn. He came to Windham, Conn., when a boy, and later, settled here
permanently. In youth he worked as a stone mason, but began life
in Windham as a farmer, and he was known as one of the most successful
farmers of his day, becoming very prosperous. At South Kingston,
R.I., he was married to Susan Morey, by whom he became the father
of a numerous offspring. He died at a ripe old age, as did his wife,
both of them being over seventy-three years of age when they passed
away. They were associated with the Baptist Church, and were buried
in the Windham Center Cemetery. Mr. Chappell was one of the most
highly respected citizens of his day, and exerted a strong influence
for good. The children of this excellent couple were as follows:
(1) Ralph, was born July 9, 1823; (2) Levi, born in 1825, died young;
(3) Susan, born in 1827, married Edward Ralph Chappell was born and reared
in Old Windham, and his education was completed in Bacon Academy,
at Colchester. His trade of joiner was learned under the instruction
of Col. Fitch, of Mansfield, known in that day as one of the best
workmen in the eastern part of the State. For some years after he
had finished his trade Mr. Chappell was in the employ of Sweet & Carpenter,
very extensive contractors and builders, of Providence, and while
in that city he was married to Maria Horton, born March 10, 1815,
at Rehoboth, Mass., a daughter of Eliphalet Horton. Mr. and Mrs.
Chappell spent some years in Providence, where he was engaged in
jobbing and building for a time, in company with his cousin, William
Guile. About 1852 Mr. Chappell removed his family to South Windham,
where his last days were spent. In Willimantic for a number of years
he was a member of the firm Chappell & Potter, builders and contractors,
who for years did the greater part of the building of Windham county.
For some time before his death Mr. Chappell was retired from active
business, a paralytic stroke having incapacitated him for active
work of any kind. His death occurred in April, 1883, at South Windham,
where he was buried. His widow is still living, and Herbert Ralph Chappell was reared in Windham, to which place his parents came when he was but a child of eighteen months. His education was principally obtained in the Pine Grove Seminary at Windham, when that noted school was under the charge of Dr. J.C. Fitch, and at the Natchaug high school, when D.P. Corbin was principal. From a boy he had assisted his father at carpenter work, but that was distasteful to him, and as soon as he was old enough to act for himself he became an employe in the painting department of Chappell & Potter, extensive contractors. When Mr. Potter took sole charge, Mr. Chappell remained with him as a foreman and thoroughly mastered every detail of the work, so that when he began for himself, April 8, 1888, he was well prepared to take care of anything that might come to him. Business naturally sought one so thoroughly educated in its every part, and Mr. Chappell has greatly prospered in the last ten years. Herbert Ralph Chappell and Miss Isabella
Webster were married Jan. 15, 1876, in Willimantic. Mrs. Chappell
is a native of Lee, Mass., where she was born April 27, 1857, a daughter
of Charles and Emily H. (Huyck) Webster, and a descendant of Gov.
John Webster, who was governor of Massachusetts in 1656. Charles
Webster was born Aug. 3, 1831, in Becket, Mass., and Emily H. Huyck
in Bethlehem, in 1838. David Webster, father of Charles, was born
Sept. 22, 1796, in Florida, Mass., and his wife was Uduxia Wright.
Jacob Webster, the father of David, was born July 23, 1772, and his
wife was Lavina Heminway. Jacob Webster, Sr., the father of Jacob,
was born Feb. 2, 1748, and served Herbert R. Chappell has always been
a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Gen. U.S.
Grant in 1872. When Willimantic was a Reproduced by: Linda D. Pingel |
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