DR. HENRY W. CHAPMAN, one of the more progressive and successful physicians of White Hall, where he is now engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery as a representative of the regular school, was born on the 20th of March, 1850, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He came from a long line of distinguished ancestry noted in theology and literature and also for the independence of spirit which prompts one to uphold his honest convictions even in the face of opposition. Dr. Chapman is a representative in the ninth generation of the descendants of Robert Chapman, who came from England to America, landing at Boston and settling at Saybrook, Massachusetts, in 1685. A volume has recently been published containing the record of Robert Chapman's descendants down to and including the father of Dr. Chapman. With Robert Chapman came his brother William, to whom can be traced the line of descent to all of the Chapmans in Ohio and elsewhere not mentioned in the volume present alluded to. Deacon William Chapman, grandfather of Dr. Chapman, was born in 1769 in New Jersey, and was a son of Rev. Jedediah Chapman, the latter a graduate of Yale College with the class of 1762. Both were noted for their piety and learning and for the influence which they exerted in behalf of moral development. Deacon Chapman died August 25, 1844. His son, William Smith Chapman, was born in New Jersey, August 5, 1816, and in 1838 was married to Louisa A. Evens, whose birth occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 22, 1819. She was the daughter of Platt Evens, a prominent merchant of Cincinnati, Ohio, whose wife, Eliza Ann Murray, died in 1875, at an advanced age. The Evens family are of Welsh and English origin. William Smith Chapman was a merchant of New York and was also an inventor, devoting the latter part of his life to labors in that direction. In his religious faith he was a Presbyterian and was a most earnest and consistent church member. He was highly educated, possessed a refined and cultured nature, and his influence was ever felt as a beneficial force in the communities where he resided for any length of time. He died May 2, 1886, while his wife passed away in 1878. In their family were six children, of whom Dr. Chapman was the fifth in order of birth.
Dr. Henry W. Chapman pursued his early education in the public schools of his native town and afterward entered the academy at Baltimore, Maryland. He also studied in Wilmington, Delaware, and prepared for his profession in St. Louis Medical College, of which he is a graduate with the class of 1877. He then practiced for two years in Macoupin county, Illinois, and in February, 1876, he removed to White Hall, where he has been located continuously since. He is especially noted for his skill in surgery, but also stands as one of the prominent representatives of the medical practitioners in Greene county. In 1896 he established a private sanitarium in White Hall for the treatment of certain diseases and for the benefit of those requiring surgical operations and thus has received a splendid patronage, for it is well equipped with the latest appliances and conveniences known to the medical profession. He has a large library, with the contents of which he is greatly familiar, and his office adjoins his home. He owns one of the latest improved big automobiles and makes his trips for long or short distances and for business or pleasure with equal ease and rapidity.
On the 3d of November, 1878, Dr. Chapman was married to Miss Annie Henderson, who was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, and is a daughter of James W. and Sarah (Kidd) Henderson. Dr. Chapman was reared in the Congregational and Presbyterian churches and has always taken an interest in religious matters and at one time was very active in church work. His study led him to become deeply interested in the Swedenborgian philosophy and finally he severed his connection with the Presbyterian church and now devotes his leisure time and attention to the quiet study and investigation of his favorite literary and philosophical researches. He carries on his reading with the utmost earnestness and interest, but is modest and considerate in the expression of his views. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic lodge and politically with the Republican party. He is a man of strong intellectuality and broad humanitarian principles and takes delight in his profession, not alone because of the success which it brings to him, but also because of the opportunity which it gives to him to render aid to his fellowmen. He received the respect and confidence of all and his close adherence to the ethics of the profession has made him most highly esteemed by his brethren of the medical fraternity.