The Marquis de la Chappelle: International Man of Mystery

When I was a child, I remember that I had to do a report on an ancestor. I called an aunt of my father's, who told me about the Count du Chappelle, and that was who I wrote the report about. I don't remember many of the details, and unfortunately that report is lost to time. I seem to remember my aunt telling me he had a lot of land in New Jersey and lost it all gambling, but based on what I've learned since, that can't possibly be right, as the Count (or more properly, the Marquis de la Chappelle) never came to the colonies, and may in fact have never existed at all.

The Known Knowns

To be honest, there's aren't many of them. The facts that I have, such as they are, came from a document of genealogical research at the Historical Society of Philadelphia (HSP) called "The Blackledge Family and Allied Families of Chappell, Walton, DeHaven, Fesmie, Wright, and Others." The research collected therein was apparently a gift to HSP in 1988. Unfortunately, very little information regarding the original information sources is listed, so further research has been difficult, to say the least.

Regardless, the document does include some nuggets that have pointed the way to further research. The document first calls out the Marquis early on, as the father to John Chappell, the first Chappell that is known to have come to the colonies. John was born in England, but his father the Marquis was born in France, in 1670, according to the Blackledge document, and is thought to have probably died in England. The Blackledge document further notes the following: "The Marquis is said to have fled France during the period of persecution following the revocation of the Edict of Nantz (revoked 1685). Supposedly he fled to London where he had a brother Thomas who was a watchmaker. He is said to have had a son John and two daughters. The son John came to Philadelphia in 1715. The rest of the family presumably did not."

That blurb, unfortunately, contains all that we know about the Marquis. I set out to see if I could find out more information, and although I mostly came up empty, I did make a number of interesting finds. Even the wrong turns may prove helpful someday, for directing researchers away from dead ends, if nothing else.

History Lesson: The Huguenots

France in the 16th century was primarily a Catholic nation. But in April 1598, in an effort to promote civil unity, King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights to Calvinist Protestants, who were also known as Huguenots. The Huguenot community made up nearly 10% of the French population, so this was not an insignificant event. The edict marked the end of religious wars that had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century. It attempted to allow and promote peaceful coexistence between Catholics and Protestants, while maintaining Catholicism as the established and dominant religion of France.

The Edict of Nantes remained in effect, more or less, for less than a hundred years. In October 1685, Louis XIV - grandson of Henry IV - declared Protestantism illegal with the Edict of Fontainebleau, more commonly called the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Protestants were intensely persecuted. Ministers were given two weeks to convert to Catholicism or leave the country; all other Protestants were prohibited from leaving the country. The new Edict ordered the destruction of Huguenot churches, as well as the closing of Protestant schools. The persecution was formalized with a policy commonly called in French "dragonnades" that was instituted by Louis XIV, in order to intimidate Huguenot families into either leaving France or reconverting to Roman Catholicism. This policy involved billeting particularly obnoxious and difficult soldiers known as dragons (dragoons) within the Protestant households where they were encouraged to wreak havoc.

Despite the prohibition, the renewed persecution resulted in nearly 400,000 people fleeing France at risk of their lives. They fled to Great Britain, Prussia, Switzerland, the Dutch Republic, South Africa, and the Thirteen Colonies in North America. The migration had ramifications for all of Europe, as skilled individuals aided France's rivals, and France's and King Louis XIV reputation suffered. The rights of non-Catholics were not restored in France until over 100 years later with the Edict of Versailles.

Why the history lesson on the Huguenots? The Marquis de la Chappelle fled France for London following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and so most likely was himself a Huguenot.

Searching For The Huguenot Marquis

One of my first stops for researching the Marquis was to research the Huguenots, and see if there were any information or insight that could be found. That quickly led me to The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The Huguenot Society has collected a ton of history and genealogical information on Huguenots of the era, so it seemed to me a logical place to start. I scanned the contents of their genealogy magazines and publications and came up empty. Then I found their Family Research Files - a large collection of findings donated by members interested in particular families. And one of the FRF was for "Chappell(e)". I was cautioned that they vary widely in size, accuracy, and type of information contained therein, but regardless, it seemed to me to be a good place to start.

It turns out, it was not that good of a place to start. While the file was very interesting, it mostly concerned people who could not really be the Marquis - people who were too old or too young, or not in the right place at the right time, who were known not to have had children (or at least a child named John), etc. The file mentions a few promising leads, including:

• Jean Chapelle, "a doctor of medicine from (Aimex) Aymet in Perigord settled in London. He made his Reconnaissance (i.e. made himself known as a Huguenot) at the French Church of the Savoy on July 1st, 1686 when he was thirty ... and in the next year obtained a grant from the Royal Bounty Fund for the relief of the Refugees." Alas, as far as I could tell, he is not known to have had a son.
• Thomas Chapel, apprenticed to a Huguenot goldsmith - promising lead maybe, but not enough information to really take anywhere.
• Armand Boisbeleau de la Chapelle, a Huguenot minister in London and Ireland at around the correct time, but with very little additional information given in the file.

So, no silver bullets to be found there, but perhaps some avenues for further research.

Following Leads: Armand Boisbeleau de la Chapelle

I spent a bit of time trying to follow up on these leads to see if they went anywhere, and found some additional information on Armand. He went to Ireland to preach to the French congregations, but apparently returned to Wandesworth (near London) after only two years. And he may possibly have had some association with a Thomas Chapel, who was apprenticed to a goldsmith - and it is believed that the Marquis had a brother Thomas that was a watchmaker (or maybe a jeweler or goldsmith?). He later returned to London about 1696-1697, right around the time John Chappell was born. I started to think that Armand could really be the Marquis, and so I reached out for some help from a professional genealogist to either prove or disprove my theory.

We started with Armand Boisbeleau de la Chapelle. After some initial research, she replied with this: "I am unable to find a record of Armand marrying or having kids in the UK, I have looked at the two parishes he was a preacher in namely Wandsworth and Artillery French Church. I did find a reference to

him in Chalmers General Biographical Dictionary but there was no mention of his family...even in other websites which give details of his life there is no mention of a family. He preached in Ireland as well before moving to the Hague, its possible he had children in these countries but then I would be surprised for these children to be your ancestors in London... I did search under just his family name of Boisbeleau as well as De la chappelle."

Well, it was a good theory while it lasted, but it was time to move on.

(Not) Following Leads: Thomas Chapel

I thought for a brief minute that following up on the Thomas I had seen mentioned might be helpful. I thought, perhaps, that some help might be found from The Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London, specifically from The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Unfortunately, their records go back only as far as 1728, which was no help for any information from before then.

Random Googling

In looking for the Marquis de la Chappelle, I came across a Wikipedia page describing marquisates that were established in France. One of these, the Chapelle-la-Reine, was established in 1680 by letters patent received by a family called d'Argouges. The head of this marquisate would likely have been called the Marquis de la Chapelle-la-Reine. This seemed promising, but unfortunately does not pan out:

The Baron (not Marquis) de la Chapelle was a man named Jacques d'Argouges, married in 1645. From what I have found so far, neither him nor any of his offspring fled France with the Huguenots, none of his offspring was named John, and none ever emigrated to North America.

Maybe There Is No Marquis?

At the time I was searching for the Marquis, I was simultaneously searching for his son, John, who around 1715 came to North America and eventually became my several-times great grandfather. That research was also not panning out, though it did bring to light some more possibilities (food for a future post). For the Marquis, at this point, I started to think that maybe everything I think I know is wrong. Or at least, maybe John's father was not the Marquis de la Chappelle - maybe that was his uncle, or grandfather, or more distant relative. Or maybe he only called his father the Marquis, out of respect or even derision. Or maybe there was no Marquis.

Regardless of the reason, if we accept that John's father may not be the Marquis, then who is John's father?

We can be fairly sure that John started out as a shipbuilder in London. I had found some baptismal records for a John, son of John Chappelle of Blackwall. Blackwall is on the River Thames, in the area of the private shipyards on the north bank. John of Blackwell is a Cawker (I think, it is hard to read). A Cawker is part of a horseshoe, and horses were the main way of getting goods to and from the ships at the port. The trades of blacksmiths and shipwrights are linked, and a Cawker may have been some sort of specialist type of blacksmith. Perhaps, then, the "Marquis" is really a blacksmith named John? Maybe, maybe not, but hopefully one of these days I can do some further research and figure it out.

 

John Thompson Chappell (1831 - 1915), Civil War Soldier

William Frederick Chappell was not the only Chappell to serve in the Civil War. Two of his brothers also served: John Thompson Chappell and Charles L Chappell. Whereas William Frederick signed up early for the war, stayed through his suffering, and endured multiple tragedies afterwards, John Thompson's struggles started before the war and plagued him the rest of his life.

According to his Civil War pension records, John Thompson Chappell was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on 15 Feb 1831, the oldest child¹ of William and Margaret. He was baptized on 1 July 1832 at the Old St George Methodist Episcopal Church, where his parents had been married just a few months prior. He made his living as a shoemaker in Bensalem. He married Angeline Scull, the only daughter of James and Harriet Scull, and had three children with her: William Henry, Harriet, and Ella. He may have married around 1854, the year of his oldest child's birth, but so far I haven't found any record of it. After a long, hard life, he died at the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Virginia on 6 Feb 1915, nearly 84 years old.

Tragedy Strikes

The Bridesburg section of Philadelphia lies along the Delaware, bounded on one end by the Frankford Creek and (in modern times) by the Betsy Ross Bridge, and stretching up to the Tacony section of the city. It was originally incorporated as a borough in 1848, then annexed to Philadelphia in 1854. It is easy to imagine then that in 1860, there remained some areas of wilderness not yet taken over by the sprawl of the big city. Historical maps show Bridesburg containing quite a bit of industry along the river, and residential areas away from the river, so it's difficult to see where exactly that may have been - perhaps along the Frankford Creek and the railroad that ran alongside, or maybe on nearby Petty Island (or maybe not). It's clear though that there was a place that retained enough wilderness to allow hunting, as John Thompson's pension record makes it clear that that is where his troubles began.

In one of the many affidavits that accompany his pension record, John Thompson's lawyer describes what happened. In the Spring of 1860, near Bridesburg, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, "... he was gunning [i.e., hunting] and accidentally slipped, and in falling down an embankment incurred said injury." "Said injury" was a fracture of his left leg, near his ankle. "There was no one present when it occurred - consequently he cannot [corroborate] the occurrence of same by eye-witnesses." Another affadavit states that although there were no witnesses to the accident itself, he was seen shortly afterwards by his brother, William F. Chappell, and his longtime friend and brother of his wife, George Scull.

While a broken leg may not be considered a life-altering tragedy today, it was a much different time in the days leading up to the US Civil War. It's not clear what sort of medical attention John received, but it is clear that this injury would haunt him throughout his life, starting with his brief time in the US Civil War.

US Civil War

John Thompson didn't join the war when it first started. When the war started, John Thompson had two small children at home - a six year old and a four year old - and lingering effects from his injury. So it is perhaps understandable why he didn't join with his brother, during the initial round of recruiting in Philadelphia by General Scott. As the war heated up, though, recruiting continued, with more and more regiments forming and joining the fray. Finally, on 13 August 1862, John Thompson Chappell joined the 119th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and was assigned to Company G as a private.

The regiment was first assigned to the defense of Washington, DC, through the end of September 1862. They would then move on to join battles in Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, and several others through 1863 and 1864. John Thompson, however, would not join them - he never left Washington.

Desertion in the US Civil War was common on both sides. It was a brutal war, manned at first by volunteers but eventually by draftees. Union generals estimated that at least one in five men were absent from their regiments. After the war the Union Provost Marshal General estimated one quarter of a million men had been absent from their units at one time or another. Confederate estimates ranged even higher. Though desertion was considered a capital offense - punishable by death - because of the sheer numbers involved soldiers were rarely executed. The Union, for example, executed only 147 soldiers for desertion.

While some soldiers deserted in the face of the enemy - referred to as cowardice - it was far more common for soldiers to desert from camp or at other times. The rigorous military life, poor food, inadequate clothing, deteriorating health, homesickness, and concern for loved ones at home all drove men to desert.

Such was the case with John Thompson. He did not flee in the face of the enemy. Instead, according to his pension record, he "fell to rear sick on march" on 16 September 1862. Undoubtedly, his leg injury hampered him on the hard marches that soldiers endured. It seems likely, in fact, that he fell lame, unable to continue; his pension records continually mention his leg injury and deformity throughout the rest of his life. He may or may not have sought medical treatment, but it is clear that he did not return. He was arrested in Philadelphia in early 1863 and found "guilty" at court martial. He was sentenced to forfeit $10/month for six months, and to be confined at hard labor for the same period.

His pension record isn't entirely clear on what exactly happened after that. It notes that he was "absent by sentence of court martial" from May 1863 through February 1864. But it is also noted that he was admitted to hospital on 3 July 1863 with no mention of his being a prisoner, so it is possible that his sentence was remitted.

Regardless, around March of 1864, John Thompson was transferred to the 123rd Company, 2nd Battalion Veteran Reserve Corps, by reason of inability to march due to dislocation of ankle joint. Originally called the Invalid Corps, the VRC was a military reserve organization created to allow partially disabled or otherwise infirmed soldiers to perform light duty, freeing able-bodied soldiers to serve on the front lines. While those in the 1st Battalion were able to do some marching and handle a musket, the 2nd Battalion was made up of those more severely wounded, perhaps having lost limbs or suffered some deformity. 2nd Battalion personnel were frequently employed as cooks, orderlies, nurses, or guards in public buildings. Unfortunately, John Thompson's pension record doesn't state what duties he may have performed. He was honorably discharged in October, 1864.

After the War

Life after the war cannot have been very good for John Thompson. In 1865, an army surgeon noted that John's disability was "probably permanent" and noted "severe inflammation and deformity after a fracture of the left leg near the ankle." His leg injury is mentioned over and over again in his pension record, as is his trouble walking any distance. The 1870 census states that his profession is as a shoemaker, but later medical reports in his pension file show that failing eyesight prevented him from doing any fine detail work, so it's not clear how much longer after that he was able to continue.

John's failing health wasn't his only trouble. In 1865, John Thompson and Angeline had their third child, Ella J. Unfortunately, she died only two years later, of marasmus, or under-nourishment. She was buried in American Mechanics Cemetery (see the entry for William Chappell for more details), in a plot owned by John Thompson's uncle John H Chappell.

In 1870, John Thompson and family appear on two different federal census records, one recorded in June, the other in November. Apparently at sometime between those dates John and his family moved across the city of Philadelphia. The November 1870 census shows that they lived with Angeline's brother, George Scull, perhaps indicative of a poor financial position, or maybe the need for an extra set of hands around the house due to John's worsening health.

Like his younger brother William Frederick's, John's pension record is filled with affidavits and medical reports attesting to his deteriorating health. And though it is much smaller than his brother's, there are a few interesting tidbits within. A few of the affidavit's are from his brother, William Frederick, and also from his wife's brother, George Scull. I thought it was also interesting that his attorney, W. V. Sickel, may have some other connection to the Chappell's: John Thompson had an uncle, George, that owned the Jolly Post Inn in Frankford, sometime in the 1800's. George's wife was Anna Sickel: a relative, maybe, of John Thompson's attorney?

But the pension record also shows the sad reality of John Thompson's decline. In 1896, John Thompson tells a doctor that when the weather is damp, he's unable to walk on his leg, and his "...ankle also pains in damp weather and gives out." He suffers from rheumatism of his left shoulder and hip. He tells the doctor that he "...is laid up five or six times a year, two weeks at a time. Has smothering spells, palpitation, and dizziness. Thinks he has kidney trouble on account of pain in back ... Says he cannot see across the street without glasses. ... Says he is all broken up and not able to do much hard work." The ailments pile up, growing to include rheumatism, disease of heart, impaired vision, piles, and senile debility.

John Thompson's wife, Angeline, died in 1894. After that, he made several trips back and forth to the U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Hampton, Virginia, being admitted in 1899, 1904, 1906, and 1911, each time for a year or more. After his last admission in March, 1911, he did not leave. John Thompson Chappell died February 6, 1915, of mitral insufficiency - a heart condition that doesn't allow enough blood to move through the heart. He was buried at Hampton National Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia.

The Children of William Frederick and Emma

John Thompson Chappell and Angeline Scull had three children together:

• William Henry Chappell, born 1855, died 1922, married Sarah Malvina Crouch
• Harriet Chappell, born 1857, died after 1930, married Albert W Crouch
• Ella J Chappell, born 1865, died 1867

William Frederick Chappell (1836 - 1917), Civil War Soldier

Often, when researching my ancestors, the details of their daily lives are left to my imagination. They hang on a frame made up of what we know, with a few broad strokes providing possibilities based on the times they lived in. We know William Chappell was born around 1800, died in 1870, and was a broom maker who lived through the War of 1812 and the US Civil War but participated in neither. But for him and many others, the colors and details are largely unknown and mostly unknowable.

Not so for two of his sons, John Thompson and William Frederick. For these US Civil War soldiers, detailed accounts of their time in the service and their struggles after the war are well documented, some of it in their own hand, providing a detailed and humbling glimpse into the lives they led.

My great great grandfather, William Frederick Chappell, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on 27 Nov 1836, the second son of William and Margaret Chappell. He volunteered to serve in the US Civil War barely two weeks after it started in 1861, serving until he was honorably discharged in January, 1864. Later that year, in October, he married Emma Lentz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They had nine children together over the next 20 years. He led a hard life after the war, suffering from the lingering effects of the injuries he suffered and the horrific conditions he lived in during the war, not to mention the new injuries sustained in the years after the war. It's incredible to me that he carried on for over 50 years after the war despite several accidents and his continually declining health. He died on 5 March 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of apoplexy, and was buried there in North Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Wed, Mar 7, 1917 – Page 7 · The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

Chappell, Chappelle, Potato, Potahto

The death notice published for William Frederick highlights one of the challenges in researching my ancestors (and really, anyone's ancestors) - how the spelling of surnames changes over time. Sometimes this occurs generationally - a son drops a letter or changes a spelling used by his parents, for example. Sometimes a misspelling gets adopted during a person's life. And sometimes, it seems, nobody actually knows how to spell the name, so every document you find uses a different spelling.

In the case of William Frederick, most official documents - his death certificate, his pension record, etc. - use the spelling Chappell. Census records sometimes use that spelling, or Chappel. His death notice in the Philadelphia Inquirer uses Chappelle - a spelling used often by his son, William Alexander Chappelle, and some of his grandchildren. Other ancestors use even more variations - Chapell, Chapel, Shapel, and others have made appearances. When writing about my ancestors, I'll do my best to use the spelling that they appeared to prefer. In William Frederick's case, that would be Chappell.

Before the War

We don't know much about William Frederick's life before the war. He was a carpenter, and learned a bit about mechanical engineering. There are several affadavits that attest to him being in generally good health before entering the service. We know also that he was unmarried, and living in the Philadelphia area. But, that is pretty much all we know of him in his pre-war years, until late April of 1861, when the US Civil War broke out.

US Civil War¹

William Frederick Chappell served two tours of duty during the US Civil War: one tour of three months, and another of three years.

Company F, Pennsylvania 20th Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Soon after the end of the Mexican-American War, a number of returned soldiers who had served under General Scott formed an association called the "Scott Legion" to preserve their organization for social interaction and friendly discourse, led by Captain William H. Gray. Shortly after the US Civil War broke out, Captain Gray began recruiting at Fifth and Chestnut streets. By Saturday evening, the ranks were full. Men continued to report thru Monday, and when the recruiting was finally done, there was an excess of six hundred men over what could be accepted. The regiment's services were tendered to the Executive of the State and accepted, and it was mustered into the service of the United States as the 20th Regiment by Captain Neill of the regular army. William Frederick Chappell was one of those so recruited, the first of the Chappell brothers to enlist, and was assigned to Company F.

They drilled for two weeks in Philadelphia, and were uniformed in the old United States blue jacket and pants. Afterwards, they moved six miles outside of Philadelphia to Suffolk Park, where they continued drilling for another two weeks. The regiment was ordered to move to Chambersburg to join Patterson's column, and was assigned to the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division.  Over the next few months the regiment served as protection for the main column, moving from Greencastle, to Williamsport on the banks of the Potomac, to Martinsburg and Bunker Hill, and eventually pushed forward to Keyes' Ford. On July 24th, they were ordered back to Philadelphia, where, their terms of service expired, they were mustered out of service.

The fact that the 20th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, among others, were raised for only a three month term says a lot about the government's assessment of the Confederacy: they took them lightly, severely underestimating their capability and commitment to secession. But near the end of William F.'s first tour of duty, the First Battle of Bull Run was fought - a bloody, disorganized mess of a battle that opened eyes on both sides. The Union retreated, routed by the rebel forces. Both sides now knew that they were in for a long, hard fight.

Company P, Pennsylvania 28th Infantry Regiment

William F. did not stay out of the service long. He re-enlisted on 10 Sep 1861, and mustered in on 27 Sep 1861 to the 28th Infantry Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. The 28th Regiment had been raised in June by Colonel John W. Geary, uniformed and equipped at his own expense, with a three year term of service. When fully formed, the regiment consisted of fifteen companies, with fifteen hundred and fifty-one officers and men brought together from various sections of Pennsylvania. William F. was assigned to Company P.

By the time William F. joined the regiment, Colonel Geary had already taken ten companies south to Harper's Ferry, to join a brigade under the command of Major General Nathaniel Banks. It's not clear exactly when William F. and Company P may have joined the rest of the regiment, but it seems likely that he had joined by the time Colonel Geary's forces had repelled attacks by Generals Ashby and Evans in late 1861. He had most certainly joined them by February of 1862, when six men from Company P drowned when their boat capsized while attempting to stretch a rope across the Potomac River.

The 28th enjoyed much success over the coming months, recapturing Bolivar Heights, taking London Heights, holding in check the much larger forces of General A. P. Hill, frustrating rebel forces in Wheatland and pursuing them through Waterford to Leesburg - which they took without opposition, General Hill's forces on the run. They continued on after that, pursuing Hill's army through Virginia, a pursuit marked by long, hard marches, several skirmishes, some larger battles, and a relentless drive forward. In April, in White Plains, VA, the regiment paused to rebuild needed infrastructure: telegraph lines, bridges, railroads. Soldiers guarded the workers from rebels employing guerilla tactics in the forests and hills of the area. It was remarkable that comparatively little sickness occurred in the regiment to this point.

The health of the regiment would not last. Heavy marching and skirmishes through all weather conditions persisted through the summer. Three men died of sun-stroke after a long march. Later, they marched twenty three miles through a rain storm, wading through several heavily swollen creeks. In early September, they left Bull Run to join the Antietam campaign, marching 125 miles in two weeks, in the hottest season of the year. They arrived on the 16th, and the Battle of Antietam began on the 17th. The 28th regiment had 266 casualties. Although William F. was not among them, the severe marches to get there had left him and many others weak and sick, barely able to continue.

In his pension file, he writes that in August or September of 1862, he was "disabled by reason of exposure and severe marching through swamps and creeks and was suffering from general debility the result of colds contracted by exposure and in the line of duty." He was sent to Harpers Ferry when his regiment arrived at Loudoun Heights, VA, after the Battle of Antietam around October of 1862. In applying for his pension, William F. Chappell wrote:

"At the time of Gen. Bank's retreat from the Rappahannock to Chantilly, the weather was stormy, a great deal of rain swelling the streams until in some cases the fording was extremely difficult. The marching was almost continuous and being in wet clothes so much, not being allowed fires, and being chilled, I contracted a severe cold from which I became sick, although I continued with my Regt. from Chantilly or Second Bull Run to South Mountain and Antietam and thence back to Loudon Heights, VA, on the opposite bank of the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry, and was then I think in November 1862 sent to the Hospital at Harper's Ferry, VA, Wm. Goodman in charge where I was treated by Dr. Goodman, Dr. Longshore, and others whose names I have forgotten. In the following spring I requested to be sent to my Regt. but the surgeon in charge informed me that I was not fit for duty in the field."

During his time in Harper's Ferry, companies L, M, N, O, and his own company P were withdrawn from the 28th and instead formed into the 147th Pennsylvania Volunteers under Colonel Ario Pardee Jr.

Company E, Pennsylvania 147th Infantry Regiment

It took some time for William F. to return to duty, and when he did, he was in bad health, ill suited to heavy marching or combat. He was assigned to work in the commissary, a light duty assignment to which he was better suited. The position may have come with a promotion, as he is listed as a corporal at this time, and according to his pension file, he was also allowed a horse to help him to get around. Eventually, he was appointed acting sergeant of the commissary.

The 147th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was formed near Harper's Ferry, but soon left that area for Fairfax Court House, arriving just after the Battle of Fredericksburg. They wintered in Staffords Court House, before moving on to join the campaign at Chancellorsville. At Chancellorsville, the regiment incurred some casualties, and was forced to withdraw. It's next major engagement was Gettysburg. William F. most likely didn't travel with the regiment due to his health and assignment to the commissary, hence his exclusion from the memorial plaque.

On 1 July 1863, the regiment arrived at the field along Baltimore Pike, and took position to the right of Round Top. Before daylight it was relieved, and moved with it's division into position on Culp's Hill. When they moved to return to Round Top, they found it had been taken by the rebels.

"The One Hundred and Forty-seventh was formed with the Seventh Ohio on its right, the Fifth Ohio on its left, and an open field, of triangular shape skirted by a low stone-wall running diagonally between the two lines, in its front. The battle opened on that part of the field at daylight, and until ten o'clock A. M., the firing was incessant, fresh ammunition being brought up and distributed to the men as the supply became exhausted. The enemy made repeated charges upon the line, but was as often swept back with fearful slaughter, the men withholding their fire until he was at close range. Finally, broken and dispirited, he was driven, and the ground lost during the absence of the troops on the previous evening, was re-gained."

The next day, they buried their dead, enemy fire passing overhead. After the battle, they retreated to Virginia.

The regiment fought on through the rest of the summer and into winter, moving eventually into Chattanooga, then later to Wauhatchie for the winter. On 29 December, many of the men re-enlisted and returned home on veteran furlough. William F. may also have done this, had he been eligible. But his poor health disqualified him, and so on 1 Jan 1864 in Bridgeport, Alabama, he was honorably discharged, and returned home.

After the War

After returning from the war, William Frederick started a family. On 23 Oct 1864, William married Emma Lentz (b. 1843, d. 1928). Emma was the daughter of William Andrew Lentz and Rebecca Shetsline. The Lentz family came to the US from Beutelsbach, Germany, near Stuttgart, in the mid-1700's, not long before the American Revolutionary War. There's an excellent genealogy that traces the Lentz' back to the mid-1600's; Emma doesn't appear on it, but her father does. Using the German Online Heritage Books, I've been able to trace the family back further still, into the mid-1500's.

William and Emma had nine children together: William, Emma, Charles, Walter, Philip, Florence, Elmer, Lewis, and Clarence. They moved around Philadelphia quite a bit in the ensuing years. In his pension files, he lists several addresses in Philadelphia: N. 2nd Street, Frankford and Norris, Tulip and Dauphin, Otis above Belgrade, Richmond above Norris, and others. This is likely due to his apparent financial troubles ... his disabilities from the war and continued bad luck afterwards left him struggling to work enough to put food on his table for him and his family.

Sun, Dec 11, 1892 – Page 14 · The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America) · Newspapers.com He remained in contact with many of the men he served with. The 28th and 147th held a reunion in 1871. He also joined the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization for Union soldiers and a forerunner of organizations such as the American Legion. He may have served as an officer in Post 7 in the 1890's.

But even as he grew his family and maintained an active social life, it is clear that his health was continually declining. He is described after the war as being about 5 feet 6 inches in height, and weighing between 100 and 110 pounds. Often, he is described as being in poor health and emaciated. It is clear that he struggled in his daily life. He writes in his pension file:

"After reaching home, I was not able to do anything, until April 1865 I started a small produce store on 2nd St. above Brown, but being sick a good part of the time, and not able to hire any one I gave the business up, after I think some six or eight months."

After giving up the produce store, he went on to try several jobs: he sold Patent Pump through New Jersey; sold wines, liquors, and vinegar cider through Philadelphia; canvassed for the sale of books, and other articles. He writes, "but I lost so much time on account of bad health that I made but a precarious living." Around 1869 he become a bartender for his father in-law's place. And for at least one summer, in 1883, he and his wife rented out a cottage on the corner of Atlantic and Georgia in Atlantic City, NJ:

Sat, Jun 16, 1883 – Page 5 · The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com

Later, he worked at a mill, and stuck with that job for 12-13 years. After, he obtained a job at Keystone Wall Paper Co. where he was severely injured, as described in an 1892 affadavit:

"on or about the 22nd day of September 1885, at the Keystone Wallpaper Co. Hancock & Putname St, Phila., PA, he incurred injury of right leg in the following manner. Was caught between the door and post of elevator, crushing and breaking the bone of right thigh in two places and the shortening of leg one inch."

Wed, Sep 23, 1885 – Page 3 · The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

The process of applying for a pension looks to have been tedious. It required personal accounts, and affadavits from commanding officers, doctors, neighbors, clergymen. His pension file has a ton of such affadavits. One, by William F. Stewart in 1890, writes of William "at that time [in 1873] he was suffering with chronic complaints of the bowels and kidneys and an apparent bronchial affection which was very noticeable in his voice he was very much emaciated and apparently physically weak at that time." Other affadavits confirm this throughout the late 1800's. William Vandegrift, EP Brownell, William H. Remer, Hutchinson J Stackhouse, and others who knew him before the war describe his poor health, specifically mentioning his chronic diarrhea. Likely, the detailed affidavits were needed because earlier pension applications had been rejected due to vagueness and a failure to mention specific ailments. His employer at Keystone Wall Paper Company remarked in one affidavit that William F. frequently missed work due to poor health. He stated that he retained William F. more for his mechanical knowledge than for his ability to put in a full day's work. Eventually, he was approved for a pension of $8 per month - at this writing, that is the equivalent of less than $230 per month.

William F. applied several times for an increase in pension. Each application included a set of doctor's notes. Normally, they attributed his weakness and inability to work to poor nutrition due to chronic diarrhea - and although left unsaid, also due to living near the poverty line. Each one described a laundry list of ailments: indications of rheumatism and heart failure, chronic diarrhea, disease of lungs, right leg crushed, frequent disability on account of pain, and frequent attacks of lumbago and neuralgia. Generally, his efforts resulted in no increase.

Occasionally, though, a request was granted. On the paperwork for one such increase in 1905, wherein his pension was increased to $10, I noticed that his list of ailments was growing. Poor sight and senile debility are perhaps to be expected, but there was something else wholly unexpected: three broken ribs. It took some research, but I finally discovered the cause.

On August 17, 1891, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that "William Frederick Chappell ... had three broken ribs in the Egg Harbor City accident." The "Egg Harbor City accident" may seem vague now, but I quickly learned that it must refer to a train collision that occurred two days before, on the night of August 15². The Camden Daily Courier described the collision: "By the collision of two trains on the Reading Railroad's Atlantic City road at Egg Harbor last night, a number of people were severely injured and both trains wrecked. The collision was between the six o'clock express from Camden and a freight from Atlantic City, the locomotives crashing into each other head on. There is little doubt but that the accident was caused by the refusal of the air brakes to work." The article goes on to describe people jumping off the train and the actual train wreck, in horrifying detail. William didn't appear on the injury list in that article, but was noted the following day in the article cited above. With the severity of the accident and the generally poor health of William, it's incredible that he didn't fare much worse!³

He died on 5 March 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of apoplexy, and was buried there in North Cedar Hill Cemetery, a historic cemetery in the Frankford section of Philadelphia. I visited there in 2017. The cemetery is very old, and hasn't fared well over the years. A number of stones have fallen or sit at odd angles. Understandable, perhaps: the stones dated back into the 1800s. I managed to obtain a map showing where William F. and various members of his family are located. I found the spot, but sadly there are no markers for his wife or other family that I could find. The lone marker I could find is barely legible, age having taken a harsh toll on it. Although I can't be certain, I believe that this marker is his - you can make out the C easily in the picture, and although it's not easy to tell in the picture, in person it looked to me like the rest of the name is there. Given the hard life that William F. had, it's maybe fitting that his stone has had a hard life as well.

The Children of William Frederick and Emma

William Frederick and Emma had nine children together:

• William Alexander Chappell, born 1865, died 1935, married Emma Henry
• Emma R Chappell, born 1866, died after 1940, married William Corbett Eldridge
• Charles L Chappell, born 1868, died 1870
• Walter Chappell, born 1870, died 1872
• Philip Miller Chappell, born 1872, died before 1940?, married Katherine Kirn
• Florence Chappell, born 1873, died 1916, married Robert Grant Rinedollar
• Elmer Chappell, born 1875, died 1881
• Lewis O Chappell, born 1880, died before 1898
• Clarence William Chappell, born 1884, died 1956

Margaret Willett (ca. 1808 - 1876)

Margaret Willett, the wife of William Chappell and my 3x great-grandmother, was born somewhere around 1808. She married William on 18 March 1832 at the Old St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and had at least five children. She lived the majority of her life in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, moving with her husband to Hunterdon County, New Jersey for a few years in the 1860's before moving to N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After her husband died, she moved in with her son, William Frederick Chappell, and his family. She died on 5 July 1876, her passage marked by a one line note in the Philadelphia Inquirer. And, like her husband, she was buried in American Mechanics Cemetery on July 9, 1876, in a plot owned by John H Chappell.

Margaret's life before she married William is somewhat of a mystery. Birth records for that period are hard to come by, and census records prior to 1850 list only the head of household and so they are of little help. Church records can be useful for that time period, but without other corroborating records it can be hard to definitively tie any particular record to a particular person, especially if there are multiple people with the same or a similar name, as is the case here: there are a lot of Willett's. There have been some genealogies written over the years that cover the period that Margaret and her parents lived, but none that I've found so far include this Margaret Willett.

A Bit of Willett History

Willett Coat of Arms at the
Fort Anne Museum in
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

The first Willett to come to the New World was Thomas Willett, sometime before 1643. He was an English soldier in the employ of the West India Company, and participated in Kieft's War, an effort by the Dutch to drive out the Native American population. He died in 1647, leaving two sons, William (b. 1643) and Thomas (b. 1645).

Beyond William and Thomas, the Willett genealogy becomes very complex and muddled. Although William had no known offspring, Thomas (b. 1645) had a large number of children, and each of them had a large number of children, and so on. The names William, Thomas, John, Sarah, Margaret, and others were all used and sometimes reused in every Willett family. And although many genealogies have been written about parts of the Willett family, often times there is conflicting, erroneous data with no source records to aid in resolution. So tho it is clear that my Margaret must have descended from Thomas (b. 1645), the line of parentage is not at all clear.

Regardless of the difficulties in tracing Margaret's (or my own) relationship to them, there are a few Willet's of historical significance that should be mentioned. By the time of the American War of Independence, there were a lot of Willett's inhabiting New York and Pennsylvania. Some Willett's chose to be Loyalists, remaining loyal to the British crown and in some cases withdrawing to Nova Scotia, Canada. The Coat of Arms on this page was donated by a descendant of one such loyalist. Other Willett's, including those I mention below, were Patriots that helped to secure American independence and afterwards, to govern the newborn country.

Marinus Willett

Marinus Willett was the great grandson of Thomas Willett (1645), born 31 July 1740 in Jamaica, New York. He served in the French and Indian War, and took part in the disastrous (for the British) expedition of General James Abercrombie to Fort Ticonderoga in 1758. He joined the Sons of Liberty, and when the US Revolutionary War broke out, joined the Continental Army with a commission of Captain. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and in 1778 joined General Washington's main army. After the war, he continued serving in the military for a number of years, and eventually was elected the 48th Mayor of New York City. Willett Street in Manhattan's lower east side is named for him.

Augustine Willett

Augustine Willett, a cousin of Marinus Willett, also served during the US Revolutionary War. At the outbreak of the war, Augustine took the oath of allegiance and raised an army at his own expense, which served in many battles including the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. He remained involved in military affairs after the war, holding many positions including as a Captain of the Bucks County Dragoons in 1793. He also served in the Whiskey Insurrection in 1794. His time in the Dragoons and particularly his service in the Whiskey Insurrection are of particular note to me: Thomas Chappell, the father of Margaret's husband William Chappell, also served as a Dragoon (though in Philadelphia, not Bucks County), and served in the Whiskey Insurrection. Alas, though Augustine has a daughter, Margaret, she was born sometime between 1700 and 1799, too soon to be William's wife. But a granddaughter or a niece? Maybe.

The Children of William and Margaret

William and Margaret had several children together:

• John Thompson Chappell, born 1831, died 1915, married Angeline Scull
• William Frederick Chappell, born 1836, died 1917, married Emma Lentz
• Emma Chappell, born 1839, died 1866, married Willard Ward
• Charles L Chappell, born about 1842, died 1866
• Margaret Chappell, born 1845, died 1862
• Noah Chappell (maybe), born about 1849, died after 1860

Three of their children - John Thompson, William Frederick, and Charles L - served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

William Chappell (1800 - 1870)

One of the first things I learned about my ancestry is that there are a lot of William Chappell's! There are 13 of them that I've found so far, going back to the year 1800. For this post, I'm going to focus on the oldest that I've found so far, born in about 1800.

William Chappell, my 3x great-grandfather, was born about 1800 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas Chappell and Mary Walton (though there are some discrepancies in the records - more on that in another post). He married Margaret Willett on 18 March 1832 at the Old St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and had at least five children. On censuses in 1850 and 1860, he is listed as a farmer, though Philadelphia City Guides after 1865 list him as a broom maker. Broom making appears to have been a family trade - two brothers and a nephew were also broom makers. He died on 5 May 1870 from chronic diarrhea, marked with a simple death notice in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

William lived most of his life in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. He appears to have been a horse owner, from an ad that ran in the Philadelphia Public Ledger in 1839. The property on the Bristol Turnpike mentioned in the ad was apparently sold in 1859 to Charles Walton of the Byberry Waltons (a topic for another post) for $865. William and Margaret moved then to Kingwood, New Jersey, to live with his brother Thomas for a time. Sometime before 1865, they moved to a place on North 2nd Street in Philadelphia, where he lived the remainder of his life. He was buried in American Mechanics Cemetery, where he would be to this day if they hadn't turned the cemetery into low income housing.

American Mechanics Cemetery

American Mechanics Cemetery was a cemetery founded in the mid-19th century in a then-rural area of Philadelphia, at 22nd and Diamond Streets. After the Civil War, urban sprawl reclaimed the rural areas outside the city, including the area around American Mechanics Cemetery and other nearby cemeteries. One hundred years later, the cemetery had been neglected and fallen into serious disrepair, and was considered no longer suitable for a final, eternal resting place. So in 1950, the Cemetery Association voted to sell it to the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

PHA bid out the relocation, and the bodies were to be removed and reinterred to Philadelphia Memorial Park in Frazer, Chester. When they started building the Raymond Rosen Housing Project though, they found that not all the remains had been moved, not by a long shot. As more bodies were found, they were moved to a mass grave at Lawnview Cemetery in Rockledge. Even years later, after the Raymond Rosen towers were torn down and a playground and school were in their place, more bodies were found. The poor handling of the graves speaks to the corruption of the era when it came to handling cemeteries that stood in the way of "progress."

The poor handling of the graves has made finding the final resting place of your ancestors extremely difficult; there are really no records of who went where, or where their new plots are, that is if they weren't relocated to a mass grave.

There are records from their original burial tho. The Chester County Historical Society came into possession of a bunch of boxes of original records. If you think you have a relative that was buried there, you might at least be able to get a little more information. The record here for William, for example, gave me a big clue about the rest of William's siblings. For a long time, William Chappell (1800) wasn't just the oldest William Chappell in my family tree, he was the oldest Chappell. This record gave me a hint about the rest of his family - the plot was owned by John H Chappell, who is not one of William's children or any other relation that I had come across at that time. I've since learned that he is William's oldest brother; this record was an early clue about William's own ancestry.

References:

• A Journey Into the Past blog
• Find A Grave entry for American Mechanics Cemetery
• Old Images of Philadelphia

The 1860 Census

The 1860 census that William appears on has presented a few mysteries, a few of which have been cleared up but one that still remains.

The first mystery - and one that initially kept me from even accepting this record as being for "my" William - was this: what is he doing in Hunterdon County, NJ? Every other record I had found to that point showed him living in Pennsylvania, and I had records from both before and after 1860. But, combined with what I now know about his property sale from "Byberry Waltons : an account of four English brothers, Nathaniel & Thomas & Daniel & William Walton", moving to NJ at that time makes a bit of sense.

But who he moved in with is the second mystery - who is Thomas Chappell? I had assumed it must be a brother, but, as with the cemetery record, I had no real concrete evidence of that. I have since learned it was in fact his older brother, but I'll talk about that when I write about William's father, Thomas Chappell.

Finally, who is Noah? He is grouped with other children of William, so presumably he is a child of William. But, there's no other record of him that I've been able to locate. Someday, hopefully, I'll be able to uncover who he really is, but for now, he remains a mystery.

A bonus mystery on this census is, who is the 25 year old William? He may be William's (1800) child, but I think it is more likely that he is a child of Thomas, because of where he is in the list, and the fact that he was born in NJ. Sadly, it has been tough to piece together much information about Thomas to this point.

The Children of William and Margaret

William and Margaret had several children together:

• John Thompson Chappell, born 1831, died 1915, married Angeline Scull
• William Frederick Chappell, born 1836, died 1917, married Emma Lentz
• Emma Chappell, born 1839, died 1866, married Willard Ward
• Charles L Chappell, born about 1842, died 1866
• Margaret Chappell, born 1845, died 1862
• Noah Chappell (maybe), born about 1849, died after 1860

Three of their children - John Thompson, William Frederick, and Charles L - served in the Union Army during the Civil War. I hope to tell their stories soon.

Welcome to ChappellGenes

Up until I took a DNA test, I thought I knew a decent amount about my ancestry. I knew I had some bits of German, French, Swedish, and miscellaneous others, and I knew of a few great aunts and uncles and some second cousins, and I had a story or two of older ancestors. Then I took a DNA test. I found a second cousin I didn't know and a huge amount of ancestors I had no idea about: from Civil War soldiers to scribes, train engineers to broom makers. Founders of counties, owners of important real estate, Huguenots, shop keepers, jewelers, and bartenders. The more ancestors I find, the more there is to find.

The more I dig into my ancestry, the bigger my family tree gets, the more I realize I don't want it to just sit around collecting digital dust in a tree somewhere. There are stories to be told, and I want to try to tell them. Out here, in my own little corner of the interwebs. I hope to post about some of the more interesting people, and about some of the things I've learned about along the way. I hope you enjoy it.