Breaking Down a Brick Wall: Susan Rood's Parents ~ Part 1

My New Year's Resolution for January 2025 was to spend the year working on identifying the parents of my third great grandmother, Susan (Rood) Chapin, using the Research Like a Pro process.

I succeeded! And I will share how I did in in a series of blog posts over the next several weeks.

I first shared information about this "brick wall" in 2011 with this sampler, created by my second great-grandmother, Susan Arville (Chapin) Adsit (1820-1906).

I have written several blog posts about what I previously knew about Susan Rood:

Chapin Family Sampler (November 2011)

Susan Rood's Parents  (July 2012)

Susan Rood Chapin (July 2015) 

And a few posts about her husband, Orramel Chapin:

Orramel Chapin Moving West Part 1 and Part 2 (July 2012)

Orramel Chapin-Boarding House Keeper (January 2019)

A quick summary: I knew that Susan Rood and Orramel Chapin married on September 17, 1816 (date from the sampler). Their marriage intention was recorded on August 20, 1816, in Ludlow, Massachusetts (Ludlow, Massachusetts, Town Records, Vol. 1, p. 427, Chapin-Rood marriage intention, 20 August 1816, at FamilySearch). 

Simeon Chapin in the Revolution

Simeon Chapin (another of my 5th great-grandfathers and a great-great-grandson of Deacon Samuel Chapin) was born on August 20, 1739, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. He married Lucy Doolittle in 1765.

The DAR Genealogical Research Database indicates that Simeon (DAR Ancestor# A020811) served as a captain under Captain (Ephraim) Chapin, whom I wrote about last month.

Service:  Massachusetts  Rank(s):  Lieutenant
Birth:  8-20-1739 Northfield Hampshire Co Massachusetts
Death:  5-20-1799 Springfield Hampshire Co Massachusetts
Service Source:  MA Sols & Sails, Vol 3, pp 319-320  
Service Description:  1) Second Lieutenant in Capt Chapin's Co; Capt Burt, Col Porter

 

Again, we return to the multi-volume Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War for this additional Revolutionary War Chapin ancestor.

Ephraim Chapin in the Revolution

My 5th great-grandfather, Ephraim Chapin, a great-grandson of Deacon Samuel Chapin, a founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, was born on October 28, 1729, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He married in 1755 his second cousin once removed, Jemima Chapin (a great-great-granddaughter of Deacon Samuel Chapin).

The 1924 Gilbert Chapin genealogy reports that Ephraim was a captain in the French and Indian War, and was at Ticonderoga (which doesn't quite fit the timeline of his enlistment - see below).

The DAR Genealogical Research Database indicates that Ephraim (DAR Ancestor# A020751) served as a captain under Colonel Ruggles Woodbridge. 

Service:  Massachusetts  Rank(s):  Captain
Birth:  10-29-1729 Springfield Hampshire Co Massachusetts
Death:  10-12-1805 Springfield Hampshire Co Massachusetts
Service Source:  MA Sols & Sails, Vol 3, p 310  
Service Description:  1) Col Ruggles Woodbridge, 8th Co, 1st Regt, Militia

 

I wrote about the multi-volume Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War at Stephen Lowell in the Revolution. I returned to this to find my Chapin ancestor.

There are 15 pages of men with the surname Chapin!

Daniel Ashby in the Revolution

My 4th great-grandfather, Daniel Ashby, son of Captain Stephen Ashby served in the Revolution.

His DAR Ancestor# is 203307 and his service is summarized:

Service: Virginia  Rank(s): Ensign
Birth:  8-30-1759 Frederick Co Virginia
Death:  9-13-1836 Hopkins Co Kentucky
Pension Number:  *S14927
Service Source:  *S14927
Service Description:  1) Capts Daniel Richardson, Wilton, Thomas Neal; Cols Glenn, Vanmetre

Daniel Ashby's service is reported in his 16-page pension file, found at Fold3. 

Page 2 of Daniel Ashby's pension file

This page of Daniel Ashby's pension file summarizes his service (see below) and reports his pension information:

Inscribed on the Roll of Kentucky-
at the rate of 110 Dollars - Cents per annum
to commence on the 4th day of March 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 16th day of Nov
1832 and sent to Samuel
Woodson, Madisonville, Ky

Arrears to 4th of Sept 1832 -    165
Semi=anl. allowance ending 4   55
March 1833                             $220

Revolutionary Claim Act June 7, 1832

Information about his service: 

Stephen Lowell in the Revolution

My 5th great-grandfather, Stephen Lowell was born in 1728 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, to Stephen and Miriam (Collins) Lowell. He married Agnes Bolton in 1753 in Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine, and ultimately settled in Buckfield, Maine (formerly in Cumberland County, now in Oxford County).

There are a couple of Cumberland County deeds in 1758 and 1759, showing that he purchased different pieces of land in Falmouth, Maine, and at least one from his father-in-law, Thomas Bolton. One of the deeds identifies Agnes Lowell as the daughter of Thomas Bolton. (It looks like there were at least two men by the name of Stephen Lowell in this area of Maine at this time.) When Stephen is mentioned in these deeds, he is identified as a cordwainer (a shoe maker), probably to distinguish him from a man of the same name (and about the same age) who was a mariner.

He was presumably living a quiet life in Maine as the conflict with Great Britain came to a head in the 1770s when he was in his 40s.  

The DAR Genealogical Research Database indicates that Stephen (DAR Ancestor# A072118) served as a private under Captain Benjamin Hooper. 

Service:  Massachusetts  Rank(s):  Private 
Birth:  10-6-1728 Amesbury Essex Co Massachusetts
Death:  6-15-1801 Buckfield Cumberland Co Maine Dist Massachusetts
Service Source:  MA Sols & Sails, Vol 9, p 1042  
Service Description:  1) Capt Benjamin Hooper

 

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War is a multi-volume compiled service record published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts between 1896 and 1908. It was created to document the military participation of Massachusetts men who served in the American Revolutionary War, drawing primarily from original muster rolls, pay rolls, enlistment papers, and other contemporaneous military records held by the state.

For genealogists, the series serves as a foundational reference rather than definitive proof. It confirms Revolutionary War–era service attributed to Massachusetts and often points researchers toward original records or additional pension and land records. However, because spellings vary and abstracts may omit context, entries should be corroborated with original documents whenever possible.

Remember that at this time, Maine was part of Massachusetts, so this is now known as Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine. The Wikipedia page for Falmouth, Maine provides some history of the town, noting that the majority of the first permanent European inhabitants to the town came after 1740, quickly growing to "62 families." They formed their own parish in 1753 (currently the Falmouth Congregational Church), the year that Stephen Lowell married Agnes Bolton. The population of Falmouth would hover between 1,000 and 2,000 residents for the next two centuries. These residents engaged in farming, fishing, and harvesting masts.