Orramel Chapin Moving West Part 1

Orramel Chapin (1791 - 1866) is my 3rd great grandfather. HIS 3rd great grandfather was Deacon Samuel Chapin (1598 - 1675), a prominent early settler of Springfield, Massachusetts, who has an entry on Wikipedia. With basic records, mostly census records from Ancestry.com, I'm able to track his westward migration.

Orramel's birth is recorded in the Springfield Vital Records:

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620-1988 [database online].
Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records.
Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Image 766.

Orrimal Chapin Son of Bezaliel Cha-

pin and Thankful Chapin was born

April 5th Anno Domini 1791

FamilySearch.org has an index of the marriage record of Orimel Chapin and Susan Rood on August 20, 1816, in Ludlow, Massachusetts, but there is no image, so I'll need to order that FHL microfilm to confirm the details and see if there is any additional information in that marriage record. (This doesn't agree with the marriage date on their daughter's family sampler.)

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In 1820 (with an enumeration date of August 7), Orromel Chapin is found in Ludlow, Hampden County, Massachusetts, living next to Elijah Torrey, his widowed mother's second husband.

U.S. Federal Census records before the 1850 Census only listed the head of household and categorized the number of people living in that household by age. If a researcher knows the family well, an educated guess can be made as to who is being referenced by the numbers. My educated guesses below are [in square brackets]. The numbers in this census record indicate that the make up of the Orramel Chapin family is:

One male under the age of ten [oldest son, Orson]
One male between the ages of 26 - 45 [Orramel]
One female under the age of ten [oldest daughter, Susan Arville]
One female between the ages of 16 - 26 [wife Susan (Rood)] - She is the brick wall I blogged about previously.

The mark to the far right indicates that Orromel Chapin is a "person engaged in agriculture," that is, a farmer.

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I just found Ouramel Chapin in the 1830 U.S. Federal Census in Hartford, Connecticut.

The numbers indicate that the household has nineteen members:

One male under the age of five [Alfred Rose, born 1825]
One male between the ages of 10 - 14 [Orson, born 1816 or 1817]
One male between the ages of 15 - 19
Ten males between the ages of 20 - 29
One male between the ages of 30 - 39 [Ouramel / Orramel, born 1791]
Two females between the ages of 5 - 9 [Susan Arville, born 1820 and Jane Eliza, born 1822]
Two females between the ages of 20 - 29
One female between the ages of 30 - 39 [Susan (Rood), born 1799]

I suppose it will take some research in Connecticut to see if I can determine who else was in this household before he moved west.

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In 1840, Orramel Chapin has moved west and is enumerated in the U.S. Federal Census in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

The numbers indicate that the household has thirteen members:

One male between the ages of 10 - 14 [Alfred Rose, born 1825]
One male between the ages of 15 - 19 [Could not be Orson, as he supposedly died in 1839.]
Six males between the ages of 20 - 29
One male between the ages of 40 - 49 [Orramel, born 1791]
One female under the age of 5 [Helen, born 1838]
One female between the ages of 15 - 19 [Jane Eliza, born 1822]
One female between the ages of 20 - 29 [Susan Arville, born 1820]
One female between the ages of 40 - 49 [Susan (Rood) Chapin, born 1799]

Although there is a section on the second page to indicate what industries those in the household worked in, there are no marks on the third line for this household.

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Susan Arville Chapin married James Monroe Adsit in 1841 and remained in Chicago until her death in 1906. (See Mrs. Arville S. Chapin Adsit's Death Certificate here.) The rest of the Chapin family continued to move west.

Click here for Orramel Chapin Moving West Part 2.