Welcome Chapman
Encyclopedia
Welcome Chapman was an early Mormon leader born in Readsboro, Vermont
. Chapman was the leader of the Mormon settlers in Manti, Utah
, from 1854 to 1862, and helped broker peace between the settlers and Chief Wakara's
tribe.
, four miles down the river from fellow Mormon leader Brigham Young
. He apprenticed as a stonemason in his early teens, but because his parents deemed him "sickly," they leveraged a relative's connections to secure him a position as cook on a fishing boat. He worked both in the North Atlantic and on Lake Champlain
. The time at sea reportedly improved his health.
(New York) couple. They disapproved of the relationship because they believed his occupation was too unstable to support a family. In response, Chapman abandoned fishing and took steps toward returning to stone cutting. The Risleys relented, and Chapman married "Amelia" in about 1831.
The Chapmans made their home in a hamlet known as Hubbardsville
in Madison County, where they had four children, all daughters. The first two were twins who died in infancy.
While in Hubbardsville, they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. First Welcome joined, to which Amelia reacted harshly, declaring "You have went and joined those awful Mormons." However, she joined the church about six months later.
Because they joined the Mormons, an unpopular religion, their friends and neighbors shunned them and appeared to look down on them, the prominence of Amelia's parents notwithstanding.
The Risleys were broken-hearted over their daughter joining the Mormons, but they did not turn bitter. However, Welcome's parents disowned him. The Chapmans soon moved to a Latter Day Saint community, possibly Kirtland, Ohio
, but more likely Jackson County
and then Far West, Missouri
.
Armed mobs drove the Chapmans from their homes in Missouri and Illinois
. They built a home in Far West, Missouri
, in 1838, only to be forced from the state by order of the governor that Fall. Amelia was six months' pregnant when a mob gave the Chapmans and their Mormon neighbors a few hours to clear out before their homes would be burned. They remained in the area long enough for Amelia to carry the baby, a son, to full term. He was born two weeks after the Haun's Mill Massacre
. They soon fled to Illinois, where they built a home in Nauvoo
along the banks of the Mississippi River
and Chapman cut stone for the Nauvoo Temple
. While in Nauvoo, Amelia had three more children, all sons, one of whom died at three months.
Chapman was part of the Maid of Iowa
expedition sent in support of Joseph Smith when an armed company of men from Missouri were sent to kidnap him.
Mobs drove them from Nauvoo in 1846, when they fled with most other Nauvoo residents across the river to Iowa
, and then on to what later became known as Winter Quarters
, an unsettled area along the Missouri River
in present-day eastern Nebraska
. There, Amelia gave birth to another daughter in October 1846. Two months earlier, Brigham Young divided the Winter Quarters settlement into two "grand divisions" presided over by himself and Heber C. Kimball
, respectively. Each division had two subdivisions presided over by a foreman. Chapman was foreman of the fourth subdivision, with Hosea Stout
serving as its clerk. In the summer of 1848, the Chapmans crossed the plains with their six surviving children to what later became Utah Territory
.
in Fall 1849. About the same time, Brigham Young
asked Chapman to help colonize the Sanpitch (now Sanpete) Valley with Isaac Morley
. They arrived in November 1849 and endured a harsh winter with little shelter. Chapman was part of the first militia of Manti and used his stone cutting skills to help construct the first fort. He was also among the first group of selectmen. The young colony experienced great difficulties, but gradually began to prosper.
On April 30, 1851, Brigham Young called Chapman to be part of the first High Council
of the Manti Area Branch in Manti, Utah
. On July 8, 1854, the High Council installed Chapman as the colony leader, replacing Isaac Morley
, who had been "called to Salt Lake." The next day, the settlers unanimously approved him as their leader. Later that month, on July 27, a stake
was organized and Chapman was chosen as its president. That same day, the Mormons baptized (or rebaptized) Chief Wakara
into the LDS Church in Manti's City Creek, along with 120 other members of his tribe (103 males, 17 females).
Amelia was born into a family of seven girls and five boys on a flax
farm in upstate New York
. Her mother taught the girls reading and mathematics, as well as how to cord, spin and weave wool and linen. When the Chapmans first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Amelia turned most of the housework over to her 12- and 14-year-old daughters while she focused on weaving linsey-woolsey
cloth, which the young community badly needed. Contemporary accounts consider Amelia an excellent cook and housekeeper and an authority on herbal medicine. She served as a practical doctor and nurse to "neighbors for many miles around" and as a midwife. She assisted in the births of some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was more educated than her husband, which helped him during his active public life. After the Chapmans relocated to Manti, Brigham Young and other authorities from Salt Lake made the Chapman home, which was better furnished than most neighbors, their headquarters when visiting Sanpete.
After Wakara died in 1855, his brother, Arapeen, succeeded him as war chief. Although the brief Wakara War was over, tensions between the Mormons and the Ute Indians in Sanpete still existed. In early 1857 Arapeen reported having a vision in which Wakara came to him with a message of peace. In the vision Wakara specifically instructed him to pass this message on to Chapman and two others. B.H. Roberts believed it was the peace that ensued that enabled Arapeen to accompany Brigham Young on an expedition to present-day Idaho, where Young made peace with the Bannocks
.
In Manti, Chapman practiced plural marriage
. He married Ann Mackey on October 5, 1855, and Catherine Stainer on March 5, 1856. He had a large family with each of these women, in addition to the family he had with Amelia. (He also possibly married two women who left him shortly thereafter.) Chapman was a founding owner of the San Pete Coal Company, incorporated by act of the Territorial Legislature on January 8, 1856.
After serving as the leader in Manti for eight years, Brigham Young called him to Salt Lake City to cut stone for the Salt Lake Temple
, where Chapman often worked with a son at his side. At one point he worked alongside seven of them. He helped build the temple, "from the bottom to the top," through at least 1880, including during times the church could not pay. He earned supplemental income in Salt Lake City by cutting and hauling wood to Fort Douglas, where he sold it to the soldiers.
In either late November or early December 1893, at the age of 88, Chapman reportedly rode a horse bareback for three miles to build a chimney on the house of his third wife, Catherine. Chilled through after building the chimney and riding home again through the cold, he developed pneumonia
. He died soon after in Fountain Green, Utah
on December 9, 1893, and was buried in Manti
.
Readsboro, Vermont
Readsboro is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for John Reade, a landholder. The population was 809 at the 2000 census...
. Chapman was the leader of the Mormon settlers in Manti, Utah
Manti, Utah
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,040 people, 930 households, and 742 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,560.2 people per square mile . There were 1,010 housing units at an average density of 518.3 per square mile...
, from 1854 to 1862, and helped broker peace between the settlers and Chief Wakara's
Wakara
Chief Walkara was a Native American leader of the Timpanogos Tribe, with a reputation as a diplomat, horseman and warrior, and a military leader in the Walker War.- Timpanogos leader :...
tribe.
Childhood
Chapman was born in 1805 in Readsboro, VermontReadsboro, Vermont
Readsboro is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for John Reade, a landholder. The population was 809 at the 2000 census...
, four miles down the river from fellow Mormon leader Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
. He apprenticed as a stonemason in his early teens, but because his parents deemed him "sickly," they leveraged a relative's connections to secure him a position as cook on a fishing boat. He worked both in the North Atlantic and on Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
. The time at sea reportedly improved his health.
Marriage and Conversion
In between fishing expeditions he met Susan Amelia Risley (1807-1888), daughter of a prominent Madison CountyMadison County, New York
Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 73,442. It is named after James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America...
(New York) couple. They disapproved of the relationship because they believed his occupation was too unstable to support a family. In response, Chapman abandoned fishing and took steps toward returning to stone cutting. The Risleys relented, and Chapman married "Amelia" in about 1831.
The Chapmans made their home in a hamlet known as Hubbardsville
Hamilton (town), New York
Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 5,733 at the 2000 census. The town is named after American patriot Alexander Hamilton....
in Madison County, where they had four children, all daughters. The first two were twins who died in infancy.
Because they joined the Mormons, an unpopular religion, their friends and neighbors shunned them and appeared to look down on them, the prominence of Amelia's parents notwithstanding.
The Risleys were broken-hearted over their daughter joining the Mormons, but they did not turn bitter. However, Welcome's parents disowned him. The Chapmans soon moved to a Latter Day Saint community, possibly Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
, but more likely Jackson County
Jackson County, Missouri
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
and then Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri, was a Latter Day Saint settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri.-Foundation and early history:The town was founded by Missouri Mormon leaders, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer in August 1836 shortly before the county's creation. The town was platted originally as a square area,...
.
Armed mobs drove the Chapmans from their homes in Missouri and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. They built a home in Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri, was a Latter Day Saint settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri.-Foundation and early history:The town was founded by Missouri Mormon leaders, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer in August 1836 shortly before the county's creation. The town was platted originally as a square area,...
, in 1838, only to be forced from the state by order of the governor that Fall. Amelia was six months' pregnant when a mob gave the Chapmans and their Mormon neighbors a few hours to clear out before their homes would be burned. They remained in the area long enough for Amelia to carry the baby, a son, to full term. He was born two weeks after the Haun's Mill Massacre
Haun's Mill massacre
The Haun's Mill massacre was an event in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. It occurred on October 30, 1838 when a mob/militia unit from Livingston County attacked a Mormon settlement in eastern Caldwell County, Missouri, United States, after the Battle of Crooked River...
. They soon fled to Illinois, where they built a home in Nauvoo
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
along the banks of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and Chapman cut stone for the Nauvoo Temple
Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States in 1836. When the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in the...
. While in Nauvoo, Amelia had three more children, all sons, one of whom died at three months.
Maid of Iowa
The Maid of Iowa was a steamboat first owned and captained by Dan Jones . It was first launched in 1842, and was used as a passenger ship on the Mississippi river...
expedition sent in support of Joseph Smith when an armed company of men from Missouri were sent to kidnap him.
Mobs drove them from Nauvoo in 1846, when they fled with most other Nauvoo residents across the river to Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and then on to what later became known as Winter Quarters
Winter Quarters, Nebraska
Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary tent settlement some 3½ miles west at Cutler's Park. The...
, an unsettled area along the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
in present-day eastern Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. There, Amelia gave birth to another daughter in October 1846. Two months earlier, Brigham Young divided the Winter Quarters settlement into two "grand divisions" presided over by himself and Heber C. Kimball
Heber C. Kimball
Heber Chase Kimball was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Latter Day Saint church, and as first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his...
, respectively. Each division had two subdivisions presided over by a foreman. Chapman was foreman of the fourth subdivision, with Hosea Stout
Hosea Stout
Hosea Stout was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Mormon pioneer, and a lawyer and politician in Utah Territory....
serving as its clerk. In the summer of 1848, the Chapmans crossed the plains with their six surviving children to what later became Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
.
Settling Utah
The Chapmans had their final child, a son named Welcome Chapman, Jr., in the Salt Lake ValleySalt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
in Fall 1849. About the same time, Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
asked Chapman to help colonize the Sanpitch (now Sanpete) Valley with Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement and a contemporary of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. He was one of the first converts to Smith's Church of Christ...
. They arrived in November 1849 and endured a harsh winter with little shelter. Chapman was part of the first militia of Manti and used his stone cutting skills to help construct the first fort. He was also among the first group of selectmen. The young colony experienced great difficulties, but gradually began to prosper.
High council (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, a high council is one of several different governing bodies that have existed in the church hierarchy on many Latter-day Saint denominations...
of the Manti Area Branch in Manti, Utah
Manti, Utah
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,040 people, 930 households, and 742 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,560.2 people per square mile . There were 1,010 housing units at an average density of 518.3 per square mile...
. On July 8, 1854, the High Council installed Chapman as the colony leader, replacing Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement and a contemporary of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. He was one of the first converts to Smith's Church of Christ...
, who had been "called to Salt Lake." The next day, the settlers unanimously approved him as their leader. Later that month, on July 27, a stake
Stake (Mormonism)
A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations...
was organized and Chapman was chosen as its president. That same day, the Mormons baptized (or rebaptized) Chief Wakara
Wakara
Chief Walkara was a Native American leader of the Timpanogos Tribe, with a reputation as a diplomat, horseman and warrior, and a military leader in the Walker War.- Timpanogos leader :...
into the LDS Church in Manti's City Creek, along with 120 other members of his tribe (103 males, 17 females).
Amelia was born into a family of seven girls and five boys on a flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
farm in upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. Her mother taught the girls reading and mathematics, as well as how to cord, spin and weave wool and linen. When the Chapmans first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Amelia turned most of the housework over to her 12- and 14-year-old daughters while she focused on weaving linsey-woolsey
Linsey-woolsey
Linsey-woolsey is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woollen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey. The name derives form a combination of linen and woollen...
cloth, which the young community badly needed. Contemporary accounts consider Amelia an excellent cook and housekeeper and an authority on herbal medicine. She served as a practical doctor and nurse to "neighbors for many miles around" and as a midwife. She assisted in the births of some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was more educated than her husband, which helped him during his active public life. After the Chapmans relocated to Manti, Brigham Young and other authorities from Salt Lake made the Chapman home, which was better furnished than most neighbors, their headquarters when visiting Sanpete.
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...
.
In Manti, Chapman practiced plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
. He married Ann Mackey on October 5, 1855, and Catherine Stainer on March 5, 1856. He had a large family with each of these women, in addition to the family he had with Amelia. (He also possibly married two women who left him shortly thereafter.) Chapman was a founding owner of the San Pete Coal Company, incorporated by act of the Territorial Legislature on January 8, 1856.
After serving as the leader in Manti for eight years, Brigham Young called him to Salt Lake City to cut stone for the Salt Lake Temple
Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...
, where Chapman often worked with a son at his side. At one point he worked alongside seven of them. He helped build the temple, "from the bottom to the top," through at least 1880, including during times the church could not pay. He earned supplemental income in Salt Lake City by cutting and hauling wood to Fort Douglas, where he sold it to the soldiers.
In either late November or early December 1893, at the age of 88, Chapman reportedly rode a horse bareback for three miles to build a chimney on the house of his third wife, Catherine. Chilled through after building the chimney and riding home again through the cold, he developed pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He died soon after in Fountain Green, Utah
Fountain Green, Utah
Fountain Green is a city in Sanpete County, Utah, United States. The population was 945 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Fountain Green is located at ....
on December 9, 1893, and was buried in Manti
Manti, Utah
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,040 people, 930 households, and 742 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,560.2 people per square mile . There were 1,010 housing units at an average density of 518.3 per square mile...
.
Other sources
- Stubbs, Glen R. History of construction of the Manti Temple, 8
- Early Latter-day Saints project at http://earlylds.com/getperson.php?personID=I5644&tree=Earlylds