History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky, ed.
by William Henry Perrin,  O. L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1882.  p. 738.
[Nicholas County]  [Carlisle City and Precinct]

JAMES A. CHAPPELL, Carlisle.  The subject of this sketch was born near
Carlisle, within one mile of Old Concord Church on the 11th day of Sept.,
1823.  He was named for James Augustus, in honor of his grandfather James
and uncle Augustus W. Chappell.  Received a fair English education under
such excellent teachers as his father, Elder John Rogers, and one or two
others.  At the close of the year 1837, James entered the dry goods store
of John McMahan, upon the modest salary of $15.00 per year.  If this sum
should seem small, let it be borne in mind that the sales of his employers
did not reach $5,000 per annum.  In this service he remained during the
years 1838 and '39.  At the close of '39 he was succeeded by Willis Sims,
and James A. went home to again enter school.  But on the first day of
April, 1840, he again left home, and for the last time, and took position
with Mr. J. F. Tureman, the leading dry goods merchant of Carlisle, at a
salary of $100 per annum.  In this position he remained until July 1, 1845,
when through the kindness of his employer, and Mr. Willis L. Parker, of
Philadelphia, a clerkship was secured for him in the wholesale dry goods
house of Sparing, Good & Co., 138 Market Street, Philadelphia, at a
salary of $600 per annum.  This situation was held but a few months, for
on returning to Carlisle on the 9th of November, same year, to travel in
the interest of his house, he was offered a partnership by his old friend
and employer, Mr. Tureman, which he accepted at once.  January 1, 1846, a
partnership was formed with Mr. Tureman, J. A. Chappell and Joseph M.
Tureman, son of the former, under the firm name of Jas. H. Chappell & Co.
This firm continued in business during the years 1846, '7 and '8.  At
the beginning of 1849, the elder Mr. Tureman retired, and the firm became
Chappell & Tureman (Jas. A. Chappell and Jos. M. Tureman).  The sales of
this firm rose rapidly in succession, from less that $9,000 in 1848, to
over $27,000 in 1854.  On the ninth of Oct. 1848, Mr. Chappell was married
to Miss Ellen Bruce, daughter of Mr. Geo. S. Bruce of Fleming County. By
this marriage he had two children born: Henry Bruce Chappell, Aug. 26,
1849, and Ellen N. Holt, now Mrs. Wm. S. Spencer, Sept. 18, 1850.  On the
morning of Feb. 1, 1851, the faithful and beloved wife died after a
lingering attack of typhoid fever. Feb. 8, 1853, he married Lucy P. Bruce,
sister of his first wife, a lovely, beautiful, young girl, then only a
little over seventeen.  Five children were the fruits of this marriage:
Ada Lena, born Dec. 7, 1853, died of scarlet fever in Carlisle, Dec. 23,
1862; the second, Sabina B., now Mrs. P. B. Powers of Augusta, Ky., on
the 7th of May 1855; the third, Thomas Taylor, born May 26, 1858, and
died July 17, 1868; the fourth, Sallie Thomas, born April 27, 1864, died
in Carlisle, June 29, 1865; the fifth, Lillian, born Nov. 14, 1869.  On
the 1st of Jan. 1855, the firm of Chappell & Tureman was dissolved, J.A.
Chappell retiring, Mr. J. M. Tureman continuing with Mr. Chas. W.
McIntyre, as J. M. Tureman & Co.  It was during this year that Mr.
Chappell edited the Carlisle American, but in September of that year he
and his brother-in-law, William P. Bruce, opened a new dry goods house on
Front street, under the firm name of Chappell & Bruce.  July 1, 1856, Mr.
J. M. Tureman sold out to Chappell & Bruce, and they, together with Mr.
Charles W. McIntyre, formed a copartnership and the firm name of Chappell,
Bruce & McIntyre.  This new combination proved to be the most successful
firm which ever did business in Carlisle, their sales reaching in 1864,
to nearly $60,000 and returning a net profit of near $6,000 each year of
its continuance.  On the 1st of January 1865, the members of the firm
having sold their stock of goods and a store house to B. F. Adair, E. M.
Ewing and S. M. Waugh, and retained an interest themselves, J. A.
Chappell, C. W. McIntyre and Mr. Geo. S. Bruce moved to the city of
Cincinnati, leaving Mr. Wm. P. Bruce in Carlisle to superintend their
interest in the new firm of W. P. Bruce & Co.  The new handsome store
room, No. 144 West Fourth street, Cincinnati, was secured at an annual
rental of $4,200.  Here a wholesale dry goods house was opened with J.A.
Chappell, W. P. Bruce, Geo. S. Bruce, Chas. W. McIntyre, Stephen G.
Chapman and Robert T. Armstrong, as partners, under the firm name of
Chapman, Bruce & Co., with a cash capital of $100,000.  But scarcely had
Mr. Chappell begun purchases in New York for his firm, when news came
that Mr. S. G. Chapman was found to be a confirmed inebriate.  This of
course would never do and Mr. Chapman was summarily ejected from he
firm, and the name of Mr. Chappell placed at the head.  The firm of
Chappell, Bruce & Co. at once took high rank among the jobbing houses of
the city, their sales for the first year reaching $1,250,000.  On the 1st
of January 1866, the firm was augmented by the addition of Eli M. Bruce,
Esq., and the name changed to Chappell, Bruce & McIntyre.  Heavy losses
on stock and ruinous losses by bad debts in the South melted away the
capital of the partners like dew before the morning sun.  To add to their
calamities, Mr. E. M. Bruce died of heart disease, sitting in his chair at
the Southern Hotel in New York in the Spring of 1867.  This last sad event
was the "coup de grace" to the firm; they paid one hundred cents to the
dollar on their liabilities but nothing was left of their capital.
January 1, 1868, James A Chappell and John T. Allen organized upon the
ruins of the former house, Mrs. E. M. Bruce having kindly loaned the firm
$25,000 of the stock held by her as principal creditor of the house of
C., B. & M.  Mr. Allen having a like sum, a firm was opened as Chappell,
Allen & Co.  But within two months after, the firm of Embry & Fisher was
consolidated with that of Chappell, Allen & Co. and the new firm became
Chappell, Fisher & Allen.  This firm, with a nominal capital of $100,000
opened out at 116, West Third Street, Cincinnati.  The first six months'
business of the new firm seemed to indicate a prosperous career, but it
was not long after the July statement was made, before it was discovered
that the senior partner, W. W. Embry, Esq., was seriously involved. This
was a stunning blow to the firm, and especially to Mr. Chappell, who felt
that under the new regime--having already passed through one ordeal, the
result of the collapse which followed the close of the war--he had now
hoped that the storm was over, and that a more auspicious day was dawning
upon his fortunes, which had met with such cruel reverses since leaving
his native town, Carlisle.  But the die was cast; under the severe
financial storm, deserted by the captain of the vessel, Mr. Embry, there
was no help for the firm but to strike their colors and succumb to destiny.
The firm of Chappell, Fisher & Allen were compelled to close and seek a
compromise with their creditors.  Chappell and Allen essayed to hoist the
flag once more, but the force of the tide was too strong; thoroughly
disheartened with his city venture, with the loss of everything but honor,
integrity and energy, Chappell determined to return to his native town,
and cast in his lot with the people among whom he had been so long
identified.  Resolving to take nothing with him, but to leave all behind
him, he wrote to his former friend, F. E. Congleton, cashier of the
Deposit Bank at Carlisle, to loan him one hundred dollars, upon which to
move his family back to Carlisle.  Mr. Congleton with that liberal
kindness which has always distinguished him, very promptly sent his check
for the amount, and upon Aug. 14, 1869, James A. Chappell with his wife
and two daughters, returned to Carlisle after an absence of nearly five
years.  Without capital, with nothing in fact but hope left, he opened a
dry goods store, backed by the kindness of his friend H. M. Stitt. Through
the year 1870 and '71, he managed to pull through with the additional help
of his old friends, John Clay, Col. Robert Sims, and E. M. Ewing, until
Jan. 1, 1872, when his brother-in-law, F. M. Peale moved to Carlisle, and
took the financial helm with J. A. Chappell, under the firm name of F. M.
Peale & Co.  But the trials of the Chappell family were not yet ended; on
the morning of January 5, 1873, the store occupied by F. M. Peale & Co.
was burned to the ground, with a net loss of nearly ten dollars, and not
a dollar of insurance.  It now seemed as if it was almost useless to
struggle with adverse fortune; but the firm of Peale & Co. met with much
kindness and encouragement, and so the partners, Peale & Chappell, once
more flung their war-worn banner to the breeze and opened out, February
1873, in the new and handsome three story frame, built near the K.C.R.R.
depot.  Fortune once more for a while smiled upon the Chappell star.
Business, which at first was slow and fitful, gradually increased until
toward the middle of May, the sales of the house rose to $200 and $250
per day.  But the force of misfortune was not yet fully spent.  On the
morning of the 28th of May, less than five months from the preceding fire,
the firm was burnt out again.  This time they were insured for $6,000,
but their loss on stock, loss of time, and other sources, could not have
been short of $3,000.  Amidst all these losses, enough to have
discouraged many better men, the firm still presented a bold front,
resolved still to conquer or perish in the attempt.  The firm held
bravely on its way, until Jan. 1, 1882, when the firm name was changed to
Peale & Chappell, with every indication of a safe, if humble, career
before them.  In the year 1874, Chappell wrote a short story for his
friend, John B. Scudder, and published in the Carlisle Mercury, entitled
the "Lady in Black."  This little romance of five chapters was dedicated
to Mrs. Julia Neal, of Carlisle, and was quite favorably received. Having
for some years been painfully afflicted with hemorrhoids, and not knowing
when he might be compelled to give up the active and onerous duties of
the mercantile business, Mr. Chappell felt that the time might come when
he should have to resort to his pen for the means of a livelihood for
himself and those whom he so devotedly loved.  Accordingly the "Lady in
Black" was soon followed by a more elaborate work, of twenty-five
chapters, entitled "The New Overseer."  This met with indifferent success
from the public.  The following year another story from his pen followed,
entitled "Addie Raymond, or Love in a Street Car," and the next year,
that which proved his best and most successful one, entitled "Lucy Walton,
a Romance of the Blue Lick Springs."  In closing this article, we may say
that the religious element has always predominated in the life of Mr.
Chappell.  He was converted when but a mere child, but never joined the
church until February 1861.  He has been a deacon in the Baptist church
nearly twenty years; has held the office of President of the Nicholas
County Sunday School Union for several years, and at this writing bids fair
for several more years of active and, we trust, useful and honorable life.

Chappell Rogers Tureman Parker Bruce Spencer Powers McIntyre
Adair Ewing Waugh Armstrong Chapman Allen Embry Congleton
Stitt Clay Sims Peale Scudder Neal McMahan
=
Bracken-KY Fleming-KY Cincinnati-Hamilton-OH PA

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/nicholas/chappell.ja.txt