|
|
(Page 130 and 131)
Thomas Chapman was among the first lawyers to settle in Woodbury. He came to this county about the year 1818 from Rahway, N. J., of which place he was a native, being the son of Rev. Robert Hett Chapman, a famous Presbyterian clergyman, and at one time president of the University of North Carolina. Mr. Chapman was a gentleman of the old school, and wore the old style of dress so common during the Revolutionary period. As a lawyer he was somewhat slow in manner, and ranked higher as an office lawyer than as an advocate. From 1822 up to 1829 he was prosecutor of the pleas of old Gloucester County, and filled the position with much credit; but his duties as prosecutor were evidently not laborious, as we find by the records that the number of indictments found in those days was very small. He lived in the brick house on Broad Street, Woodbury, lately the residence of Dr. Benjamin Howell, and the office now occupied by Squire William Watkins was built by him and stood in his day on the lot just north of his residence. Soon after he left the office of prosecutor he removed to Camden, where he remained until death.
