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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 463-464
COLLINS CHAPMAN, an honored veteran of the Civil war and a representative farmer of Waterloo township, Grant county, was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1842, and comes of good old Revolutionary stock, his paternal grandfather, Collins CHAPMAN, having aided the colonies in their struggle for independence. He was a native of New England and is said to have been descended from one of the passengers of the famous Mayflower. He made his home in Connecticut until death. In his family were three sons, Amyson, David and Alma, the two latter being soldiers of the war of 1812.
Amyson CHAPMAN, the father of him whose name introduces this review, was born in Hartford, Conn., Aug. 31, 1800, and about 1820 left his New England home to come West. In 1827 we find him at the lead mines of Galena, Ill., and the same year he was married in Quincy, that State, to Miss Mary DRULLARD, a native of Ohio. For many years he made his home in Jo Daviess county, Ill., and in 1850 he came to Grant county, Wis., locating in the town of Harrison, where the family lived for several years before going to the town of Waterloo, where the father died June 9, 1881, at the age of nearly eighty-one years. As a pioneer of the West he took in the Black Hawk war, and was identified with other historical events of early days. His wife departed this life in 1858. In their family were twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, of whom four sons and three daughters are living at the present time (1901). Amyson, the oldest surviving son, was a soldier for the Union in the Civil war, and is now a resident of Cassville, Wis.; Collins is next in order of birth; Peter also lives in Cassville; Jefferson was a member of the 43rd Wis. V.I., and is now a resident of Nebraska, Mary Ann, the eldest daughter, is the wife of John KNOX, of California; Lois is the widow of Frederick LANG and a resident of the State of Oregon; and Florence is the wife of Hubbard SHELTERS, of Cassville, Grant county. Those deceased died in early life.
Collins CHAPMAN came with his father to Grant county, and lived at home and in its vicinity until he entered the service of his country during the dark days of the Civil war. On Aug. 25, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, 7th Wis. V.I., and was in active service with that regiment until Aug. 22, 1862, when he was wounded by a pistol shot in a skirmish at Catlet Station, just after the battle of Gainesville. Being taken prisoner by Mosby's Cavalry, he refused to accompany his captors, and was shot by one of them in the right hand, the ball coming out of the wrist, which was rendered permanently stiff. He determined not to remain a prisoner, and by a well-laid plan, it being night and the flashes of lightening frequent, he made his escape. He was confined in the hospital at York Penn., until Dec. 4, 1862, when he was discharged on account of his wound and returned home, but in June 1863, Mr. CHAPMAN re-enlisted in the one hundred day service, becoming a member of Company A, 41st Wis. V.I. Since the close of the war he has resided most of the time in Waterloo township, and has devoted his time and energies to agricultural pursuits, in which he has met with marked success. He is now the owner of a valuable and well-improved farm of 245 acres, and is surrounded by all the comforts which make life worth the living.
On July 16, 1865, Mr. CHAPMAN married Miss Frances A. HALL, a native of Fort Madison, Iowa, and a daughter of David and Sarah (ELWELL) HALL. During childhood she lost her mother, who died near Hazel Green, Grant county, and her father subsequently went to Missouri, where he married again and made his home for about forty years. There is second wife died, and he is now living with Mr. and Mrs. CHAMPMAN in this county, the latter being his only child. Mr. and Mrs. CHAPMAN have six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: Minnie, Henry, Frederick, Annie, David and Vesta T. As he grows older Mr. CHAPMAN feels more and more the effects of his army life, and will always carry the mark of a Confederate bullet as a remainder of the famous Mosby Cavalry. He is a Republican in politics and both he and his wife are worthy members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. A loyal and patriotic citizen and a true friend and neighbor, he is justly deserving the high regard in which he is held by all who know him.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck